Why only 4.5 hours on X60 8-cell battery?

Message

dfumento · #1 Post by **dfumento** » Thu Oct 25, 2007 11:44 am

My config is in the signature and I'm using a PCMCIA EVDO Rev. A verizon card. I'm only getting 4.5 hours with brightness of 3/7 on the 8 cell battery and I can't figure this out. I may upgrade to an X60s Ultralight because I need better battery life, but I really feel I should be getting much better battery life on this unit. The unit is 1 year old and the battery has 62 cycles.

Any ideas? TIA, David

pianowizard · #2 Post by **pianowizard** » Thu Oct 25, 2007 12:36 pm

The number of cycles isn't very informative. What's the full charge capacity? Is it close to the original design capacity?

I used to get 8 to 10 hours from my X60s's 8-cell battery, with 2/8 brightness and occasional wireless access.

dfumento · #3 Post by **dfumento** » Thu Oct 25, 2007 3:56 pm

pianowizard wrote:The number of cycles isn't very informative. What's the full charge capacity? Is it close to the original design capacity?

The full charge capacity is 75 Wh. What is the original on the 8-cell X60 battery?

awolfe63 · #4 Post by **awolfe63** » Thu Oct 25, 2007 5:22 pm

The verizon card sucks juice.

My power draw jumps from about 8.5W to about 15.5W when I add the EVDO card.

pianowizard · #5 Post by **pianowizard** » Thu Oct 25, 2007 5:39 pm

awolfe63 wrote:My power draw jumps from about 8.5W to about 15.5W when I add the EVDO card.

That's scary! Let's do the math for the OP: without that card, his battery will last 4.5 hours x 8.5/15.5 = 8.2 hours

awolfe63 · #6 Post by **awolfe63** » Thu Oct 25, 2007 5:47 pm

Amazing. Now I know why I had to take all those math classes to get a BSEE.

dfumento · #7 Post by **dfumento** » Thu Oct 25, 2007 6:47 pm

awolfe63 wrote:The verizon card sucks juice.

My power draw jumps from about 8.5W to about 15.5W when I add the EVDO card.

awolfe63, thank you. Two questions: are you using the PCMCIA like I am or the built-in EVDO?

Secondly, do you think there is significant draw even when not connected to Verizon but just have the card plugged in the laptop (or with the built-in the WWAN turned on) because I get the 4.5 hours even when not connected to Verizon but with the card in the PCMCIA slot?

awolfe63 · #8 Post by **awolfe63** » Thu Oct 25, 2007 6:58 pm

I have a PCMCIA card. It is Sprint - but I'm pretty sure it us the same hardware.

I get about 11.5W installed and about 15.5W connected. I have an X61s ultralight - so your numbers may be different. Download MOBMETER and test your machine.

dfumento · #9 Post by **dfumento** » Thu Oct 25, 2007 7:51 pm

awolfe63 wrote:The verizon card sucks juice.

My power draw jumps from about 8.5W to about 15.5W when I add the EVDO card.

I have a PCMCIA card. It is Sprint - but I'm pretty sure it us the same hardware.

I get about 11.5W installed and about 15.5W connected. I have an X61s ultralight - so your numbers may be different. Download MOBMETER and test your machine.

In Summary, you have 8.5W w/o the card, 11.5W with the card inserted but not used, and 15.5W when connected....

I took the card out and with brightness 3/7, WiFi on, and web browsing the power meter showed 6 hours.

I tried the MOBMETER but it said it had some problem with the ACPI device when I tried to run it. Someone wrote about problem somewhere else in forum.thinkpads.com . How did you get it to work?

I was thinking of getting your model because I need better times, but w/o the EVDO card, it looks much better.

Thanks so much...

awolfe63 · #10 Post by **awolfe63** » Thu Oct 25, 2007 9:58 pm

Hmm. I've tried MOBmeter on lots of machines (dozens) and never saw an error message. On some machines, it can't read certain sensors - but I've had great luck on thinkpads. I know I've had it working on a T40, 3 T42s, and my X61s.

The battery information screen will also give you the wattage.

(BTW - yes - in summary that is what I see.)

Mikis · #11 Post by **Mikis** » Fri Oct 26, 2007 2:25 am

awolfe63 wrote:The verizon card sucks juice.

My power draw jumps from about 8.5W to about 15.5W when I add the EVDO card.

What did you use to determine power draw?

pianowizard · #12 Post by **pianowizard** » Fri Oct 26, 2007 7:33 am

Mikis wrote:What did you use to determine power draw?

You can use "Battery info" in the Battery MaxiMiser.

awolfe63 · #13 Post by **awolfe63** » Fri Oct 26, 2007 4:58 pm

I used MOBMeter. I have found it reliable.

gunston · #14 Post by **gunston** » Fri Oct 26, 2007 5:44 pm

Vista drain more power..

Why only 4.5 hours on X60 8-cell battery?

Why only 4.5 hours on X60 8-cell battery?

Who is online