Battery Life?

Rasta Monsta · Oct 11, 2005, 05:12 PM

How long should a laptop battery pack last? I used to get about two hours out of it, now I only get an hour or so - sometimes drastically shorter.

I am trying to figure out if it is worth it to buy a new battery pack, or if there is a problem with the charging system on the laptop. I have had it about three years.

TIA,

rasta

P.S. Laptop is an ALi mainboard, with mobile Athlon 2600+. Battery is a L-Ion.

niceguyrichy · Oct 11, 2005, 09:23 PM

I was going to buy a new pack for my Compaq not long back, it was down to between 1 - 1 1/2 hours under use.

But compaq only quoted 2 hours real use time, and yet wanted £97 ($180) for a new battery. I figure it's not worth the money in my case, I can push the battery life up by fiddling with power settings etc.

You should check what the manufacturer quotes as average battery life for your model, and go from there.

swimtech · Oct 11, 2005, 10:21 PM

Lithium-ion batteries can last from 1-4 years depending on how they are used - and the luck factor...

Nearly all manufacturers that give, say, a three year warranty on a laptop limit the battery warranty to one year for just that reason.

It is best, as back in the Ni-Cad days, to fully charge the battery and use it down to 10% or less - recharge fully - then discharge fully again. If you run your laptop as a desktop on A/C power for a long time without running on battery power to discharge it, then recharge, the battery life can be reduced prematurely. This has been my experience...

If you've gotten three years out of it, you've done well...

Lithium-ion batteries cost between $100-300 (US) normally, and I have had problems with some third party batteries here at work - so I only order from the manufacturer now (IBM, Dell, and Apple)

RIV@NVX · Oct 13, 2005, 09:22 PM

My laptop battery has declared capacity of 4400mAh, but after 2 months of using it capacity is down to 3600mAh. I recharged it maybe like 10 times total, and I'm very careful when recharging. How is this possible? Could this be a defective battery?

Randy P · Oct 14, 2005, 11:17 PM

My laptop battery is a huge external clunker. It lasts for hours even under gameplay. Does anyone else have a battery like mine? It's about 8 inches long by 3 inches wide...(this could turn into a bad joke...lol)

Rasta Monsta · Oct 15, 2005, 05:00 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by swimtech

If you've gotten three years out of it, you've done well...

Well, I checked HP.com, and the replacement was $130. I then EBayed one for $60, and it has made a huge difference...I went from 1 to 3 hours.

Thanks for the input fellas.

rasta

swimtech · Oct 15, 2005, 11:00 PM

That's a great deal on a new battery! Nice result too, back on full time...

Oct 11, 2005, 10:21 PM	#3
swimtech HardwareHeaven Extreme Member Join Date: May 2002 Location: North Carolina Posts: 4,040 Rep Power: 124 System Specs	Lithium-ion batteries can last from 1-4 years depending on how they are used - and the luck factor... Nearly all manufacturers that give, say, a three year warranty on a laptop limit the battery warranty to one year for just that reason. It is best, as back in the Ni-Cad days, to fully charge the battery and use it down to 10% or less - recharge fully - then discharge fully again. If you run your laptop as a desktop on A/C power for a long time without running on battery power to discharge it, then recharge, the battery life can be reduced prematurely. This has been my experience... If you've gotten three years out of it, you've done well... Lithium-ion batteries cost between $100-300 (US) normally, and I have had problems with some third party batteries here at work - so I only order from the manufacturer now (IBM, Dell, and Apple) __________________ It's not so much getting your way that matters or not - what matters is how you go about getting it.

Oct 13, 2005, 09:22 PM	#4
RIV@NVX Freedom is a feature. Join Date: Jul 2002 Location: Croatia, Rijeka Posts: 4,476 Rep Power: 0 System Specs	My laptop battery has declared capacity of 4400mAh, but after 2 months of using it capacity is down to 3600mAh. I recharged it maybe like 10 times total, and I'm very careful when recharging. How is this possible? Could this be a defective battery? __________________ -- Vedran

Oct 15, 2005, 11:00 PM	#7
swimtech HardwareHeaven Extreme Member Join Date: May 2002 Location: North Carolina Posts: 4,040 Rep Power: 124 System Specs	That's a great deal on a new battery! Nice result too, back on full time... __________________ It's not so much getting your way that matters or not - what matters is how you go about getting it.

Oct 14, 2005, 11:17 PM	#5
Randy P HardwareHeaven Senior Member Join Date: Nov 2004 Location: Canada Posts: 489 Rep Power: 49 System Specs	My laptop battery is a huge external clunker. It lasts for hours even under gameplay. Does anyone else have a battery like mine? It's about 8 inches long by 3 inches wide...(this could turn into a bad joke...lol)