How Long Does Your Laptop Run On The Battery?

[Magius]

Acer Aspire, 6 months old .... lasts about 3-4 hours on energy saver and about 1-2 normal

[Mohsin Rasool]

2 hours with new battery i just got few month ago.

[seasoned]

Originally Posted by Lloyd Buchinski

I didn't realize that about memory but that makes sense, It would take current to keep it going. For cpu the solid state drive is supposed to be the best, but more expensive and not as large capacity, but think that's what I'm going to get.

RAM DOES use power, but hard disk drives use MORE! If you use the drive a lot, it figures that the SSD will allow the computer to run longer. Besides, the flash, used in the SSD shouldn't draw much power if it isn't used. RAM has to have constant power, and be refreshed, so it is very different. I would get an SSD in like a heartbeat, but the large ones are pretty expensive, and some aren't built well. 8-(

Originally Posted by Lloyd Buchinski

One thing that surprised me was that a 17 inch display had a longer battery life than a 15.4 in display in a model I was looking at. Because you get a battery just as wide as the monitor, and you then have a larger proportion of the battery to run the cpu, memory, etc.

Yeah, that is one of the interesting paradoxes. A larger computer can more reasonably and easily, handle a larger battery, so it has more power. The smaller ones, like MSI, EEE, etc.... would not last NEARLY as long if they didn't cheat!

I have the EEE. It cheats by staging power better, a simpler CPU, lower frequency clock, fewer peripherals, an improved bios AND...... A VERY large battery for it's size. They hide it in the hinge area. They even have an option for a larger battery, though I don't know how THAT would work. Anyway, I can get over 9 hours of reasonable use.

And YEAH, large screens DO draw more power BUT, like you imply, a 2" difference on the screen measurement could mean another 1-2 cells on the battery which means more wattage. And that is MORE than enough to make up for the screen. Of course, larger screens sometimes take the SAME battery, and have MORE peripherals, so.....

Steve

[koolphoto]

My new laptop is an Acer netbook. I get about 5 hours with it. My 1 1/2 year old Toshiba 15.4 inch only gives me at most an hour. I need to buy a new battery but I think I will just retire the laptop because the netbook works just fine.

[keithng]

when first bought my Dell, it last 4 hours ... now after 2 years.. it last only 60 minutes ... and this year, the battery totally dead...

I also need a new battery for Christmas

[semmyw]

only 2 hours because my laptop is old enough. LOL

[Rod Cortez]

I just bought an ASUS laptop and it's battery life varies from 45 minutes to 2 hours (2 hours is when it's on energy saving mode, 45 mins when I'm watching a movie)......

[DrewG]

About 1.5 hours. Getting a new laptop soon though.

[JeffersonB]

My Mac Book Pro lasts around 30 minutes from full to empty... i think a new battery is required!

[tomsmart80]

i just read a thread on here about how all internet marketers are liars I think that should read
all laptop manufacturers lie about battery life

[XRevJosh]

mine lasts for around 3 hours. its a gateway btw.

[Fraserb]

I have a dell and a Mac. The Mac definately has better "battery" power but with any laptop depending on the power settings you use depends on how much battery it takes.

For example setting power management to max battery or changing the settings on what is already set up can extend the battery life. Some laptops also have a power management tool which will also extend the battery life. It may be just a case of trying to find out a bit more about the laptop.

Hope this helps.

Fraser
:-)

[seasoned]

Originally Posted by tomsmart80

i just read a thread on here about how all internet marketers are liars I think that should read
all laptop manufacturers lie about battery life

Well, the EEE lives up to the press! Many OTHERS do also, but others require you to do what you can to stretch them.

Steve

[freudianslip27]

Ugh, mine only lasts like an hour and a half. Less if I'm doing stuff like SEnuke which makes my poor laptop moan (fan gets louder) lol.

I am afraid to get a real "nice" laptop because of having three little kids. I've already had some accidents with past laptops no longer with us!

Matt

[Mike Shain]

I fell much better knowing I am not alone here - though I would rather you all did not experience short battery life.

I run my laptop on Power Saver mode when unplugged but it still doesn't last. In fact when it gets to the point where is say I have 23% left it just shuts off.

I gotta get a new laptop or new battery... I know my son won't have a use for a battery back up so he might just inherit it from me by way of hand me down.

Thanks to you all for adding in your 2 cents - I appreciate it!

[Coach Ramy]

Mine runs for fours hours..but this battery is a double cell battery that I bought off amazon...It's for an hp pavilion

[miset]

My laptop is about 6 months old and i get about an hour out of the battery, it kinda sucks but i do work this thing to the bone

[Nightengale]

I bought an Acer laptop back in July. I really like it and haven't turned on my desktop in months.

I bought it for it's portability, but mostly to have a backup computer in case my desktop (a 6-year old Dell) ever crashed. It still works fine (knock on wood), but I love my latop and now mostly just use the laptop.

In spite of it's portability, I rarely take it anywhere. I didn't travel anywhere this year like I normally do (when I DEFINITELY would have taken it with me) and I live less than a mile from where I work. I spend the vast majority of my time alone and much of it on my computer. Consequently, I was stuck at home, tied to my desktop. I wanted to be able to get out and work at Barnes & Noble, Starbucks or Panera. But I've only done that about twice since I got it. If I remember correctly, my battery lasted about 2-3 hours before it got low. I was at Starbuck in a Barnes & Noble and so I packed up and moved over to Panera where I could plug it in. (I couldn't find a plug in BN.)

