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Actual Battery Life and HDD Release Questions

X200/X201/X220 (including equivalent tablet models) and X300/X301 Series
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poolio
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Actual Battery Life and HDD Release Questions

#1 Post by poolio » Sat Mar 01, 2008 1:40 am

Hello all, I'm excited to hear about the new X300, but had a few questions before I purchased.

The main question I had was regarding the battery life--it seems that there are conflicting reports. I was wondering if anyone who is lucky enough to have one of these in their possession could confirm one or the other: In the notebookreview.com review they claim the battery life of the 6-cell with light usage is around 3-3.5hours. In the PCPro Review they say that with the 3 cell, with light usage, one can expect around 3.5 hours. I was wondering which figure is correct? It seems like the battery tests on one of the two models must be incorrect, as it doesn't make sense to me for the 6-cell to have the same life as the 3-cell. The PCPro review also said that when everything was running full throttle, they still exceeded 2 hours on the 3-cell. Wouldn't this mean that the 6-cell, in the worst case scenario, should have around 4 hours? An actual figure on the battery life would be great as if it is as notebookreview says, and even with the 6-cell you can only expect around 3 hours, then I'd probably have to reconsider my purchase.

I was also wondering when would be a good time to buy an X300? I was going to buy the SSD model ASAP, but I saw that the wait time with the 6-cell battery was around 4 weeks, and in that time a HDD version may come out. Of course an SSD would be nice, but I would opt for the HDD if I had the choice (thing is I do need the laptop within the next month or so...). So basically, are there going to be HDD models by then? I know some people have quoted April, but is there any hint as to whether it is early or late April? Also, with the end of the 25% sale, is there going to be a new sale in the near future? I wouldn't want to wait for the HDD and find that the base price for the x300 has jumped back up to around $3000.

Thanks and I can't wait to get my hands on one of these gorgeous machines,
poolio

lightweight
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#2 Post by lightweight » Mon Mar 03, 2008 2:30 am

Especially interested in real world battery life/time.
Have: x60s ultralight 1705-CTO, Debian SiD, Linux 2.6.25-2 | x61s ultralight 7668-CTO, Debian SiD/Experimental, Linux 2.6.27-git5 | Model M 1391401, white label, 07-17-91
Had: x22, Debian Testing/SiD, Linux 2.6.18-22

Nickolai
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#3 Post by Nickolai » Mon Mar 03, 2008 5:41 am

Here's the CNET review for X300 and CNET review for X61s, for comparison. Their review units both come with extended batteries, and X300 looks quite good in comparison to X61s.

Unfortunately, I don't know if X61s is better or worse than X60s because they changed their test method in between.

Maybe this little chart that I assebbled will be useful to you:
Ultraportable X series - ThinkPad launch page

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#4 Post by JaneL » Mon Mar 03, 2008 8:27 am

lightweight wrote:Especially interested in real world battery life/time.
I already posted my experience in one of the other threads.
Jane
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lightweight
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#5 Post by lightweight » Mon Mar 03, 2008 8:43 am

Thanks.
http://forum.thinkpads.com/viewtopic.ph ... urs#391548

3hrs 26 minutes. Stated 6 cell model elsewhere. Anyone have usage by watts vs different features disabled/enabled?
Have: x60s ultralight 1705-CTO, Debian SiD, Linux 2.6.25-2 | x61s ultralight 7668-CTO, Debian SiD/Experimental, Linux 2.6.27-git5 | Model M 1391401, white label, 07-17-91
Had: x22, Debian Testing/SiD, Linux 2.6.18-22

poolio
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#6 Post by poolio » Mon Mar 03, 2008 11:11 am

lightweight wrote:3hrs 26 minutes. Stated 6 cell model elsewhere. Anyone have usage by watts vs different features disabled/enabled?
I see that you had around 3:26 with the 3-cell, this means that with the 6-cell we should expect up to 7 hours, correct? I'm just a bit confused as NBR seems to cite the 6-cell as only getting 3:30 on normal light usage, and you got 3:30 on the 3-cell with normal light usage. They were able to get 6.5hrs in a very unrealistic usage scenario, but it seems like you'd be able to achieve that length while having a normal light usage scenario? Sorry for the confusion, I've just always trusted NBR's reviews and it seems their battery life tests are a bit off everyone else (CNET seemed to have 3:40 on the DVD battery drain test with the 6-cell whereas NBR had around that with normal light usage on the 6-cell).

Just to clarify, you do have a 3-cell correct? You said you had the standard battery here: http://forum.thinkpads.com/viewtopic.ph ... 216#391216 but lightweight says otherwise.

yodaoryack
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#7 Post by yodaoryack » Mon Mar 03, 2008 12:50 pm

it seems that the 3-cell is not Li-ion, which could explain the fact that it has the same lifetime

experttease
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#8 Post by experttease » Mon Mar 03, 2008 6:23 pm

I doubt they have the same watt-hours, different tech or not. Isn't it something like 40(3-cell Li-Pol) vs 70(6-cell Li-Ion)? Or, if those numbers are totally wrong, then at least something near a 4:7 ratio? (perhaps indicating that Li-Pol tech is slightly denser in energy, but I don't know their individual weights, and then there's the old volume to surface area ratio to consider with that packaging).

...a quick wiki-check suggests it's not so clear-cut, with a fairly standard 160Wh/Kg for Li-Ion, and between 130 and 200 for Li-Pol, which has a more flexible construction (in more than one sense of the word)...

You have two other variables to consider: usage and OS. These two variables in tandem could make up 2-3 hours of real world battery life, given the two different batteries, could they not? And I mean specifically that if the 3-cell, with XP was stretched to its fullest, and the 6-cell on Vista maxed-out to its fullest, then battery life could be similar.

These are guesses though.

Either way batter life seems good enough for all of them if you were to use office tools for long periods.

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#9 Post by JaneL » Mon Mar 03, 2008 8:01 pm

poolio wrote:Just to clarify, you do have a 3-cell correct?
At the time that I posted the battery life, I thought I had the 3-cell. Since then, though, I saw a picture of the 3-cell vs the 6-cell, and this one is a 6-cell.
Jane
2015 X1 Carbon, ThinkPad Slate, T410s, X301, X300, X200 Tablet, T60p, HP TouchPad, iPad Air 2, iPhone 5S, IdeaTab A2107A, Yoga 3 Pro
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poolio
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#10 Post by poolio » Tue Mar 04, 2008 1:15 am

nonny wrote: At the time that I posted the battery life, I thought I had the 3-cell. Since then, though, I saw a picture of the 3-cell vs the 6-cell, and this one is a 6-cell.
:( so much for 7-8 hours of battery life...I guess I'll be looking into the additional OD battery.

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