T400s/T410s battery life - current T42 owner

Hi guys!

I'm a happy owner of a T42, I've been using it for 6 years now and I think it finally is time to upgrade.

I've been using my laptop with 9-cell battery protruding from the back and I've been very happy with it, and I was considering taking a plunge and ordering T410 with 9-cell too... but I am tempted to go with T410s route and have something lighter and more portable.

I've read a lot of reviews of T400s (which is not that much different, apart from the i5 processors) and I am somewhat concerned about battery life. Different reviews, different opinions.

My current T42 can go for 3:30 - 4:00h with mediocre use (display at 70 - 80%, browsing the web with wireless on, doing some software development with text editor). Is achieving such time on T400s (and T410s, but noone has them yet perhaps) unreasonable? Or shouldn't I be worried?

And what should I expect of additional battery inside Ultrabay? I don't really need a CD, so I'm considering buying one.

Many reviews rave about more than 8 hours of worktime with T400 and 9 cell battery... I don't really need that much. Everytime I would need more than 4 hours, I will have an A/C adapter with me. I am however seriously afraid of getting a - quite pricey, to be honst - machine that will last for less than 3 hours of worktime.

If that would be the case, I would fall back to T410 with 9-cell route and have the same size I have now (or maybe T410 is bulkier than T42? It seems so from the photos).

I'd be very grateful for any input from actual owners of T400s - it's always better to have an opinion of a real user, and not syntetic benchmarks from reviews.

It's sooo hard to decide between traditional ThinkPad, or the slim series...


Thanks a lot!
M.

 

i can get about 4 to 4.5 hour of use out of mine T400s with 6 cells with wireless on, running Win XP. Yes the T410 is slightly bulkier than the T42 from what i can see from the spec sheets. Don't get the ultrabay battery, just get another 6 cells if you need more battery time.

You should be able to get by with one 6 cells battery fully charged.

 

Thanks! That seems satisfactory enough, and having two 6-cells is a possible way to go too. The only drawback is I'd have to power off to swap the batteries.

With my T42 to get 4 hours I usually gradually dim the screen towards the end, and enable "Power saver" mode - I think achieving similar runtime on T410s should be easily possible then.

I'm glad you also noticed that T410 might be bulkier - I thought something was maybe wrong with me.


Thanks for your time!
M.

 

it is only slightly bulkier in appearance, but it should be quite similar. The problem with the ultrabay battery, is that it is always used up first, and the cost of which is comparable to the 6 cells for half as much power.

 

Oh, you're right. I forgot that UltraBay is used first - that would perhaps wear off the battery pretty quickly. I could insert it only when needed... but hey, that's not a really comfortable thing to do.

I think I'll go with T410s then, when it comes to market. I'm quite frankly getting tired of carrying 2.7kg with me all the time.

Or maybe find a good deal on T400s? The performance leap with i5 is not dramatic... but that's another topic entirely.


Thanks for your reply!
M.

 

>> I think I'll go with T410s then, when it comes to market.

I thought it already came... (but where?)

Probably a good idea to wait for a review first .

>> I'm quite frankly getting tired of carrying 2.7kg with me all the time.

Also me: I am carrying an HP dv4000. which together with its cable is almost 3.5 Kg. I am waiting for the T410s.

avi

 

HP dv laptop is probably one of the worst laptops ever, they are fragile and constantly plagued by thermal management issues.

 

Oh yeah, it did - but the first batch was sold out almost immediately. Next one is rumored to come in early March (am I right?). Still no reviews (and as you mentioned - I will certainly wait for one).


M.

 

I don't understand why they stopped producing the T400s, while they are still producing the T400/500. I'd really like to get either a T400s or T410s but none is available :S

 

You sure they are producing them and not just selling the left-over stock? Maybe the stock of T400s was much smaller (as the machine was not THAT popular as T400/T500)? Just guessing.

 

I didnt know that this was the case. Are there any workarounds to this?

 

>> HP dv laptop is probably one of the worst laptops ever, they are fragile and constantly plagued by thermal management issues.

Er, yeah .. I have personal experience of that. I went to a client to see a new project, and I did a multimedia recording of the customer demo-ing his new GUI. Things were ok for an hour or two, but the laptop was getting very hot.

Then it just turned itself off ... right in front of my client... :cry:

I have to be thankful that the client didn't just kick me out.

 

There are some T400s available for <$1000 at the Microsoft store ( story, store). It's a generally solid config at a good price (they have the x301 for a good bargain as well). The only major downside is that it ships with a 5400RPM HDD; I would highly recommend an SSD (1.8") as an upgrade.

 

Unfortunately, I have limited possibilities of buying from them - I'm located in Central Europe. In terms of notebooks it is quite sad, because Thinkpads are considerably more pricey here than in USA. Thanks for the info anyway!

It means some T400s are in still stock somewhere.

M.

 

No. The only way is to monitor the charge and eject the UltraBay battery before it is entirely depleted.

 

Git your T400s while the gittin's good:

http://store.microsoft.com/microsoft/Lenovo-ThinkPad-T400s-2801-AQU/product/F56F2689

I'm vexed because I missed an even better sale a couple weeks back. T400s was going for $929.

 

yea...i am actually very disappointed about that....