What laptop? (Battery Life)
Discussion
Hi,
I've always used laptops - preferred them greatly to desktops as they're much less intrusive, make less noise, less clutter, look better and of course somewhat portable.
However, I've always purchased bottom of the range laptops due to the fact that I only ever use them for surfing the Internet, writing reports in MS Word and managing Finances through MS Excel & MS Money. I don't need mahousive amounts of power.
These bottom of the line notebooks are great bang for buck, but their battery life is very poor. Up until now this rarely bothers me as I am always near a power point.
However.
I will be moving in with the G/F, and she will be bringing with her a computer which is a desktop Dell system with a nice 19" screen. I still want a laptop, but this time I want something that isn't a desktop replacement. I'd like a nice screen, something quite light but the biggest issue is battery life... I want 1.5 hours as a minimum, 2+ hours would be perfect. My current Acer Aspire lasts about 25-30 minutes on its battery!
I don't want to spend a huge amount, as aside from battery life my requirements for a PC are limited. I'd say a budget of around £750 but less if poss.
Any reccomendations?
I've always used laptops - preferred them greatly to desktops as they're much less intrusive, make less noise, less clutter, look better and of course somewhat portable.
However, I've always purchased bottom of the range laptops due to the fact that I only ever use them for surfing the Internet, writing reports in MS Word and managing Finances through MS Excel & MS Money. I don't need mahousive amounts of power.
These bottom of the line notebooks are great bang for buck, but their battery life is very poor. Up until now this rarely bothers me as I am always near a power point.
However.
I will be moving in with the G/F, and she will be bringing with her a computer which is a desktop Dell system with a nice 19" screen. I still want a laptop, but this time I want something that isn't a desktop replacement. I'd like a nice screen, something quite light but the biggest issue is battery life... I want 1.5 hours as a minimum, 2+ hours would be perfect. My current Acer Aspire lasts about 25-30 minutes on its battery!
I don't want to spend a huge amount, as aside from battery life my requirements for a PC are limited. I'd say a budget of around £750 but less if poss.
Any reccomendations?
Sounds like your battery is shagged! I would expect any laptop to deliver over an hour of battery life, and really portable ones push beyond 4 hours. Running of the mains most of the time can reduce battery life if you do not "cycle" the battery much. I use a lot of Rock machines at work. My own laptop is a "desktop replacement" That will do 1.5 hours on battery and it has a very power hungry preceossor, a 17 inch screen and lots of other power hungry features. The smaller, more portable machines I bought for sales staff run for 4 hours. Just turning the screen brightness down a notch or 2 and turning off features you are not using (such as wireless or bluetooth) makes a big difference to battery life.
Some of the new Rocks are pretty awesome. I got one last week for a designer here... 2gb on board memory, dual core processor, 512mb graphics card... At the other end of the scale, I got a load of HP machines for general office work and they were only £400 EACH, EX vat and are pretty impressive for the money!
Jon H
Some of the new Rocks are pretty awesome. I got one last week for a designer here... 2gb on board memory, dual core processor, 512mb graphics card... At the other end of the scale, I got a load of HP machines for general office work and they were only £400 EACH, EX vat and are pretty impressive for the money!
Jon H
MKH9130 said:
I'd like a nice screen, something quite light but the biggest issue is battery life... I want 1.5 hours as a minimum, 2+ hours would be perfect.
I don't want to spend a huge amount, I'd say a budget of around £750 but less if poss.
I don't want to spend a huge amount, I'd say a budget of around £750 but less if poss.
My Dell Inspiron 6400 cost ~£600 (so you can pec it up if you want) and has a nice 15.4" widescreen and lasts about 3.5 - 4 hours on its battery. I doesnt weigh that much either.
Edited to add exact weight 2.8 kg
Edited by R1 GTR on Tuesday 3rd April 14:29
fieldl said:
I use a Dell D420 for work and I have two batteries. One is nice and small and works for around 1-2 hours. The other is a larger 9 cell battery and works for ages probably over 3-4 hours.
