T43 (15" flexview/2ghz) unhappy with battery life/keybo

[trikster2]

Note: Edited the title to be more specific.

***************************************

Long time listner, 10th time caller.

Finally broke down and ordered a T43 for the wife (model 2686M7U)

Reason I went with a T43, is that Lenovno still has decent non-widescreen 15" notebooks. Other vendors such as dell seem to be abandoning that format to the lowest of the low end.

I thought she would love it, especially since I'm upgrading her from a 600 mhz P3 Compaq Presario (1800T or something).

Spec for spec the T43 blows her Compaq out of the water but she keeps on going back to her compaq.

Major complaints:

Keyboard: Clacks too loud. Finger nails get caught (didn't on the presario). "Does not feel good".

Touchpad: Feels funy

Battery life: Unaceptable (to her). Under two hours (claims she got 4 hrs on her 15" presario, have a hard time believing that, but she's the boss).


I've read all the faqs, I can change the keyboard, and get a ultrabay battery (how much time will that give me?) which may address her concerns.

Question 1:
Unclear if the 15" T43's ships with the longest life battery? Is there a longer life battery than the one they ship with (other than the ultrabay).

Question 2:
Any recommendations for battery life

Question 3:
How much more time will the ultrabay battery give a 2ghz 15" T43? (say for word processing)

Question 4: If I decide to perform keyboard surgury which keyboard do I want for minimum noise?

Thanks in advance for any help you can give this T43 on the verge of being sent back to lenovno.

(comments such as you should have got the 14" if you wanted battery life are not helpful. My wife has used a 15" for the past 3 or 4 years and does not want to downgrade on her next laptop. Battery life on antique 15" was acceptable, no reason latest and greatest shouldnt be too).

Thanks again

[Steve007]

Women are never happy. File for divorce

Moderator edit - This is unhelpful and a borderline troll. The least you could do is try to answer the question. Consider this a warning. - K. Eng

[nrj45]

Under 2 hours isn't normal. You have a problem somewhere :
- battery defect
- bad power management

I think adding the ultrabay battery won't change the things a lot

[hoya]

the M7U ships with a 6-cell battery, but you can buy the optional 9-cell battery which sticks out the back (for pictures see http://www.laptoplogic.com/reviews/ibm/81/4/1/ )

the best keyboard is made by NMB in thailand. use this page to lookup the parts that shipped with your system (you might already have an NMB keyboard, but i doubt it):
http://www-307.ibm.com/pc/support/site. ... sLookup.vm

I would also take a look at the Power Manager application and adjust some settings in order to maximize battery life. also keep in mind that conditioning the battery a few times (letting the battery drain to 5% or so) should improve battery life as the cell calibrates.

[JaneL]

I thought she would love it, especially since I'm upgrading her from a 600 mhz P3 Compaq Presario (1800T or something).

Spec for spec the T43 blows her Compaq out of the water but she keeps on going back to her compaq.

Did your wife agree with buying a TP instead of an HP/Compaq, or did you make the choice alone? Notebooks, particularly keyboards, are a very personal item. It sounds like she is used to the HP/Compaq ergonomics, and since that difference is grating on her nerves, she's noticing other things that would normally just be minor things.

Return the TP, and buy her an HP. It won't be exactly like what she had, but it will be closer if you stick to the business lineup.

[K. Eng]

Under 2 hours doesn't sound right. That would mean the average power consumption of the unit is greater than 25 Watts.

The 15" T43 does use a flexview display, which accounts for some of the shorter battery life, but it shouldn't add a huge amout.

Run the T43 on battery and check the power consumption in the IBM Power Management software. Things to check: is CPU speedstep enabled? Is WiFi on when it is not needed? What is the display brightness?

[fefland]

I agree wit Hoya about the keyboard. Sounds like you got an ALPS. I had gotten the same keyboard and found that my fingers were getting hung up on keys, the track point was too stiff, too clickety clackety, and the track point buttons creaked (left red button). I still have noise under the arrow keys, but I think something between keyboard and chassis it sits on will remedy that. Just call tech support, say the keyboard is unusable, and request the NMB keyboard, and they should send one out. Do a parts lookup to ensure that you don't have the NMB already. Write down the FRU for the keyboard you have because they will want that. The keyboard really makes a difference.

As for battery, I usaually plug mine after hour and a half. If I had to guess, it probably would only last about 2 1/2 hours max. Then again, I have never let it run down completely to see.

