Best laptop battery life

caspol

Hi all, just become a student after working like a dog for years! ...and need some advice about the best laptop there is in terms of battery life as they can only be used in the university off the mains. The Sony Vaio I have at the moment, although it has a new battery, lasts not much more than an hour and I would need it to work for a minimum of 4 hours but preferably longer. I have looked at external batteries but they cost close to £100 which makes me think a new one with better battery life would work out cheaper in the end and I can eBay the Vaio. I am interested in price/features as well but the battery life is the key factor. Any suggestions appreciated as googling hasn't done me much good so far. Thanks in advance

nearlyrich

There is a trade off between battery life and power, which model of Vaio do you have and what are you using the notebook for?

I use a Vaio T1XP (latest model is TX3XP or HP) which lasts for well over 4 hours surfing etc, for work I have just got a new Vaio SZ2VP which has a switch to choose between performance and battery life, they both last a long time. The other option is extended batteries.

The two models quoted are both lightweight sub notebooks so they are not inexpensive but I wouldn't want to lug a 3kg notebook around all day.

caspol

Hi, its an old P3 model PCC-GR21 and I am only using it for tyoing up reports, accessing library LAN and internet. It has a PCMCIA wireless card and a brand new (not original battery) and quotes 2 or more hours but I only ever get about an hour or so. Have tried plugging into the mains in the library but have been given out to twice already so time for a change....before I get fined, thrownout or whatever it is they do nowadays in the uni library!!

nearlyrich

Is the model number from the bottom of the laptop or the top, I don't recognise the model number??

caspol

Oops sorry (puts down wine glass and has proper look)! model nummber from bottom of the machine says PCG-882M but on body of machine is listed as PCG-GR215MP. nice machine, bit heavy but well constructed and looks good....

nearlyrich

I remember this one, you can put a second battery in the multi function bay which might help.

caspol

yes it has a bay for a second battery that i had forgotten about, so thanks for the reminder. It will make it heavier but I don't really want to give up on it because it is a rock solid machine and I am not the type who wants to spend money on some quick, easy and expensive solution just for the sake of it. I will try the old battery in the second bay to see what time i get off it and let you know how i get on..thanks again for your time and advice

nearlyrich

Hope it works

A_Nice_Englishman

The library won't let you plug in to the mains? Jeez!

Personally I would campaign for enough computers to be provided so that students don't need to bring in their own.

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could you not buy 2-3 batteries? charge them up when your in your dorm/home room etc then change them while in the library using the hibernate feature in windows.

failing that, take a look at the hp notebooks

take a look at the nx6325 notebook from HP. We have 30 of these at where I work and they are fantastic machines, offer a 4 hour battery life. or if you buy the extended bat you can get about 10-11.5 hours.

http://h10010.www1.hp.com/wwpc/uk/en/sm/WF25a/21675-283229-283229-283229-12434650-12433938.html

fantastic notebooks!

caspol

The library has about 30 laptops to go out on loan but there are several thousand students so that doesn't really work on a reliable basis..no, they say that the poewer supply (mains) can cause surges that may damage laptops and they won't take responsibility for that and they check on a regular basis and ask you to unplug. You can get away with it occassionally but I have enough stress without worrying about that..will check out the HP laptop recommendation, thanks