Thinkpads Forum

I'm planning to buy T60p w/ 9 cell battery, seek your input on whether I should purchase another battery, 6 cell or 9 cell? If go for 6 cell, do I need to have additional accessory?

As I totally fond of T60P, also would go for 15' screen, together with 9 cell battery, thus may feel like carrying brick on the go. Would like to use 9 cell / charger at home, while use 6 cell battery for outdoor (study @ library / customer presentation etc.) activity less than 4 hours.

Thus seek your input: can 6 cell battery serve that purpose? If can, do I need to purchase additional accessory?

Thanks

I would use a 6-cell plus an ultrabay-cell, because the 9-cell adds bulk and more weight.

NokiaNokia wrote:I would use a 6-cell plus an ultrabay-cell, because the 9-cell adds bulk and more weight.

Do you mean I only need to buy 6-cell battery, than replace with super multi-burn drive in the ultrabay slim? Then I take out 9 cell battery?

netfossil wrote:

NokiaNokia wrote:I would use a 6-cell plus an ultrabay-cell, because the 9-cell adds bulk and more weight.

Do you mean I only need to buy 6-cell battery, than replace with super multi-burn drive in the ultrabay slim? Then I take out 9 cell battery?

Sorry, I will provide more background: I will buy 2007-CA2 @ student discount, so T60P will be equipped with 15' UXGA & 9-cell battery already, which is relatively heavy, thus I come to the idea of purchasing another 6-cell battery, hope it can swap w/ multi-burn drive, then I take 9-cell battery out, is it possible?

What NokiaNokia is suggesting is to get the 6-cell rear battery and also get the 3-cell advanced ultrabay battery. You will have 2 batteries in your system (one in the rear battery compartment and one in the ultrabay). This will give you approximately the same battery life as using the 9-cell rear battery. This is the arrangement I use, and I like it a lot as I get decent battery life, but don't have the bulk of the 9-cell. The downside is that I no longer have a built-in CD/DVD drive, but I don't use it that often anyway. So I just swap it in when I know I'll need it.

The nine cell really adds a lot of bulk and weight to the system, if you plop it down on a solid surface it's OK but for me, mines in and out of the bag whereever i can find a spot, the nine cell is not a good thing for this.

Yes sir its not good esp if its a 15-incher.

I have a 15" T60p with the 9cell and a 3cell ultrabay. My advice go for the 9cell. And dont get the 3cell ultrabay.

The machine is not heavy to begin with, and the 9cell isnt that much heavier than the 6cell. I carry it around all day, at school, on my bike, at home. I never once had the idea that I was carrying a lot of weight, and I am not exeptionally strong. In my opnion the T series are a thin and light array of notebooks, and the 9cell isnt making it alot heavier.

I bought the ultra bay battery also for $130, but it gets depleted pretty fast, it only buys me 1:30/1 hours extra. Without the ultrabay I get around 6/5.5 hours while doing light browsing with mid brightness. So in my opinion its not worth the money. Plus it gets depleted before it starts the 9cell, so it does a lot of 'deep discharges', which will decrease battery life significantly over time when its a Li-Ion, which it is. So I'm guessing that in the future it will only give me 30/45 min extra.

And since you chose a 15" I'm guessing you're not someone that needs to bring this machine everywhere, all the time. And if you're not someone that carries it around all the time I would go with the 9cell.

I bought mine with the 9-cell, but realized the moment I pulled it out of the box for the very first time that I could never live with that huge bulbous mass hanging off the back end of the com. It looks horrible, and as mentioned, significantly adds to the weight of the unit, not to mention further decreasing the already-compromised compactness of the com with the 15" screen body.

I bought a brand-new 6-cell on eBay from a place in China for something like $105 shipped-- and that's what's in my com almost always. I have the 9-cell in my bag, which I use when I'm online away from home, since the smaller battery only lasts so long when using the wireless transmitter-- it is great for the time it lasts-- but I use the big one when I know I'm going to be sitting somewhere surfing for a good few hours...

Best of luck--

FlexOink wrote:I have a 15" T60p with the 9cell and a 3cell ultrabay. My advice go for the 9cell. And dont get the 3cell ultrabay.