If it is supposed to last longer than that, I would like to know how. Set it to low performance in power settings?

[trikster2]

Thanks for the helpful and not so helpful replies.

Helpful:

IBM makes a 9 cell that sticks out, laptop shipped with a 6 cell.


Question: I've seen pictures of the 9 cell sticking out on the 14" laptop but did not know it stuck out on the 15" laptop too. Does anyone use this sticking out battery? Is it as annoying as it sounds?

Helpful: Identify current keyboard, if ALPS replace with NMB. Thanks, will have the wife check, not sure if I will go through the trouble if she is dead set on sending it back.

Helpful: Under 2 hours indicates a defect.

Question: Even using wireless nonstop, and with the power hungry 15" IPS/Flexview screen?
Anyone using the T43 w. a 2ghz CPU and 15" flexview screen verify longer than 2 hrs with moderate usage.

Not so helpful (but thanks for taking time to reply): Return the TP, and buy her an HP.

Well that's a first for thinkpads.com!

Ergonmics of current HP/Compaq Presarios are nothing like her 4+ year old Compaq. I've tried out the keyboards/touchpads on the latest crop of presarios and they feel nothing like her antique keyboard/trackpad (which is actually quite good).

Given our past experience with Compaq quality and HP support even if the keyboards on the 15" non-widescreen models where perfect I doubt we would go compaq/hp again.

Speedstep: Shouldn't this be enabled by default?

Thanks again for all the replys. Any experience with T43/802.11g/2ghz/15" flexview 6 cell battery life would be appreciated.

[JaneL]

Not so helpful (but thanks for taking time to reply): Return the TP, and buy her an HP.

Well that's a first for thinkpads.com!

Ergonmics of current HP/Compaq Presarios are nothing like her 4+ year old Compaq. I've tried out the keyboards/touchpads on the latest crop of presarios and they feel nothing like her antique keyboard/trackpad (which is actually quite good).

I'm sorry you didn't find my response helpful, however you also didn't read it very well. I said to stick to HP/Compaq's business line. I did not say to buy her a Presario. Presarios are their consumer line and not at all comparable to a ThinkPad.

And it's not a first for thinkpads.com. I have told people several times in the past to buy something else (usually Apple) because from what they wrote, they really want the other product. As I said in my original message, notebooks are very personal items. What suits one person is completely wrong for someone else. You need to find a notebook that is right for your wife, not you.

[trikster2]

Nonny

Maybe I did not make it clear, she currently has/likes a consumer non-business compaq presario, HP's business line may or may not be any more palatble then IBMs or Dells or whatevers business line. None of them are going to be similar to her antique consumer laptop from yesteryear. Buying an HP business line at this point will be just as much of a crap shoot as buying the thinkpad. If we end up returning the thinkpad I'm not sure what we will do, maybe just take her to a compusa and tell her to pick something.

Seriously considering the new 9cell battery model #92P1102 It has a little more umph that the old 9 cell, if it could give her something near 3 hrs I think she would be happy.

The problem is I want her to have a bright 15" (non-wide) screen with a good resolution. She will use this machine for at least the next 3 or 4 years and I don't want her wasting her eyes on a washed out low res display. Finding a good screen on a consumer 15" is not easy, pushing me into the business lines. As I type this I realize there is another alternative, the original Toshiba Quismo was a 15" with a decent screen/keyboard., unfortunately I think that line (like everything else) went wide last year...

The problem with "business line" laptops such as lattitudes, thinkpads, and HPs are that it is hard to find and test them out for the average consumer.

I did spec out the thinkpad according to my wife's (not my) exact requirements which where basically: "something with a good 15" screen a good keyboard, a burner and I don't care about the graphics". Sounds like a thinkpad to me on all accounts. If I was buying her something based on what I want, she would be using an M70 right now or some other wide screen laptop that has decent graphics (that is: not a thinkpad). I'm very surprised her major complaint is the keyboard. And it is not the erogonomics/layout of the keyboard that is a problem (for example she does not miss the insert key by the spacebar), her problem is that the keyboard is "too clackity", "feels weird" and her fingernails get caught on the keys. I chose the specific model listed above because at the time it was the only model listed on the EPP web site that was listed as "in stock". As fate would have it she broke her antique compaq in the middle of a thesis and I did the best I could given her requirments at the time. However, I failed! (note that At the time she did not mention battery life as a requirment, she only recently started taking her laptop into school when she discovered the wonders of wireless).

