Underclocking T61

Sorry if this question seems to be redundant and weird but I am a former Asus laptop owner (Pentium M 2.73ghz) who just got his T61 today. I just briefly disconnected the AC to check approximately how much battery life I'll be getting with the T61 and it showed:
-around 4 hours at level 1 brightness, wifi on, optical drive + bluetooth off, lowest performance (according to the power manager), reduced display refresh rate, while doing nothing.
-3hr23mins at the same settings surfing websites.

Coming from my Pentium M where I got at least 4hr 30mins using notebook hardware control, I'm a bit disappointed. My T61 came with a 6-cell. I tried running notebook hardware control and it doesn't seem to be able to underclock my processor (T7300, 2.0ghz).
Is the power manager automatically underclocking my processor for me when I put it at lowest performance? Is there some sort of program similar to Notebook Hardware Control that works with the T61 in vista? All i'm asking for is 4 hr battery life while typing in microsoft word + limited surfing, which was more than realistic with my previous laptop or will I have to buy that ultrabay battery and sacrifice my optical drive to get some decent battery life?

Thanks~

 

I wouldnt underclock the processor chip, you will see a major loss in proformance, i would say just go buy a 8 or 12 cell battery for it, I've been hearing that someone is trying to make a 24hour battery, just 2 let u know, Hope I could Help!

 

You can't undervolt--the core series chip have the lowest multiplier locked at 0.95V.

Your best bet is to get a bigger battery if you want more battery life.

 

what bigger battery solutions exist? Any resellers in Canada, preferably Ontario? I've only heard of up to 7-cell battery for the T61?

 

Isn't there a 9-cell as well as a media bay battery? There is for the T60...

 

not sure..where can I check :S

 

I believe Santa Rosa processors already have their own undervolting technology of their own. On battery power, I see my processor voltage varying quite a bit. Underclock as in reduce the Ghz? I think the Thinkvantage power manager is the best bet. You have more things to do than fuddle with obscure programs.

Anyways, battery life is a known con of t61s. I think that on some reviews the response to the battery life overall was "meh."

 

the 9-cells are for SXGA 4:3 screens.

i know there is a 7-cell for the widescreens.
and u can also get an ultrabay battery, but for the price, you might as well buy another 7-cell.

 

The T61 15.4" 16:10 (widescreens) have 6-cell and 9-cell options.

 

i should've added, I have the 14.1" widescreen version so I guess I'm stuck getting an ultrabay battery and sacrificing the optical drive *sigh*

 

The Ultrabay battery is good for about ~3 more cells of power.

 

It is very easy to swap the ultrabay battery for the optical drive. It is even hot swappable (meaning you don't have to power down to swap them). (click on the link in my sig for a video on how it's done) Also, another nice thing about the ultrabay battery is that you can swap the primary battery for a new one without powering down as the ultrabay battery will keep the lappy running while you swap them.

 

isn't the ultrabay batter (3 cell) the same price as a 7-cell normal battery?

 

I've underclocked laptops before using a program called CrystalCPUID. I don't know if it's still available or updated regularly, but it's worth a look. It allows you to change the multiplier and possibly even voltage, and you can set up a customizable speedstep profile for your CPU.

If you just want to take a look at your processor clocks and voltage in real time, check out a program (if you didn't know already) called CPU-Z.

 

7 cell is $160, the Ultrabay is $120 from Lenovo (I think)

I bought an Ultrabay battery for $95 from www.newegg.com.