Thinkpads Forum

Can anyone comment on the real world battery life of the T61 4:3 SXGA+ with either graphics option? Which battery/OS/etc?

Is the X3100 adequate? There is only 1 config with the SXGA+ and integrated graphics.

I have a T60p now and like everything about it but the battery life. With the ugly 9 cell I am lucky to get 4 hours. I would like to see 7hrs on the 6 cell and bay battery (fits in the bag nicer) and am looking at a newer T61 4:3 SXGA+ replacement. I don't need the big graphics capability of the "p" model. The ta book shows a large difference in projected battery life between the integrated graphics (up to 8.6 hrs on 9 cell) and nvidia (up to 6 hrs on 9 cell) and I wonder how much of that is the XGA vs SXGA+ and how much is the chipset?

Thanks!

Do all T61 have hotter Core 2 Duo processors (instead of Core Duos)?

Well, the math is quite simple here. Whatever you get with a 9 cell battery, you'll get exactly 2/3 of this with a 6 cell battery! I realize that doesn't help you with absolutes but just don't expect too much from the 6 cell batteries. The video is just one of the power hogs on a laptop - the CPU, HDD and wireles card being the other main ones. Sounds like you might do best to look for a model with a low power drain CPU and a slower HDD. These will be slower than your current computer (the T60p) but on the bright side they will be cheaper and have a longer battery life.

ssd_thinkpad wrote:Do all T61 have hotter Core 2 Duo processors (instead of Core Duos)?

Ive found that the Core 2 Duo's aren't nearly as hot as the Core Duo's. My .02 cents though. Also my T61 still holds 100% of original charge capacity and I get about 5 hours under light internet use with screen brightness minimum.

I'm sure a T61 with integrated graphics would achieve lot more hours on battery power than your T60p.
I changed from a power-hungry-GPU T42p to a nice T61 SXGA+ and I found the latter very nice to use because I get lot of battery life.
When gaming on the T42p with battery only it will drain so fast, with the T61 even when I'm gaming there's still a good show with the battery.

Typically I'd say with a 4:3 T61 you could get around 5-6 hours depending on the OS used, programs being executed and whether you undervolt your CPU. Good luck finding the last 4:3 Thinkpad T laptop

I use a T61 with X3100 integrated graphic chip and WXGA+.
The 6 cell battery can last around 2 hours and 10 minutes with both wireless and bluetooth on.

My colleague's T61 with nVidia graphic chip probably get around -20 minutes comparing with mine. Plus mine runs much cooler.

20 minutes less than 2hrs 10min?

Yes. T61 with NVS140M runs 1 hour and 50 minutes with 6 Cell battery.