Thinkpads Forum

Hello everybody,
I came across this forum looking for pictures of a Thinkpad SL500 with a 9-cell battery installed. This is a laptop I'm thinking of purchasing but want to see if it will meet my 'standards' haha. From some pictures I've seen on the internet of IBM's with 8/9 cell battery's, they tend to stick out past the body/case of the unit.

With the new SL500, do these have the same thing? the 9-cell battery won't sit flush with the case as a 6-cell would?
Does anybody here have any pictures or so of one installed? I searched google and youtube and couldn't find anything

Thank you kindly.

I suppose that it should be this battery:

http://www.mobilepowersupply.com/product_30499.html

In this case it will have part of battery sticking over the laptop body (as well as my T40p with 9c).

Oh, for crying out loud, no Thinkpad has a flush 9-cell battery.

I don't think any laptop as a flush 9 cell battery. Most laptops are designed for a 4 or 6 cell battery to be flush with the body.

I wonder why they ever changed from batteries that stick out at the bottom rather than out the back. I'm sure there's a good reason, but it seems strange to me. improving unplugged time & ergonomics seems like a win/win...

Battery sticking out bottom makes the laptop a lot thicker, and awkward to handle, and the ergonomics improvement is questionable. I prefer my laptop to be flat and not tilted upwards.

Heh. My old Compaq R4000 had a bottom mount battery. Of course, it was one of the front corner type, so it couldn't stick down. They just made it big enough for a 12-cell

comptiger5000 wrote:Heh. My old Compaq R4000 had a bottom mount battery. Of course, it was one of the front corner type, so it couldn't stick down. They just made it big enough for a 12-cell

my compaq armada 110 "jankbook" was like that with a 9 cell. I dislike the lack of symmetry with front corner batteries, though... but that's mostly OCD rather than anything real. I personally prefer keyboards that are tilted upwards a bit, but I suppose that is hardly true of everybody. I like the aesthetics and the weight distribution of the front mounted battery in my X31, and the Extended Life Battery (which I don't have) seems like it would improve ergonomics.

Well, the question is why there are no retractable legs/stands on the bottom of laptops like the same on keyboards. It can even increase the cooling ability. Then it will not matter where is the battery sticking

Beaver wrote:Well, the question is why there are no retractable legs/stands on the bottom of laptops like the same on keyboards. It can even increase the cooling ability. Then it will not matter where is the battery sticking

You should patent this idea

Beaver wrote:Well, the question is why there are no retractable legs/stands on the bottom of laptops like the same on keyboards. It can even increase the cooling ability. Then it will not matter where is the battery sticking

Not to rain on a parade, but most laptops weigh a lot more than most keyboards, so the mechanism would have to be more robust. Additionally, most laptops are pretty packed inside, and carving out space for the legs to fold up into may not be particularly easy.

Also, the design trend in general, if you will, is against things sticking out and folding out (the W700ds a notable exception).

Beaver wrote:Well, the question is why there are no retractable legs/stands on the bottom of laptops like the same on keyboards. It can even increase the cooling ability. Then it will not matter where is the battery sticking

I'm not sure if I know what you mean, but I saw an old NEC laptop (Pentium processor) that had legs that folded out on the bottom, almost Identical to ones that you find on keyboards. It also weighed like 8 pounds or something. Also, my X31's ultrabase has little foldey legs like that. I think it'd be a really good idea. we should get Lenovo to incorporate it into a laptop.

qviri wrote:...most laptops weigh a lot more than most keyboards, so the mechanism would have to be more robust. Additionally, most laptops are pretty packed inside, and carving out space for the legs to fold up into may not be particularly easy...

I know that it can be problem to implement to slim type laptops and not everyone want it. If you will use the dock, you will get the same but the problem is that you can carry the dock all the time

Marin85 wrote:You should patent this idea

Maybe it is already and the laptop makers are not willing to pay for it so they are also not using it

Marin85 wrote: You should patent this idea

Too late. The TP770 series have two folding legs in the back. They're quite robust-- and they have to be because the TP770 is one heavy laptop.

I dont know how I double posted, can this be deleted?

Marin85 wrote:You should patent this idea

And I just fixed a VAIO with them too.

Check out the travel battery for the HP nc8230 (I think it works with other models)


It attaches to the bottom in addition to the normal battery. I think its pretty spiffy. (Shameless plug: The laptop will be on the Marketplace soon... but I don't have the travel battery.)

Beaver wrote: Maybe it is already and the laptop makers are not willing to pay for it so they are also not using it

What a shame!...