I also use a Sony Vaio TR1MP which last for a few hours as well.
I also use a Sony Vaio TR1MP which last for a few hours as well.
Using a D420 as well - with the 6-cell battery (standard with the machine)I can get around 3 hours on half backlight with wi-fi connected all the time. With no back light and no wifi you can get almost 5 hours on a good day.
Dell have a nice offer on the Inspiron 1501, which you can get with the Truelife glossy screen and has three battery options. I went for the 53WHr 6 cell upgrade, but there is a larger one on the options list. That's an AMD Turion 64 X2, 1Gb RAM, 80Mb HDD for a touch over £400 inc VAT and shipping. I know one little boy who is going to be well pleased with his birthday present!
victormeldrew said:
Dell have a nice offer on the Inspiron 1501, which you can get with the Truelife glossy screen and has three battery options. I went for the 53WHr 6 cell upgrade, but there is a larger one on the options list. That's an AMD Turion 64 X2, 1Gb RAM, 80Mb HDD for a touch over £400 inc VAT and shipping. I know one little boy who is going to be well pleased with his birthday present!
Any idea of expected battery life for that? That seems extremely good VFM.
MKH9130 said:
victormeldrew said:
Dell have a nice offer on the Inspiron 1501, which you can get with the Truelife glossy screen and has three battery options. I went for the 53WHr 6 cell upgrade, but there is a larger one on the options list. That's an AMD Turion 64 X2, 1Gb RAM, 80Mb HDD for a touch over £400 inc VAT and shipping. I know one little boy who is going to be well pleased with his birthday present!
Any idea of expected battery life for that? That seems extremely good VFM.
PS yes it does seem good VFM, I went straight from front door to computer in office and ordered one when the flyer hit the mat. I got another flyer this morning and its dropped another £20. It's not the £299 (or £279) the flyer says once you add VAT and £60 packing, but good value nonetheless. I dropped the support option and added the Truelife screen and larger battery instead.
You need to use the e-code to get the right machine. dell.co.uk/b2b code dmuk4-n04152
Edited by victormeldrew on Tuesday 3rd April 14:54
OK, I'm a little biased since I work for HP, but the HP Compaq models can run for up to 8 hours with a travel battery pack without adding too much weight. I've personally got a HP Compaq nc6220 as my business laptop and I get around 7 hours with my extra travel pack.
When you look, make sure you check out the business notebook range. The entertainment notebook range has a far poorer battery life due to the higher end components.
http://h10010.www1.hp.com/wwpc/uk/en/
Happy buying!
When you look, make sure you check out the business notebook range. The entertainment notebook range has a far poorer battery life due to the higher end components.
http://h10010.www1.hp.com/wwpc/uk/en/
Happy buying!
I have had a Toshiba satellite Pro for over 3 years now, still going,
on second battery- last battery went as I left it constantly charging,
when it was new I got nearly 2 hours out of battery, only cost about £25 to buy.
On my third battery charger, the way I use/store it causes the wire to get loose connections
Still, it beats forking out for a new one
on second battery- last battery went as I left it constantly charging,
when it was new I got nearly 2 hours out of battery, only cost about £25 to buy.
On my third battery charger, the way I use/store it causes the wire to get loose connections
Still, it beats forking out for a new one
TheStoat said:
Just choose a laptop you are comfortable with and meets your needs. Then put the DVD drive in the laptop bag and slot in a second battery. You should get up to 8 hours depending on what sort of applications you are running...
I don't think all laptops have that ability though. victormeldrew said:
TheStoat said:
Just choose a laptop you are comfortable with and meets your needs. Then put the DVD drive in the laptop bag and slot in a second battery. You should get up to 8 hours depending on what sort of applications you are running...
I don't think all laptops have that ability though. I always look for a removable drive on a laptop simply because it makes replacing a failed one easier and cheaper. The ability to switch components is a bonus but the main issue is being able to replace a component rather than sending the whole machine off for a warranty job...
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