Thinkpads Forum

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

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.

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?

The verizon card sucks juice.

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

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

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

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?

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.

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...

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.)

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?

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

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

I used MOBMeter. I have found it reliable.

Vista drain more power..