What would be considered reasonable battery life for a laptop?

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milomak

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Surfing the net basically from the time power disconnected from full battery?
 
This totally depends on the spec of your machine. Dual Core, high end graphics card loads of memory etc. I would say 150 min is very reasonable. You must remember the more techno up to date junk in your truck :p the more power it uses so the less time you will have to play around with it.
 
Dual Core (not C2D) with 15.4" inch screen. nothing fancy about it really.
 
Surfing the net should give you about 2-3 hours of time. This also depends on what kind of wireless card you're using or if you're using LAN and what mode you're running it on (Power saver, High performance, balanced, etc.)

From your average notebook with a simple dual core running a 802.11b/g wireless module you can expect around 2.5 hours. My current notebook can push that up to 3 sometimes but that's on the rare occasion.
 
Also depends on the notebook specs. LED LCD or not, SSD or not, OS, how many cells in battery, etc.

Could you rephrase the question?

I wouldn't buy a notebook that offered less than 90 minutes of heavy usage.

My notebook consistently offers between 3 and 5 hours. 9 cell battery, LED backlit LCD, integrated graphics, C2D T5800 @ 2.0GHz with Intel SpeedStep.
 
Depending on the CPU installed, anything from 2-4 hours. I consistently get 4 hours from my laptop with the wireless enabled and browsing. Core Duo T2300 with Speedstep enabled, 6 cell battery, Intel GMA950 graphics, CCFL backlight LCD and Intel 3945 ABG wireless network card. The best figure with wireless disabled was just over 6 hours.
 
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i get just under 8 hours browsing net only, on vaio vgn-t1xp...around 4 yr old laptop, but this is extreme...i would consider normal to be 3hrs+ as a good result
 
Gateway FX P7805

Centrino 2 P8400 core 2 duo
Nvidia 9800m GTS
4gig Ram
320 gig HDD 7200RPM
1920 x 1200 WUXGA display
Wireless - n Draft
9Cell bat

Performance mode(gaming, audio processing): 3h 15min
Power saver mode( great for surfing etc) +-4 hours

R11 500
I think its not too bad :)
 
milomak,
Hehe. I'm guessing you're getting about 10 min battery life? I have the HP 500 and it had (not at all exaggerated) 20 seconds of power. My dad has the same as you and it had about 10 minutes battery power. This is obviously after a few years of usage - mine by a not too interested secretary...

Anyway, we both just replaced our batteries (R900 each) and right now after my first full charge Windows says 90 minutes, but that could vary quite a lot from what it actually will be.

I'll give you the email/for the guys that I got the batteries from. They can also replace the cells in your existing battery for about R500 if your circuitry isn't broken.
 
carderne said:
milomak,
Hehe. I'm guessing you're getting about 10 min battery life? I have the HP 500 and it had (not at all exaggerated) 20 seconds of power. My dad has the same as you and it had about 10 minutes battery power. This is obviously after a few years of usage - mine by a not too interested secretary...

Anyway, we both just replaced our batteries (R900 each) and right now after my first full charge Windows says 90 minutes, but that could vary quite a lot from what it actually will be.

I'll give you the email/for the guys that I got the batteries from. They can also replace the cells in your existing battery for about R500 if your circuitry isn't broken.
Click to expand...

i am getting about an hour. Part of the problem is that I had a heating problem for a long time which would sometimes cause the laptop to overheat and shutdown. i am guessing such a thing might have some impact on the battery.

but provide me with that email.
 
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