[motodude]

Don't forget Centrino Hardware Control, this helped my T42 with 15" flexview .

Also I find the comment made by Steve007 repugnant. This is thinkpads.com Steve, we are here to discuss thinkpads, not read sarcastic comments that may or may-not be funny. I was once told I was a funny guy, but would never dream of displaying such a profound lack of respect for such a serious subject as thinkpads.
You lack moral fiber Steve, in your humorous attempts you not only bring disgrace upon yourself, but all thinkpad fearing disciples. For guidance the mods have some pamphlets to acquaint you with our dogma, I really wish I could help you Steve but.....well i just feel so dirty right now. Later.

Rule-1 Never laugh in the presence of a thinkpad!
Rule-2 Levity in a forum such as thinkpads.com is unexcuseable!
Rule-3 When your thinkpad says NO it means NO!

[cj3209]

Funny guy, that motodude...

In any case, here are some possible solutions:

- don't know why a TP keyboard would 'clack;' you may need to slip a piece of cardboard under the keyboard to silence it; or call IBM SUPPORT and have them mail you another one;

- call IBM Support and have them send you out a new battery since it's obviously defective and/or get an extended battery - I use one on my T43p (14") and while it does stick out on the back it's not that bad (just make sure your wife's case fits with it on);

- your wife may be setting the brightness level at the max; I rarely use the max. brightness settings;

- check to make sure the battety setting is not at MAX PERFORMANCE;

- she's going to have to get used to her new notebook, no matter what she uses...apple, HP, Dell, etc...

Good luck!

[Kyocera]

I agree with nonny, seems like laptops are very personal items, you have to want to pull it out of the case, you can't wait to fire it up and just marvel at it's cool black look. While it should meet your immediate needs I think we are all always thinking about ways to make it better, fit our personalities. This is an on-going metamorphosis from the first time we push the power button, maybe even an obsession like a Mac user. Never thought I could be in that class but I just bought another T series.
My personal opinion (from what I read in your post) is that she really enjoyed her other laptop, sounds like it fit her. On the other hand if she has to use it for a while maybe she will appreciate the coolness of it and alas might be a member of this forum. At any rate you have 30 days to unload it and get your money back, that should be enough time to get her hooked.

[darrenf]

Some programs (Access '97 comes to mind) use a polling loop that will juice the processor of every free cycle and run your battery use well over 25Watts. Other programs that seem to do this include Java (don't leave the IBM website up when running on battery ) and Media Player. Running heavy 3D games on battery is bad in all sorts of ways.

As cj said, keep the screen brightness down when you don't need max. Unless you changed the default in the BIOS, though, the machine won't let you run on max brightness when you're off AC.

I suggest that you pull Battery Information up on the screen (click on the Battery Maximizer Gauge in the system tray and choose Battery Information) and watch "Battery 1 - Discharging Wattage" while performing typical work. See if you can identify a task that is driving the power usage up. Report back on the typical wattage use.

-darren

[Navck]

I got 2 hours/12 minutes battery life left when I have my battery at 86% with undervolting/minimal ATI power... Thats ofcourse with evil programs such as "XFIRE" (Ugh, friends bother me to get it, I'm killing it off my harddrive) Wireless off.... So its pretty average (Screen at level 5?) Dynamic switching.
From what I know, thats pretty good, I see the average laptop getting 30 minutes.
And the 4 hours is under nomimal conditions, which my friend's R52 got to 3 hours (Not bad.)

[RukRem]

has NO idea..........
but seriously, check your power management settings....
turn the screen down, reduce the processor speed, no reason why you cant get 4 hours....

[trikster2]

Centrino Hardware control? Turn the speed of the CPU down.

Since she is upgrading from a 600Mhz this is definitely an area I can attack to extend battery life.

Looks like Centrino hardware control is a 3rd party freeware app that looks a little scary.

Does IBM or Intel have official Thinkpad sanctioned software to throtle that 2ghz beast?

Screen brightness: She figured that out but does not like it dim.

Clacking. Basickly when the keys bottom out it makes a loud sound, does not sound like a broken keyboard just a loud keyboard. Still undecided if I should go so far as changing out the keyboard.

She does say it is growing on her but has other minor gripes: The touch pad is too rough, touchpad buttons are to small, and now of all things: It does not have any zoom/pizaz (her old presario had a silver top). Sheeez. the things I go through to make her happy.....