What is considered good battery life?

generally speaking, what would be considered good battery life on a laptop these days?

 

Depends what kind of notebook you're talking about.
i.e gaming notebook/business grade notebook etc.

 

what i mean is a notebook just for light use (e.g. taking notes in class or during a meeting). i will be word processing and surfing the web.

 

5 hours+ is good

average say is maybe 3 hours?

 

Good estimated battery time for school/business notebooks is 3:30+ (hrs:mins)

 

I've never had over 2 hours, except on my first laptop, an Averatec, it got about 2.5 hours... I'd be impressed by 3.5 hours. Most people consider 3 to be weak though, but when you consider all that it's powering I'm pretty impressed by it. A Battery runs: Processor, RAM, Motherboard, Graphics Card, Hard Drive, Wireless, Screen Everything!!

 

Probably because I live in the world of integrated graphics.
A 3DMark03 score of over 2k is just...wow.

 

I actually get between 3 and 3.75 hours out of my 8-cell on my 6920G after I did the CPU upgrade. That SuperLFM mode is a godsend.

 

I'm lucky if I get 2.5 hours on my G1s. Usually I can get 2 hours.

 

I can get 6 hours on my 1 1/2 year old 1420 w/ 9-cell battery, with heavy tweaking that is
(lowest brightness, undervolted, underclocked on battery power, vista battery saver, etc.)

But average I would say for a non-gamer laptop is 3-4 hours.

 

wow, that's impressive. 4 hours+? what laptops can get that kind of battery life? i do need dedicated graphics occasionally, but integrated would more than suffice for taking notes. is there any laptop out there with switchable graphics besides the lenovo thinkpad t400/t500? i'm not even sure if switchable graphics is a good idea, but if there's no notebook with dedicated graphics that can get over 4 hours, then i suppose i'll have to go with switchable graphics since purely integrated isn't an option for me.

 

My 1420 has an 8400M GS. So I guess I would get even more than 6 hours with an x3100. Or, it's not that power-hungry of a dedicated card.

 

I get 4 hours easily with the standard 6 cell in my E6400, I can push 5 hours with power save settings.

The 9 cell batteries can approach 8 hours in these machines.

Greg

 

I get 2:20 on my E1505 with 6 cell battery, T7400 cpu
I get about 1:45 on my Voodoo Envy U709
I get about 4:45 on my T61
I get about 6:15 on my Dell Inspiron 8500 2.4 P4M, 2Gb mem, and HM160HC drive (dual battery 9 cell main and 6 cell optical battery)

Good battery life to me is about 3 hours.

K-TRON

 

Divide all those numbers by 2. :whistles:

 

i have (had) around 6h on my 2710p at max. so this is good starting base for the next one.

i'm with leaftye. 24h is doable with actual hp's, so 15+ is fantastic but doable in 'realistic' occations.

 

my 1.5 yrs old packard bell laptop(see sig) lasts 3 hrs on vista with aero on and light use.

 

3.5 to 4 hours on my 6 cell M1530 (Power saver, low screen brightness).

 

do you think it's realistic for me to try getting 4 hours+ on a laptop with dedicated graphics on a non flush battery?

the inspiron 1420 is soo perfect in every way imaginable, except for the 8400m gs, which is on the defective list . if not for that problem i'd own one already.

 

The NBR review of the Inspiron 1420 states that with the screen brightness set to less than half, wireless on, and Vista power settings set to maximize battery life, the 9-cell battery provided 3 hours and 51 minutes of battery life.

Check reviews of the specific computer to see if it is feasible. I'd say such a computer will be a little difficult to find, depending on your budget (you could look for a computer with hybrid graphics).

 

the problem is that i'm having trouble finding such a computer. if you have one in mind, i'd gladly take a look.

 

the new macbook/macbook pro?

lol, I have no idea... I haven't considered buying a new notebook in a long time.


Why don't you start a 'what notebook should i buy' thread and make the title really clear like 'dedicated graphics and 4+ hrs battery life'

 

i already have one such thread and nobody has replied . i didn't want to specify 4+ hours battery life because i was afraid that my options would be limited, but even without that, i think my requirements are too high or something (or are they?). here is the thread:

http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=325791

 

4 hours + of light usage with dedicated graphics and a 9 cell battery should be achievable, but can start to get a bit heavy for carrying around.

Have you considered getting a netbook for your note taking? The Samsung NC10 can manage 6 hours, maybe more.

John

 

I get like 2.5 hours on average.

in heavy usage, it gets less.
in light usage, it gets up to 3 hours.

 

I can usually get 4h+ of battery life on light usage on a 9cell battery with dedicated graphics (wireless off, graphics set to powersaver, lowest screen brightness)

Considering this guy is a bit aged, i'd say if you can get a 9cell battery, that should do it...

 

I think my SZ can now get about 4,5 hours form an 80% charge on the "standard" battery.
(The premium SZ with the 5800mAh 6cell battery)

Minimum I get from 80% is 4 hours on powersaver mode.

 

Gaming laptops usually wont get more than 2 hours 10 minutes, with some exceptions, such as the Gateway P-7811 FX and the Alienware m15x.

 

i've always been intrigued by the capabilities of alienware laptops. having the ability to play high definition video on a 15 inch screen is extremely alluring. unfortunately, the price is as discouraging as the features are alluring, so being on a tight budget means i've had to stay away from alienwares so far.