ultrabay slim battery worth it?

im looking into getting a t61p, and i was wondering if getting an additional ultraslim battery was worth the extra $119?

also: about how much time does it add?

 

It adds about 30-45 min. Possibly an hour. It wears kind of quickly since it's the first to fully drain before the primary battery takes over.

 

if you use your laptop without AC for long periods of time. It will be worth it

 

No, it's not worth it.

 

AND don't want to use the slimbay for anything else.

 

I like the ultrabay battery. paid 90.00 from newegg. It gets about 1.25 hours on my 14" t61 with nvida. I only use once or twice a week when I go to a meeting. It sits in my bag 50% charged the rest of the time. I do need to remember to put it in and charge it before I leave. Also, I generally dislodge it at about 10% charge to keep it from going completely dead.

Its a bit to keep track of, but for me it beats carrying another battery or an ac adaptor to a 3+ hour meeting.

 

The poor recharge cycles/lifespan of the ultrabay battery put me off acquiring one initially, but you really need to assess how it will work for you. For the price i would just opt for a second full sized battery but if all you need is another 1+ I say go for it.

 

I bought it. Before I could get to the end a class. Now I can use my T61 for 3.5 hours. I don't need to carry the dvd burner so I leave the ultrabay battery in all the time. For me, it made my computer experience that much better!

 

I may be convinced to invest in one of these. I like adding on to my machine. Considering that i rarely use my dvd on the run the ultrabay battery might just be a good option.

 

i give the ultra bay thumbs up. i can a noticeable battery boost with it.

 

If you have the money, buy a second 9 cell. I own an ultra bay and it's alright. It's nice having the built in capacity. But I think the best bang for your buck is another 9 cell.

I do think I disagree with everyone on the charge/discharge pattern causing the faster wear on the ultrabay. I've come to believe it's a different reason that they 'wear' faster then the 9 cell. Or maybe I can agree it's a combination. Full discharges are a tad harsher on a battery then partial discharges over time. However, I think a possibly bigger culprit/weakness in the ultra bay is simply it's small size. At 29.whatever watt hours that it holds the battery is drained at a .5 to 1.5c rate continuosly. I really think it's the high discharge rates that kill this battery fast. If you don't have your power profile set to battery saver the T61p can even pull upwards of 50 watts of power. That would be approaching a 2c discharge rate on the battery. I'm nearly 100 percent convinced that this is more so the culprit of faster battery wear on the ultra bay then discharging it. Li-ion does not like those kinds of discharge rates. Just my opinion however, I can only back it up with what I've read and what I've experienced. I've done no studies on it

So in a nutshell, I'd say get a second 9 cell if you can afford it, or if you want to spend less the ultra bay isn't a bad investment.

 

Well, very interesting information. It means, amongst others, that an ultrabay battery should serve longer in laptops with integrated graphics.

 

One point that should be brought up when talking about any lithium-ion battery is that lithium-ion battery chemistry does, in fact, have a finite lifespan and a Li-ion battery will die even if it's not used at all in about 2-4 years from the date of manufacture of the battery's component cells--not the date of manufacture of the entire assembled battery.

So if the battery was assembled using six month old cells then sat on a warehouse shelf for six more months before it was sold to its first owner, it's already used up one year of life before it even saw its first use.

 

That's true. Always try to see if you can find the 'manufacturing date' on the battery. Considering the recent battery issues worldwide, most batteries should have a fairly recent date, but if as stated above you see a JAN2007 date, you may want to either ask for a discount or swap it out for a newer one.