t43-question before purchase

Hello,
I was able to get EPP through a friend at IBM and will be buying the T43 (2686DGU) shortly. I would like to wait for the T60, but I think it will be priced out of my range for similar specs. Anyhow, my question is concerning an extra battery. Ideally I would have liked to configure the laptop with a single 9 cell battery but that wasn't an option. I will have occasional travelling from time to time involving flights of 5-7 hrs. I would like to pass that time by watching anime and t.v shows off the harddrive.

So my questions is with the proper power saving options, how long could I realistically watch my shows for? Would it be better to burn the a dvd or cd and use the optical drive? I'm trying to avoid having to buy another battery just to use for those few times, but will get it if I can only get like 2hrs or so with one battery. Thanks for your help.

-Paul

 

Yeah i think 2- 2.5 with DVD, maybe up to 3.5 hr with the HD.

Not sure though, it also depends on how large your screen is.

 

It's the 14" - 1400 X 1050

 

I tried running down the 9-cell battery on my Z60M last night by playing a DVD (if it makes a difference, it was a B&W film; hey, don't bite my head off if that comment is stupidly unnecessary) at maximum brightness. It made it all the way through the DVD with time for a defrag (granted, I don't have much on the hard drive yet). I think, if I had been consistent in my use of it, the battery would have been good for 4+ hours - and that's on a larger, brighter screen.

Best,
Howie

 

You can always buy the battery latter as funds become available. Ripping the discs to your hard drive will help as hard drives consume less power. Turning off WiFi will help as well. My T42 goes about 6-6.5 hours with the nine cell and modular batteries with WiFi on and medium settings. Mine is the 15" so a smaller screen will help.

 

newegg has the 9 cell for ~$140 USD iirc. you could also consider saving some of the movies to a flash drive, should consume even less power than the HD, assuming the interface is fast enough.

 

Thanks everyone for your input, I decided to add an extra 9 cell battery with my order, it was listed as $157 cdn in the accessories section which seems to be as good a deal as anywhere.

-Paul