X31 battery life, outdoor use (sunlight)?

[elray]

I've had my $300 X31 for a few months now, and other than that occasional odd IRQ BSOD crashing phenom, I am most pleased.

As my work places me more and more away from home, I find that outdoor use and battery life are starting to become an issue.

Most of the time, I find that even in the shade, the screen is barely visible even at the highest setting. Is there a "outdoor" viewing setting that is optimal? Some kind of filter overlay screen? Or am I just stuck?

My slim battery estimates 2 hours of use, but always panics and shuts down after about 50 minutes, even if I'm not outside, and the brightness is dimmed. I'm not viewing videos or playing games, just doing Office stuff and some light browsing via WiFi.. Is this normal? Is there a good tool to measure battery life/usage?

(Our local Starbucks took away most of the AC outlets, so battery counts. (Yes, SBUX detractors, I know all the barbs, but I only pay $1.50 for a much-needed cup, and thats actually less than our local donut shop charges, and they don't have complimentary WiFi and they're too cheap to turn on the air conditioning.))

Thanks for your advice.
Mo.

[ajkula66]

Your battery should give you more than what you're getting, but that also depends a lot on your settings. Brand new battery would likely give you three hours with LCD on high and wireless on, or thereabouts.

As for LCD brightness, and outside visibility, you're stuck. There's no way of improving the behaviour of a TN panel in such conditions.

Good luck.

[elray]

As for LCD brightness, and outside visibility, you're stuck. There's no way of improving the behaviour of a TN panel in such conditions.

Does an X40/41/60/61 do any better?

I'll stick to finding myself indoors somehow, but at times, this is, surprisingly, a real limiting factor.

[ajkula66]

All of these non-tablet LCDs leave a lot to be desired IMHO, and have pretty much the same issues.

I've liked the screen on X61s a little better than the rest of them, it may just be my eyes which are pretty bad altogether.

[Neil]

I've used several different thinkpads on my breakfast table, right next to large, east facing french doors, and seem to get by OK. Yet when actually outside, or in the car, I find the display almost useless.

What do folks use outside, and in the auto, that is bright enough?

[gator]

What do folks use outside, and in the auto, that is bright enough?

Certain Toughbook models have VERY bright screens that are very usable outside. They';ll cost you a kidney though

[Neil]

Certain Toughbook...They';ll cost you a kidney though

Ouch! I'll just wait 'till I can get outta the sun.

[godling]

Certain Toughbook...They';ll cost you a kidney though

Ouch! I'll just wait 'till I can get outta the sun.

Or get yourself one of these:
http://www.vuzix.com/iwear/products_vr920.html for $399 ...

Never used them myself, but I'm always curious about what someone else says.

-godling

[fschwep]

If I remember correctly, you can change the screen brightness settings in the BIOS by logging on as system supervisor. Normally, it will lower the screen brightness as soon as you go to battery instead of AC power, thus increasing battery life. It's in BIOS setup (F1 when you start up the machine), Config, Display, Brightness. At least that's where it is in my X30.
The explanation in the BIOS says 'If you select High, the LCD brightness will be the same regardless of whether the computer is running on battery power or AC'. I found that on Normal, even with brightness maxed through the keyboard, the screen is still a lot dimmer than when running on AC - i.e. the baseline brightness is reduced so much that on battery, maximum brightness is hardly as bright as a low brightness setting on AC.
It's still not superb, but far more useable outdoors when it is set to High in the BIOS setup.
I got this tip through the forum quite a while back...