Why is sony so cheap with longer life batteries?

Heck, I thought Sony was a specialist in laptop batteries and even supplies other makes. A common complaint with Sony laptops if shorter than average battery life. And yet when you look at the battery compartment on most laptops, it is obvious they could easily fit more cells without going to an extended battery.

Come-on Sony, stop being so cheap. It sure would be nice to get an honest 3 to 4 hours for a medium to large size laptop. Two hours and a bit doesn't cut it, especially when you have room for a larger battery.

 

Er, I easily get that and more on every Sony I've owned - including the Z. Battery life for any notebook is largely dependent on how you use your laptop and what settings you turn on or off. Sony ships with 6-cell batteries for the most part.

If you're watching movies, using the hard drive constantly, etc., it'll wear your battery down. None of this is rocket science.

 

Duh, of course battery life is dependent on what you are doing. My point was why not add at least 2 more cells and make battery life competitive with other brands?

I was under the impression that the time remaining quoted by Vista is based on what you are doing at the moment so usage is taken into account. I have a FW and with a fully charged battery and just web surfing with Firefox, it is quoting 2 hrs and a bit. On my HP, it shows 3 hours and a bit, no doubt due to 8 cells vs 6 cells.

So again, why does Sony like to cheap out on battery cells when there is clearly enough room under the laptop? (other than for pure capitalist reasons)

 

It is a 6 cell alright but i do think that Sony was a bit stingy with the batteries that are used in the FW and the SR models.

 

Well, I don't like the battery life of Sony's "large screen" laptop, either, but that's just their philosophy: any laptop with screen larger than 14.1" is no longer considered "mobile" and 15" and above are all considered DTR -- and DTR don't need great battery life. It makes some sense in the crowded metropolitan Tokyo, but not so in typical USA. Still, Sony has been doing this for years and they are not really changing that now...

On the other hand, the less-filled battery pack is probably one of the reason Sony's large laptops are lighter than other competitors...

 

Well, the HP 17" with 8 battery cells and a physically larger screen weighs 6.5 lbs, about the same as the FW170 with 6 cells.

Isn't the extended battery priced at 25% of the cost of the FW laptop?

 

One other possible reason may simply to drive sales towards addon-batteries and accessories (2nd adapter for travel etc) ..good question you've posted. Dell is in my opinion a good example of how it should be done by concenrating on endurance focus in their (recent) marketing campaigns. Sony seemingly positions itself as a 'luxury good' hence in Europe you won't find any bundles or special discounts. That remark about Tokyo is a valid point hence US Citizens are well known to travel / longer distance commute frequently (by plane). Sony US should consider u.o. for that reason to 1. include larger Batteries and -next to the unique high discounts offered (not available in Belgium I can tell you that!) offer bundles (including 2nd batteries, 2nd adapter etc)...if they aren't already.
About bigger laptop - bigger Battery: regardless of typical patterns like smaller screen size addressing traveller vs large screen size addressing Office space (and machine likely to have plugged on anyway), every manufacturer should have a 4,5, 6 and 9 cell Battery available for their machines.

I use my BZ on vaio optimized during 2.5 hours max ..for Office apps..using bluetooth and wlan: not a good deal. Even in 2008, after decades of Battery developments you wouldn't be able to use your machine for whole day. One could also blame Microsoft for focussing on graphical mambo jambo and driving CPU and therefore battery requirements up.

So in order to get longer battery life I could have compromised screen size by opting of a more expensive SR machine or spend another approx. 250 dollar (converted from EURO) anyway on a larger and heavier Battery...OR invest a comparable Amount of working hours in going through the hassle of downgrading to a more pwer efficient XP OS, on top install Firefox and end up again in this forum because I could not find the proper drivers that make the FN key or the touchpad work

 

Sony is notorius for making consumers shell out extra cash for accessories.

They want you to buy their extended cell battery for $299! What a bargain

 

travelspace you are using the same battery that is used in the SR models so i am not quite sure why your battery life is so bad when the SR with integrated graphics uses the same hardware and battery and gets pretty decent battery life.
Try using power saver or Vaio max battery as that will help a little.

Larger laptops like the T61,T400 and the MacBook Pro manage to get decent battery life so it is not to say that larger notebooks cannot get good battery life with standard 6 cell batteries.

 

Just curious...what is considered 'good battery life' for a 6 cell?

 

Actually, when you just ask that question - your right.

My Medion managed to get 1,5 to 2 hours at the most out of its battery,
11.1V at 4400mAh

Then my SZ gets 3 to 4 hours on an 80% charge (battery saver) (closer to 4 hours)

I think "decent battery life" is very subjective.
Anything at home can have a battery life that is only sufficient to carry it once round the house and then needs to be plugged back in - hence desktop replacement, hint -> see desk.

Anything portable is where is gets dodgy...

