y470 Lackluster Battery Life Help

So, I usually have my laptop plugged in, but I am starting to bring it to class since it is required and the wall outlet is usually too far away (no seats available close by). Anyway, all of that aside, the battery life is simply not up to par with my expectations.

I selected the energy star plan and raised the brightness up to 47%. In just 20min my battery goes from 94% to 74%. All I am doing is browsing the web or writing in a word document. I am not watching any movies or playing any games. I am currently timing it and so far it has been 1 hour and 37min and it is down to 26%. I don't understand. Is my battery suppose to last longer than this? Right now it seems like I am bareley going to hit 2 hours . What can I do to help improve my battery life?

Note: I am talking about the regular y470 with nvidia graphics. I am not talking about the y470p.

 

I think something is wrong...i was watching a movie earlier with super energy saver and it lasted 3 hours plus....when I am surfing (when no flash), i can almost push 4 hours plus with 20% brightness and super energy saver.. check you background processes and how long have you had it? if you have it plugged in, it is a good idea to take out the battery (if it 100% already), it will make the battery last a bit longer iimo ...I have had mine since august and the battery life has degraded a bit but it still in good condition..

 

Yeah, I got mine around august as well. I did however, keep the battery in though. My bro has had a y460 longer than my laptop and keeps his battery in as well and he still pushes 3-4 hours. I currently have 78 processes in the background. The only two things i personally have running is Microsoft security essentials and evga precision. My bro has these programs running as well. I believe the rest is from lenovo, nvidia drivers, intel drivers, and other MS os stuff.

 

I also only get about 2 hours from my y470 while web surfing over wifi. I'm getting the impression that there was more than one battery size that shipped with this notebook. My battery is rated at 4.8Wh.