First charge

When I get a hold of my new T60 today, will I have to charge the 9 cell fully before I can turn it on for the first time?

 

Leave it on AC power, and use the notebook at the same time, if possible. That way, it won't be charged too fast, as Lithium Ion batteries don't like that. Congratulations on your new notebook, as well.

 

Mine came with about an 85% charge, so...it probably does not matter. But if you want to play it safe, do what zero said.

 

The AC adapters are powerfull enough to put out the same charging current to the battery with or without the laptop powered on. that said, the charging circuity knows best, and would probably enjoy a full charge the first time. After maybe 10 cycles, drain her till shes empty to calibrate the charge level.

 

You know what? I am so eager to try this thing out that even if it means a month less of life for the battery down the road I will just plug it in and start using it as soon as I am able

 

That isn't entirely true. If you look at the charge time in the manual or some other reference when the notebook is off, against the charge time when on, you should notice that when the notebook is on, the time taken to charge the battery is longer. Even today's AC Adapters aren't powerful enough to charge the notebook at the same rate, be it off or on.

Yes, discharge the battery after a few times of using it. However don't discharge completely, because it can cause the battery damage, and if you discharge to absolutely zero, the bttery will stop working.

 

Laptops usually consume between 13-20 watts of power, and most of the AC adapters are rated for 65 or 90 watts for the larger thinkpads. Charge rates are usually between 15-30 watts depending on how charged the battery is (it tapers off as the battery level gets higher). The only time it wouldn't be able to keep up is if you were using an undersized AC adapter.

 

I agree 100%

Don't worry--just use the laptop, battery technology has gotten pretty good nowadays that it's not something to stress over. Take a look at the battery guide if you want to read more about the issue.

 

I have it!!! I am booting it up for the first time now! It feels really solid - I am impressed. I am also glad I got the 15", even with the 9 cell it does not feel too big at all

 

Yes, I agree with you on this part. However, even Lenovo says that it takes longer to charge the battery according to their website. The link below shows this. Scroll down the page, until you get to Power Management.

http://www5.pc.ibm.com/uk/products.nsf/$wwwPartNumLookup/_UT0F4UK?OpenDocument

 

Thats the European model its different

 

Well my 9 cell came with about 85% charge and I just started using it right away. It charged to 100% pretty quickly too. My biggest complaint with the laptop right now is the trackpad, it's a little too small... but I already knew that.

 

I have not measured it, but to my eye the T60 trackpad is smaller than the one on my T41.
Luckily I only use the pointer

 

I used mine on battery for about an hour before plugging it in..it started at 85% or so, and ended up somewhere in the 60s.

 

I just got a T60 (my first laptop) and was able to see a R51 yesterday. I think those two are the same size, but the new models have the pad flusher to the palm rests, as well as no color trim, so I think it is more an optical illusion.

Cory