My SZ 3 to 4 (possibly closer to 4 hours) from an 80% charge, that's good enough for me. Someone else may say they want more.
But then, the SZ is very powerful for its size...

I suppose you can compare across companies to give an idea...

 

DetlevCM wrote, "I think 'decent battery life' is very subjective.
Anything at home can have a battery life that is only sufficient to carry it once round the house and then needs to be plugged back in - hence desktop replacement, hint -> see desk."

I can understand your viewpoint but I would disagree about Sony's assumption that large laptops should be chained to the home. I bought the FW because I wanted a large screen to do real work comfortably and don't mind the weight in terms of portability. It is not always easy to find a power outlet at the airport.

My point is that a large laptop has more room for a larger battery so why not? All it takes for this to change is for a competitor to start marketing larger laptops based on battery life as a selling point. Afterall, this limitation has nothing to do with technical limitations and probably more to do with corporate greed.

 

Power outlet at an airport?
Easier to find than you think
The difficult thing is finding a seat next to it.

(Used some electricity from the mains at Düsseldorf airport once - only worked because it was very early morning, the seats were directly opposite of the socket)

But: Larger Battery means smaller "architecture" for the rest, thus more expensive unit.

Technically it may be possible..but it'll cost more.

 

DetlevCM don't you like run your computer with the sidebar and bluetooth on?
Just out of interest what power profile and brightness level do you use whilst on battery?

jh2 i would say that from a 100% battery charge that 3 hours with wireless on with everything else turned of with meduim to low brightness was average battery life and 4 hours plus i would was good 5+ i would was was very good.

It is partly true what Fender wrote though how you use your computer will affect what battery life you get but when Sony scrimp on the capacity of the battery they give you that is limiting your battery life.

 

I'm willing to pay more. Amortized over the life of the laptop, it is negligible. On the FW at least, there seems to be enough dead space for two extra cells. When you hold the battery in your hand, you can't help feeling that Sony could have really packed more cells and not increased the weight much.


That is what I mean't - finding an outlet that isn't taken. I believe it was Frankfurt airport where I saw a creative user unplug a vending machine to get power

 

@ reachuk

Sidebar - it has some useful features, but overal I find its a nuisance, so I got rid of it.
The power profile - Sony's battery saver plus, however kept Audio running
Bluetooth - switched it off, I'm not really using my bluetooth mouse on the go. WWAN is generally deactivated too.
WLAN - turned on. (also for the university network )
Brightness - varies, the last time I used it for some time on battery (waiting in the university, for 1,5 hours) I had minimum brightness, on other occasions I may use I think up to 5 or 6 of the "brightness-bars"

 

I never had any problems with my TZ when it comes to battery life

 

The thing with lithiums is you don't want to run them too low. With a 3 hour battery life, it's nice to be able to run it at least 2 hours and have an hour buffer at recharge time in order to prolong battery life. With a 2 hr battery, one hour's use with a one hour buffer isn't really enough.

 

Ok then DetlevCM at the brightness levels you use and 80% battery charge is not bad for you to get around 4 hours. If you maxed your battery out at 100% you could maybe add another 40 mins to your battery time.

I have had my laptop since April and my battery is still in perfect shape and i have not enabled the battery care function.
Clearly what you are getting is enough and works for you otherwise you would have disabled the battery care function or lowered your brightness.

I run my computer in Vista's power saver mode, wifi on, BT and WWAN of, level 3/8 brightness, Aero of, Firefox, flashblock and no script, 100% battery capacity but i can manage a little over 6 hours battery life of it just surfing and doing a bit of office work.

Back to the topic there are things that you can do to try and increase your battery life like turn your brightness down to at least half and use Vista's power saver or Vaio max or Ultimate battery. Also you can try turning Aero of and use a flashblock when you surf.

 

Audio running means I don't let my computer switch off the soundcard. The DVD drive gets switched off.

Kaspersky Internet Security does some blocking of ads for me.
(Got my SZ since (early) June, using it since end of June) (waited for me)

Your battery time is truly great on your SZ.

(No Aero on Battery saver plus for me too)

I suppose I could still increase it, but its good enough for me.

 

The battery life i get should be typical using those settings i do on an SZ7/C premium. I don't think that i am alone in getting battery life like that using similar settings and brightness levels at a 100% capacity battery. Maybe if you are ever pushed for battery life one day you could give it a go.

Like i said what you do works well for you so it is best to stick with it unless you find yourself needing more
battery life.

I also do not run any virus protection i don't like what it can do to battery life. Also i do not turn my dvd drive of either but i mute the audio.

 

Well - Kaspersky doesn't use a lot of system resources.

To be honest - I've never had a virus on a computer.
I has a friend with a trojan on her computer and her ICQ was sending out links to it (without her knowing) and once I found a trojan in a patch for a simulation on the Kennedy assassination...

But in the end, it seems as if I don't need it...
But then: Better safe than sorry!