I love my laptop, but I spend HOURS online and the short battery life (yes, for me, 2-3 hours is SHORT), irritated me.

I had no idea that leaving your laptop constantly plugged in could shorten the battery life. I'm mostly sitting in bed where I can prop my feet up (I have some physical problems) and work comfortably and I leave my laptop plugged in then.

Hmmmm.... guess I'll have to unplug it sometimes!

Michelle

[offline]

4 hours on power saver.

[Jason Pereira]

Compaq, about six months old.

4 hours on power saver, 2 hours on high performance, one hour when listening to music or watching video.

[jonmarsh80]

We can use Laptop without wire connection for some time like around 5 to 7 hours. But some time laptop not run as much time which we needed. You can keep good life of your battery by charging on some particular time.

[georgedinmore]

Originally Posted by Mike Shain

How Long Does Your Laptop Run On The Battery?

I love my laptop but my battery is quickly losing its charge lately. It used to last about an hour or so but now it only lasts less than half that time.

Funny my daughter has a cheaper Toshiba that lasts about 2 hours or so.

Looks like I am going to ask for a battery for Christmas.

Not long enough.

However, i read somewhere that they have found a way to increase battery life and decrease charge times.

Heres the link: BBC News - Engineers boost battery strength with small holes

Unfortunately, its only for mobile phones, so probably not long until laptops come into it.

[rightwrite]

I have an Acer and the battery was down to less than an hour. I got a great price on a new battery on Amazon and it is now up to about 2.5 hours. I was surprised at the price that I could get on Amazon. The shipping is high, but it still beats anything else out there that I could find.

[Hamida Harland]

About 40 minutes on my Sony Vaio if I'm lucky. It's about 2 years old though. My husbands Dell is a year old and lasts about 1.5 hours.

[Newbieee]

wow..

i thought this would be deleted.

anyways, it depends on ur usage.

if u are playing games then ur batt will die fast.

if u are just using word for example it should last longer.

if u let it sleep when u are not using it will last even longer.

[JSProjects]

I usually get about 7 hours if I run it conservatively. (Fairly low brightness.)

It's an Aspire One 722 11.6 inch. Grabbed it for $189 after gift cards at Target and I LOVE it. In fact, I'm starting to use it a lot more than my desktop.

[yanbotha]

As the laptop become an older one it may cause the problem of battery but it is mostly depend on you if you work constantly 5-7 hours then it does not matter the battery loose but if the laptop is new and it works 2-3 hours and then battery loose then you should contact the laptop company.

[rooze]

About 45mins on a MacBook Pro, and it's my second battery!!
(light use, just web browsing and stuff)

[tpw]

Originally Posted by Mike Shain

How Long Does Your Laptop Run On The Battery?

I love my laptop but my battery is quickly losing its charge lately. It used to last about an hour or so but now it only lasts less than half that time.

Funny my daughter has a cheaper Toshiba that lasts about 2 hours or so.

Looks like I am going to ask for a battery for Christmas.

Before you ask for a new battery for Christmas, try the advice shown in this article I wrote a few years ago:

Maintaining and Troubleshooting Your Laptop Battery

This article covers the basics of rechargeable battery management, and although battery technology has improved, this information is still valid.

[Paul Myers]

If you want long battery usage, get a netbook. Asus has one that claims 13 hours, and I've gotten 10+ hours of real use on a single charge, with some time left. And that's without any effort at optimizing the power consumption. The WIFI on it is really good, too.

I strongly recommend upgrading the ram to 2 gigs. You can get the chip for that for under $20.

One thing you can do for most laptops is switch out the HD for a solid state drive. Very low power, and no noise. If you do that, make sure you do regular backups, as some of these drives can go bad without warning. Still newish technology.


Paul

[Newbieee]

Originally Posted by Paul Myers

If you want long battery usage, get a netbook. Asus has one that claims 13 hours, and I've gotten 10+ hours of real use on a single charge, with some time left. And that's without any effort at optimizing the power consumption. The WIFI on it is really good, too.

I strongly recommend upgrading the ram to 2 gigs. You can get the chip for that for under $20.

One thing you can do for most laptops is switch out the HD for a solid state drive. Very low power, and no noise. If you do that, make sure you do regular backups, as some of these drives can go bad without warning. Still newish technology.


Paul

YEA man! Im using ASUS.

Way to go!

Usually for the old technology laptops where the batts are removable i usually remove them when i have AC. This ensures i dont spoil my batts by over charging.

Now a days batts are inbuilt so it has the auto off when batt is charged, so it doesnt over charge.

[Paul Myers]

YEA man! Im using ASUS.

I really like mine. Dual-boot was easy to set up, so I can use it for Linux or Windoze. The screen is surprisingly easy to read for a netbook.

Gotta watch which one you order if you want the longer battery life. The one with the 13-hour battery is a bit more (maybe $75 or $100), and worth every penny of the difference. Very nice little machine.

Good pointer on battery removal.


Paul

[olavlind]

6 hours - Macbook Pro 13" - 1 year old - The best computer on the planet right now (IMHO)

~Olav

[chrislangley]

It usually lasts about 3.5 hours when the battery is fully charged