Laptop Batteries -- How Short Is Too Short?

My primary "workhorse" is a Lenovo T61 purchased in June 2007.

When I bought it, I used it as a desktop for about a year in the sense that I kept it plugged into a docking station 24/7.

I have now changed the way I use my laptop. I frequently use it with just the battery. I only get about 45 minutes worth of use if I am using email, word processing, my database program, and Wi-Fi. No games, nothing fancy.

One reason that my battery doesn't last very long is that I like to have my screen really bright (bad eyesight rolleyes ), as well as the Wi-Fi. I have read this helpful article about maximizing battery life and I do some of these things in the article, including turning off Aero.

Is 45 minutes reasonable? Should I just buy a new battery and try to take better care of it than I did the first one?

 

id definitely look into a new battery. 45 minutes is too short.

 

Laptop batteries should be used to near the end once a week for best life if always docked. I'll try to find the article that I read for you.

 

Here's the problem. I'm doing what you suggest NOW--and I'm also removing the battery when I'm in the docking station for extended periods of time.

BUT--is it too late? Have I already abused this battery sufficiently by overcharging it that it will never hold a charge longer than 45 minutes? It's a pain in the butt. It's also a pain in the butt to lug my power brink around everywhere I go. OTOH, it's also a pain in the butt to be popping the battery in and out all the time too.

It would be great if you could track down the article, because some of the stuff I've been reading on the web has seemed pretty questionable to me (hence my resort to the gurus here).

FJM

 

This isn't the article I read but the gist is the same. As to what you should be getting, I have no idea. I've seen many complaints about Vista laptops and battery life. Do you change the power options to power saver when mobile? Anyways, you'll need a better 'guru' than me to answer your questions properly.

 

Oh, you'll do. :-D I change some of my settings to power saver (though I loves me my eye candy :major ). There was a bunch of interesting stuff on the the thread you offered up. The original poster on that thread things along the same lines that I am coming to conclude, that the convenience of (1) having a virtual UPS in the laptop at all times and (2) the convenience of being able to undock and run with the machine without fussing with plopping in a battery outweighs the nuisance of having to replace batteries somewhat more frequently. So I'm not convinced that I'm going to start behaving differently with future batteries.

It also looks like the life of a battery is typically only one to three years anyway--my current battery is a year and a half old and so I may be reaching the end of the road with this battery anyway in the natural order of things.

 

Ack. Double post.