T400s short battery life

I got my T400s last summer but I always got only two hours out of the battery. I thought, you know, thin-and-light small battery, so that's normal but I read people get four. I figure it's Linux. I have Kubuntu Karmic and nothing is set up too special, the CPU is on Powersave but that's it. So what gives? The CPU is indeed dialed back, the fan never goes on (it only does when i plug in and flash goes haywire). wifi is on. I do not have bluetooth.

 

Generally speaking, linux + powersaving=crap.
That seems about right for running it on linux, but the only way you will be able to get 4 hours or so with your T400s (well, thats not true. You COULD spend a month tweaking nonstop and possibly come close, only to lose all that progress during an update, but still) is to jump to vista or 7.

 

1) Install something newer. In particular the intel graphics driver did progress a lot in the last year.

2) Run powertop and follow its suggestions.

 

chx1975, do not post the same message more than once on these forums. It is bad forum etiquette and against our forum rules. Your other thread has been deleted; thank you.

 

+1 for getting a copy of Windows.

I know it probably goes against some personal values since I assume you chose Linux voluntarily, but Linux just isn't there yet with mobile devices. I think Thinkpad's have proprietary power management drivers for Windows that Linux just can't compete with unless you're a true power user on your Linux distro. There are plenty of people using Linux on Thinkpads but I haven't read of many who consider the battery life a plus for Linux.