Which should I trust?

[dmatko]

ive been having a bit of a problem with my x60 lately. well, more so a problem with the 8 cell battery. as of late, ive been running my system more and more with battery power and less attached to the wall. an odd thing happen to me a couple days ago that took me by surprise. following the readout of the Thinkpad power manager utility, my battery has always been charged to 100%. during regular off outlet use, it drops steadily until it "beeps" and lets me know to hook it back up to recharge. recently however, when the remaining charge hits 50%, the meter readout suddenly drops to 5%, and immediately goes into hibernate (which is what i have it set to when it reaches critical levels.) i dont quite understand why it drops so inexplicably, but it seems like its a recent occurrence. one odd think i have noted, is that the Thinpad power manager utility, and the windows power meter utility dont have the same readout. for instance, my current charge is 68% in regards to windows, and 98% for Thinkpad. the system also (from what i can tell) follows the windows based readout and not the Thinkpad one. EX:: Power manager says that i have 36% remaining, and power meter says i have 20%. setup is so that the x60 goes into hibernate at 20%, which is what it does.

(lil background::: x60 purchased 4/07 :: Sony battery pack :: 130 cycles :: FRU 93P5030)

any questions?? any ideas??

[Harryc]

I don't have an answer as to why Windows and Power Manager differ in readouts, but every time I've seen a sharp falloff like that in battery capacity it is due to one or more dead cells in the battery. In other words...replace it.

[dmatko]

i would, but i recently ran the battery gauge reset thats offered in the power manager menu. the battery now seems to hold the charge and not drop off drastically anymore. however, it only now charges up to 70% under the windows power meter readout, and 100% for the thinkpad power manager readout. the funny thing is, both readouts give me about the same time in terms of "estimated use" i can get out of the battery. EX:: i can get 2hrs 39min at 38% according to power meter (windows), and approximately the same time (2hrs 28min) is calculated but at 54% for the Thinpad power manager utility. overall runtime after running the gauge reset has yielded a drop to 4+ hours totally charged. another interesting point is that the gauge has now dropped my total full charge capacity to 52.42 Wh from a factory new 74.88 Wh. a future battery is definitely on my "to get list", but for now, i think im just gonna go with whats still here. im most likely going to stay away from the lenovo packs and end up with one of these http://forum.thinkpads.com/viewtopic.php?f=12&t=81968 after seeing a 3 year warranty. im hoping they start producing an X60 version, and some people post up reviews/experience with them to see what to expect.

!!!EDIT:: i woke my system from hibernate, and noticed i was having issues with my wireless connection. i restarted, but it didnt fix the problem, so i shutdown completely. after turning it back on, the meters both seem to be synced again. i now have 28% reading from both readouts, and 1h 28min of use. i guess a shutdown reset? both meters and synced them to one another.

[jimmy274]

Hate to bring up old topics, but same story here - x60s, Sony 8-cell battery, even the gauge is the same - 52.42 after reset. I do try to extend the battery by cycling it more, and I always drain it completely - I have about half an hour on 0%. Seems that Sony batteries are weird...

[tim S]

In my experience it doesn't take long for laptop batteries to start loosing power. After a few charges on a new battery the amount of time it lasts seems to drop 10 to 15%. Six months to a year later its started on its inevitable down hill slide.

Tim S