X200 - Battery drain when in standby

Hi,

I have a not so old X200 and have an issue when in stanby mode: the battery drains. I have 2 batteries, one 4 cell and one 6 cell, and both drain while in standby, so I guess it's not a battery hardware problem. I checked and have "instant resume" turned OFF, and I don't see which other option could make this happen. Bios is updated at 2.02.

My 6 cells battery looses about 20% in a night, which seems VERY much to me. It is quite annoying as I'd like to use the 4 cell for my day work, but I loose too much power when it's already not having so much.

So, does anybody have the same problem, or know of a solution? Should I just call Lenovo support?

 

It's normal to lose power while in standby, but 20% on one night does sound high. My E6400 loses around 5% (also a 6-cell battery).

Have you tried calling Lenovo?

 

No, I've not tried calling yet. I wanted to check if there is a "commonly known" issue or things to check. Indeed, the amount of power loss is too big to be "normal".

 

it's ok. i think these sony batteries are not top quality. I changed my original 4 cell battery on my x61. and after 6 months the new batters shows signs of going bad. The good part is that i bought a 9 cell battery that i use whenever i need the laptop and i don't want to get the adapter.

 

Hi,

It's not really OK. I forgot to mention that the 4 cell battery is a month and a half old, the 6 cell is a month old. And showed the drain from the start. Both of them.
If no one has an idea, I'll cal Lenovo tomorrow.

 

amog. i was being sarcastic. sorry. i know it's not ok for your battery to go bad in such a short time. better do that call Lenovo and have them replaced.

 

Try to set "Maximum Battery Life" power management program and check the other day the battery state. Usually, USB ports are up during a standby and sip the battery juice.

 

Try turning off wifi physically and bluetooth off

 

How much RAM do you have (1 or 2 DIMMs)?

The battery must still power the RAM modules during standby to maintain your session. As a result, you will lose a token amount of power when in standby. I generally don't lose more than 5% a night, but it would be a higher percentage with a smaller battery.

I would suggest using hibernate when you plan on not using the computer for several hours. This will prevent the battery drain as the RAM no longer needs to be powered (the system is effectively off).

 

Thanks for all the suggestions. I still feel the amount of power loss is too big to be true.

@iorgus: sorry for not getting the sarcasm

@menos: I'm already on maximimum battery life, and that doesn't really count when on standby? CPU and PCI and PCI-e are all set to save energy, video card as well. I've got nothing connected to the USB. The USB ports are set to be turned OFF to save energy.

@lightbulb: I turn them OFF with the switch on the side of the computer. Is that what you mean? I get the same results with these OFF that way.

@jonlumpkin: I've got 4 Gb on 2 slots. That could explain, but still, doesn't it seem a bit high?

The thing is, I'd love to loose just what's necessary, so that I can be around in the office and enjoy my 4 cell battery the longest possible. Anyway, I prefer using it over the 6 cell for wieght and esthetically matters. I should probably not be such a loli.

I'll try calling Lenovo see what they say. Thanks again for all the help!

 

If you have something called "Wake on LAN" enabled, the computer will turn itself back on to re-register itself on the network. Also make sure you do not have any tasks that could wake the computer up from sleep.