Thinkpad T20 battery life

whiterabbit · 11th October 2005, 1:59 PM

My Thinkpad T20 battery is out in just over an hour if I'm lucky enough to have it last that long.

Called up the store I picked it up from and was told that they'd get back to me with the price for a new battery but even then, I'd be lucky enough to reach an hour and a half.

Is this normal for the ye' olde' notebooks? It's a shame really.

Even car rechargers cost an arm and a leg.

Would the OS make a difference? If I were to run Ubuntu as opposed to Win2k, would that prolong battery life?

kini_mini · 11th October 2005, 2:48 PM

I bought a refurbished T20 from IBM with a new battery - I can do 4 hours word processing on it at a stretch...3.5 easy, might have to turn screen down a bit for the rest. This assumes no DVD use etc of course. I run the Win2K it came with.

Jaff · 11th October 2005, 2:54 PM

Batteries detoriate over time no matter how "well" you treat them. If you've had the machine for 4 years (as how old that notebook will be) and the battery hasn't been replaced, then you are doing well to get about an hour out of it.

If however this is a newer battery I'd check your power settings and other things (such as screen brightness etc) and see what you can turn down.

whiterabbit · 11th October 2005, 3:12 PM

Picked it up yesterday second hand.

I guess I'm lucky to even have it last an hour.

http://cgi.ebay.com.au/ws/eBayISAPI....MEWA%3AIT&rd=1

Does anybody know if the above would work with the T20?

drrevenge · 12th October 2005, 11:53 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by whiterabbit

Picked it up yesterday second hand.

I guess I'm lucky to even have it last an hour.

http://cgi.ebay.com.au/ws/eBayISAPI....MEWA%3AIT&rd=1

Does anybody know if the above would work with the T20?

There's not much difference between the T20 and the T21, and they both have the same power requirements.

That said, I'm always hesitant to use these sorts of adapters with laptops. I've seen on a few occassions when the non brand supplied adapter can cause weird errors on the machine to the unit randomly blue screening, to it not powering on, to it shorting the systemboard.

IBM does still sell the adapters (I think they're called Auto/Airline Adapters from memory) try searching for those.

Best of luck,
Cheers
Dr. Revenge

11th October 2005, 1:59 PM	#1
whiterabbit (Banned or Deleted) Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: nth balwyn.melbourne Posts: 128	Thinkpad T20 battery life My Thinkpad T20 battery is out in just over an hour if I'm lucky enough to have it last that long. Called up the store I picked it up from and was told that they'd get back to me with the price for a new battery but even then, I'd be lucky enough to reach an hour and a half. Is this normal for the ye' olde' notebooks? It's a shame really. Even car rechargers cost an arm and a leg. Would the OS make a difference? If I were to run Ubuntu as opposed to Win2k, would that prolong battery life? Last edited by whiterabbit; 11th October 2005 at 2:03 PM.

11th October 2005, 2:54 PM	#3
Jaff Member Join Date: Apr 2002 Location: St Peters, NSW Posts: 3,951	Batteries detoriate over time no matter how "well" you treat them. If you've had the machine for 4 years (as how old that notebook will be) and the battery hasn't been replaced, then you are doing well to get about an hour out of it. If however this is a newer battery I'd check your power settings and other things (such as screen brightness etc) and see what you can turn down. __________________ Got hangover? Click for almost 1,001 cures \| "Maybe he is from the International Pretentious Association, and he’s here to remove your goatee."

11th October 2005, 2:48 PM	#2
kini_mini Member Join Date: Sep 2004 Posts: 1,649	I bought a refurbished T20 from IBM with a new battery - I can do 4 hours word processing on it at a stretch...3.5 easy, might have to turn screen down a bit for the rest. This assumes no DVD use etc of course. I run the Win2K it came with.

11th October 2005, 3:12 PM	#4
whiterabbit (Banned or Deleted) Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: nth balwyn.melbourne Posts: 128	Picked it up yesterday second hand. I guess I'm lucky to even have it last an hour. http://cgi.ebay.com.au/ws/eBayISAPI....MEWA%3AIT&rd=1 Does anybody know if the above would work with the T20?