Lenovo batteries

[toomak]

Check out the Toshiba R-500 at http://uk.computers.toshiba-europe.com/ ... Shop=false
Is there a reason for Toshiba being able to make a 0.979 Kg 12" laptop with a battery life of ~8h while a X60s (1.35 Kg) can't last for more than 2h? Is this a matter of priorities or maybe technical capabilities?
Very frustrating....

[SHoTTa35]

umm well that .9kg starts there with all the lightest options including batteries. You don't get that weight and 8hrs of battery life. It starts off at 2hrs also probably with the smallest battery. With the larger batteries the weight goes up and so does the battery life.

[toomak]

I strongly believe you are wrong. The included battery is a 6 cell battery lasting 3 times the 4 cell one included with the X60s.

Portégé R500-11C
Part Number : PPR50E-00K04KG3
Key Features
- The world's lightest notebook: weighing just 979 g (1- Genuine Windows Vista® Business Edition- The world's first notebook with the slimmest optical drive: just 7 mm (2- The world's first notebook with the transflective LED: 12.1" widescreen display- One of the world's thinnest notebook: at just 19.5/25.5 mm in height- One of the world's longest battery operating times: from 7 up to 12,5 hrs (3- (1 depending on configuration (2 as of May 2007 based on Toshiba survey (3 3-cell battery = 7 hours/6-cell battery =12.5 hours, battery life measured according to JEITA standards

Anyway, the issue is not the Toshiba, but the Lenovo, which from what I understand offers one of the poorest battery lives (compares even to the Dell D620 and similar products).

[iamdmc]

Battery life: Up to 7:30 (from the website link you posted)

Furthermore, some unscrupulous sellers MIGHT just misrepresent a product, say a laptop, in order to sell it. It may begin at <1kg (without battery, or with the minimum battery that has the worst battery life)

Another thing you might want to check out is the performance on the ULV processor (ie. in the Toshiba) vs. the LV processor (in the X61s) and the real difference in battery life.

I am suspicious of the HDD - is it IDE or 1.8" (both are much slower than 2.5" SATA drives; 1.8" because it only comes in 4200RPM)

On the bright side, it does seem to have a great feature with the LED backlight screen.

Winner: Still the Thinkpad

[toomak]

I have seen and tried the Toshiba. The information is correct. I didn't like it though, but not for the mentioned reasons. I also have a Dell D420 (which I hate) that weighs approximately as much as my X60s but comes with a much better 6 cell battery.
My point is that I also think that the Thinkpad is the better one, but it could be an excellent one with a better battery life, which I believe is technically possible.

[bill bolton]

I have seen and tried the Toshiba. The information is correct.

Hmmmmm.... it looks like the claims fall more than a little short in the real world.

Instead of the huge 12.5 hours advertised by Toshiba, our testing shows that you’ll get less than half that figure with the R500. With DVD playback, you can expect 3 hours or less

See... Notebooks: battery hype getting ridiculous

As to battery life, I have to admit that at first, I was a bit disappointed since with the Wireless on (no BT and no DVD drive), brightness set to 50% and while doing some light editing and web browsing, the battery lasts around 4 hours and 15 minutes under Linux. I guess it is a bit higher under Vista without Aero and the widgets.

Of course, more than 4 hours is a lot, but I was expecting more. However, one has to remember that this is only the so-called lightweight battery. Thus, I guess I will have to get the large battery when it is available if I want to be able to use it for one day of work without the need for the ac adpater.

See.... Review of the new Toshiba Portege R500

Battery life is something of a mystery. The R500 features a huge battery relative to the size of the notebook: It accounts for nearly one-third of the unit's total weight. Toshiba claims battery life of up to 10 hours on a charge, which would put the R500 in a class by itself. But in tests I got closer to a still-respectable four hours.

See... It's Light—but no Lightweight

Even though the practical battery life is far from its rated 10 hours, the battery life is still impressive. Even when keeping the wireless on to browse the net, and occasionally using the optical drive, the laptop still lasted about 5 hours.

See... Review: Toshiba Portégé R500

Cheers,

Bill B.

[Jackboot]

wow - good research Bill

[toomak]

Indeed! But the fact remains - Lenovo's batteries offer the worst performance/weight ratio, and I fail to understand why.
BTW - I understand that the X61s offers better power management due to EnergyStar compliance. Does it?

[ryengineer]

snip......BTW - I understand that the X61s offers better power management due to EnergyStar compliance. Does it?

Or due to LV (Low Voltage) processor and redesigned fan structure to marginalize heat and fan's output.

[bill bolton]

But the fact remains - Lenovo's batteries offer the worst performance/weight ratio

Again.....

"The Battery Life
My model comes standard with an Enhanced 4-Cell battery, which is supposed to give me 5 hours of non-stop work time.

The truth about the specifications is that it depends on what you are doing with the laptop, i.e., if you are running all the wireless devices and doing intensive graphic and hard disk work you will see those 5 hours shrunk to maybe 3 or 2. But, compared to other brands, the X60s has decent battery life. (I have been using it for about 1 hour without AC power and the battery meter says that I have 4 hours left.)"

See... ThinkPad X60s review

and so on......

[toomak]

(I have been using it for about 1 hour without AC power and the battery meter says that I have 4 hours left.)

The second I take it out of the docking station, at 100%, it shows 2h02m at most. Then it drops 5 minutes per minute until it reaches accuracy at around 1h30m. This has been the case since day one, and remained the same even after a battery recall.