Thinkpads Forum

Hi.
This will be my first laptop.
Primarily a desktop power user so please excuse any stupid questions I may ask.
I am thinking of purchasing ThinkPad T530

A few questions please:

1) I understand when recharging the battery, for this model, it should always remain attached to the laptop?
Is that correct?
2) If I wanted to run this notebook purely from the AC power cord w/o battery. How would I accomplish this?
If the battery remains attached to the laptop.

I will be traveling to Asia, using my laptop mainly WIFI connections/
My purchasing bundle will include wireless adapter “Intel Centrino Ultimate-N 6300 AGN”.
3) Any problems with the T530 laptop, regarding WIFI connectivity I should be aware of? Is it stable?

4) Finally, how much battery life from T530 notebook (your best guesstimate) would I get on a 6 cell battery?
Use the laptop for web surfing, reading newspapers and watching movies twice a week. Very little multi-tasking.
Should I buy a 9 cell battery?

Thanks.
TC.

tomx2 wrote:Hi.
This will be my first laptop.
Primarily a desktop power user so please excuse any stupid questions I may ask.
I am thinking of purchasing ThinkPad T530

A few questions please:

1) I understand when recharging the battery, for this model, it should always remain attached to the laptop?
Is that correct?
2) If I wanted to run this notebook purely from the AC power cord w/o battery. How would I accomplish this?
If the battery remains attached to the laptop.

I will be traveling to Asia, using my laptop mainly WIFI connections/
My purchasing bundle will include wireless adapter “Intel Centrino Ultimate-N 6300 AGN”.
3) Any problems with the T530 laptop, regarding WIFI connectivity I should be aware of? Is it stable?

4) Finally, how much battery life from T530 notebook (your best guesstimate) would I get on a 6 cell battery?
Use the laptop for web surfing, reading newspapers and watching movies twice a week. Very little multi-tasking.
Should I buy a 9 cell battery?

Thanks.
TC.

1) You can use the laptop to charge the battery and then you can remove it from the system at any time. I don't see a reason why you would need to do that but it's perfectly possible if you wish. As a tip, never store the battery with a low charge for extended periods of time. It may sound counter-intuitive but lithium ion battery degrade much faster that way. If you're requiered to store it should be with about 40% of charge and you should check it periodically so it doesn't go beyond 20% or so.

2) When attached to the system the battery is always available for use. However, you can configure the charging threashold (in the power manager) so it begins charging at a low point, such as 50%. This will essentially disable it most of the time it's plugged in and will prolong the life of the battery by avoiding repeated charge and discharge cycles.

3) From what I know there are no issues about the 6300 AGN. Mine has the 6205 model, which is essentially the same minus one antenna and works flawlessly (I use Windows 7).

4) Battery life from the T530 and a six cell battery should be about 4.5 - 5 hours. Web browsing is a light task compared to vide decoding. When watching a movie it will last less depending on where it is stored. If is a file in the hard drive I estimate around 3.5 hours. If you're reading a DVD then we're speaking more about 3. Battery life depends on what you're doing and how the laptop is configured. Lowering the screen bridghtness increases battery life significantly, for example.

Hello and welcome to the forum

1) There are two ways to recharge the battery. The first method is to have the battery in the laptop and attach the AC adapter to the notebook and to a wall outlet.

The second method is to use an external battery charger:
http://support.lenovo.com/en_US/product ... MIGR-61244

2) If you have the battery in the notebook and the AC adapter attached to the notebook and to a wall outlet, the notebook will use power from the AC adapter and will not drain the battery.

4) Lenovo claims up to 7.7 hours battery life from a 6-cell in an T530 with Optimus graphics. This is probably when the notebook is running idle, the battery is new and at a somewhat reduced display brightness. T530 models with Intel HD Graphics 4000 and new 6-cell batteries are specified at up to 9.1 hours battery life. When you use the laptop for watching movies, battery life will be less that these numbers. Battery life will also decrease over time.