The machine is not heavy to begin with, and the 9cell isnt that much heavier than the 6cell. I carry it around all day, at school, on my bike, at home. I never once had the idea that I was carrying a lot of weight, and I am not exeptionally strong. In my opnion the T series are a thin and light array of notebooks, and the 9cell isnt making it alot heavier.

I bought the ultra bay battery also for $130, but it gets depleted pretty fast, it only buys me 1:30/1 hours extra. Without the ultrabay I get around 6/5.5 hours while doing light browsing with mid brightness. So in my opinion its not worth the money. Plus it gets depleted before it starts the 9cell, so it does a lot of 'deep discharges', which will decrease battery life significantly over time when its a Li-Ion, which it is. So I'm guessing that in the future it will only give me 30/45 min extra.

And since you chose a 15" I'm guessing you're not someone that needs to bring this machine everywhere, all the time. And if you're not someone that carries it around all the time I would go with the 9cell.

Sorry if this pulls anything off topic, but what bag do you use while you are on your bike (and normally)?

thanks

Petekilla wrote:
Sorry if this pulls anything off topic, but what bag do you use while you are on your bike (and normally)?

thanks

I use a Crumpler Gimp, its a laptop sleeve, made of durable neoprene, that the stuff they make divers suits from. Its a strechty, rubberlike material. I put this sleeve in any bag, mostly eastpack shoulder or backpacks. I dont like to walk around with a bag that's regonziable as a laptop bag.

Altough it doesnt offer as much protection as a regular laptop bag, it still protects the Thinkpad against bumping into walls and doors, and from scratches. I dont think it will offer sufficient protection for dropping it on the floor.

Another plus is the sleeve is very tight, so there is no room for the machine to move around, which will wear down the coating of the lid.

Batteries - If you're a movie or game watcher, definitely go for the 9 cell battery. Keep in mind that the ultrabay battery won't do you any good if you want to watch a movie or play a game. You need the DVD player in the ultrabay, and you'll want the longer life of the 9 cell battery. Really does not add that much weight to the system.

However, I would get the 6 cell battery to swap out with the 9 cell when you are going to be leaving the movies / games at home. Although I don't do games, this is my routine when I am in town versus on the road (definitely take the 9 cell AND ultrabay battery).

Also, if you want to save some weight (and space) while you're on the road, get yourself a 65w adapter instead of carrying the 90w adapter around with you all the time. Won't charge as fast, but that's just an offset to saving space and weight.

The other thing you asked about is a bag... I don't think you can beat Targus bags - www.targus.com

There is a HUGE variety to choose from including some Thinkpad specific ones. My favorite one is the 15" Rogue.

http://www.targus.com/us/cases_notebook_backpacks.asp

Here are a couple of things that I really like about it compared to the other dozen that I've tried.

1. It's got not clasps that you have to undo to get to the contents of the bag. How annoying. I just want to open a zipper and get to my gear.

2. Lots of utility pockets. My favorite is at the top on the front. Big enough for my ipod and Sony digital camera. Two things that I'm always looking for so I like to keep them handy.

3. It's one of their cheapest bags. What a bonus when you consider it is also one of their lightest bags. Provides all the protection you need unless your shotputting your bag into your car.

Hope this info helps...

I currently own a T60p with a 6 cell battery and I love it the way it is.

I first considered getting a 9 cell battery, since my friend whom I am studying with has a Dell 6400 with a 9 cell battery, and he has some good offline (without AC) time.

However, If you set the screen to 3 or 4 (out of 7) you will get some good battery time. I use my T60p on the Uni (with or without AC) and the battery is fine then.

As for a bag, I have a targus bagpack, I have the Sport Standard Backpack.

I love it! My T60p fits in fine, it has good, sturdy protection, you can walk around easily and it fits very good to my back. You can do anything with it. It also is large enough to provide room for my books, some maps, two waterbottles, etc. So you could consider it.

So, i use e 6-cell battery, which is good for me, and a targus backpack. I like the combo.

I just orderd a 9 cell so ima have a 6 cell and a 9 cell for when i need it.