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    x300, why such poor battery life?

    Discussion in 'Lenovo' started by pcharouz, Sep 22, 2008.

  1. pcharouz

    pcharouz Notebook Evangelist

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    I am trying to decide which laptop to get, I really like the x300 but from all the review I've read, it only gets about 4 hours of battery life on the 6 cell, compared to about 5-6 on the t400. To me, this makes absolutely no sense, it has:
    -a low voltage processor
    -a solid state drive(I actually think these eat more power, is this possible? :-( )
    -a smaller screen

    and why havent they made a 9 cell battery for the x300?

    the 6 cell seems like it is flush, what is the size difference between the 3 cell and the 6 cell?
     
    pcharouz, Sep 22, 2008
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  2. jaredy

    jaredy Notebook Virtuoso

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    I don't have experience with the x300...but no SSDs do not eat more power. Tom's Hardware started that stupid rumor with their "testing." You need to double check the actual capacity of the x300 battery. Even if it is 6cell it might not be the same capacity of an t400 or x200 (what I have) battery. Also the processors and chipset are not the new ones out that are lower wattage so that can contribute as well.
     
    jaredy, Sep 22, 2008
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  3. FrozenDarkness

    FrozenDarkness Notebook Deity

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    Well, didn't they quote that you get 10 hours, if you take out the optical drive and put in another 3 cell battery?
     
    FrozenDarkness, Sep 22, 2008
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  4. atavener

    atavener Notebook Enthusiast

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    And there is something I've been trying to find information on... what the watt-hour rating of the batteries are (since n-cell is fairly useless as a value). Or, even better, what kind of power draw the laptop has in various configurations.

    So I think that's essentially the answer to 'why poor battery life' -- the battery is just low capacity. Although that optional bay battery looks to be much beefier. It'd really be nice to know the actual power these computers eat... and the (nominal) battery capacity. :)

    I was looking at the x301, but now I'm awaiting the release and reviews of the x200s. I'm going to travel for a few years with little more than a notebook computer and want one I can power with solar -- preferably less than 25W. So, as it seems with the topic creator, I was also a bit dismayed at some of the x300/301 reviews... but I don't really know what power it tends to draw, which is what I'm really interested in, rather than particular battery life.
     
    atavener, Sep 23, 2008
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