Need a notebook with superlong charge!

[zveruga]

Hi guys,

I want to buy a notebook sometime between now and July (no rush, can wait for a really good deal). My specs are somewhat weird in that I need something:

1) Hopefully less than $800. Ideally around $500. Yes, I know thats low, thats why i am giving myself 6 months to find it.

2) I need the battery to last AT LEAST 10 hours firm. By last I mean active use, not idling. Ideally, 12 hours would be best. If that means getting a laptop with an extra battery that is ok, but the price of that extra battery needs to be included in the overall cost. I am currently applying to medical schools and ill need the lappy for note taking. Which means that from 8AM till 5PM it will be on, active, and I wont be able to charge it.

3) I dont care about speed. If I can get this done with a Pentium 2 or celery, no problem. Especially if it can save me cash.

4) it would be NICE if it could also burn cds and play dvds. But this is something I can buy down the road, so I dont care about this much. It would also be nice if it weighed less, rather than more, but again -- i wont pay more for it.

Now... any suggestions? Brands, models? Ill make a list and wait for the right sale on your suggestions... THANKS!

 

[ValuedCustomer]

for $800 you may be able to find something but you're gonna be carrying AT LEAST 1 extra battery. And that's if both are extended, 9 to 12-cell types. That means, on top of the typical weightiness of your less-than-expensive laptop you're gonna be getting even more exercise carrying a couple extended-life batteries w/ you. -- if you go w/ an older laptop w/ say a p2 or p3 then your battery life is gonna be even more of an issue cuz of the lack of speed-step type technology not to mention track down 3 or 4 older batteries that will still hold a decent charge.

you've got 7 months ? start saving your money

 

[fbrdphreak]

$500-$800 with 10-12 hours of battery life is not realistic, sorry. You'd spend a couple hundred dollars on batteries alone. The only system I know of that boasts 10 hour battery life out of the box is a Gateway, that uses I think an extended main battery, optional second battery, and I believe a third battery in the optical bay. Thing probably weighs 10 lbs with all the batteries in it....

I think Intel is planning to have 8 hour notebooks standard by 2008, wait till then

 

[slackwarelinux]

I know you don't want to hear this, but have you considered a PDA with a wireless full size keyboard? They tend to be cheap, and you could likely get the PDA, keyboard, and spare batteries for about $400 or so. You will not find a laptop for that cheap that gets good battery life, and older laptops tend to get really bad battery life. Pentium 2 laptops, like the ones you mentioned, did not have very advanced battery technologies, and battery heath declines with age, so I would not expect more than one or two hours out of a Pentium 2 laptop.

 

[mickles]

Are you sure you won't have anywhere to plug in?

Most med schools from what I know don't have class straight 8am-5pm.

 

[TheCanuck]

Probably have to find a notebook that has a 12-cell battery (perhaps 8) and then you could use a universal battery like this one:

http://store.yahoo.com/laptopupgrade/suslloruntie.html

Some laptops with 12cell batterys can get around 6-7 hrs of use (Gateway M250E was one). You'll probably need to go with something between a PM 1.5-1.8Ghz a celeron-m or Turion won't give you the juice you want.

 

[Wuzup101]

To be quite honest, if you're at a med school that requires you to be using a laptop to take notes, there will be a place to plug in. Also, I highly doubt you'll have class every day straight from 8am to 5pm in rooms that don't have seats with plugs locally for lappies. Furthermore, you're not going to find anything in your price range. Older machines, which cost a bit less, will require you to hunt down several good batteries. Newer machines that could get 12 hrs with 2 high cap batteries are going to cost more than the $800 you can fork over. You're best bet might be an IBM T4x series (probably T40 or T41) with 2 high cap batteries. I'm not sure how much you'd be able to get ahold of one for... but rest assured... you better start saving some cash.

 

[zveruga]

wow guys thanks for the unanimous voice of dissent I guess I better rethink my idea... the thing is depending upon which school I attend -- yes, i need flexibility in terms of battery life. The med school in Guadalajara does have lecture from 8 till 3:30 (labs after that). I like the external universal battery idea.

My question is, then, out of all the laptop processors ever made, which is the most power friendly? Would lower processor speed mean leaner power requirements? Would smaller screen also help?

thanks...

 

[HermDogg]

Here's your problem- newer usually = less power consumption, because of different ways of using the power. A PII almost always will have a shorter battery life than a P-M, depending on usage. As was stated before, time does take a heavy toll on batteries as well. Your best bet is to go for a new(er)Celeron or Low-rated P-M, with a 9-12 cell battery, a backup, and I guess a universal if you want to. I honestly think you should re-think it, because 9-12 hours is a ridiculous amount of time without a plug in. I'd just make sure that at least one of your classes you get to early, and sit next to the wall with a power outlet. It's your best shot.

 

[Ducati0427]

If you can stand it go with a smaller screened P-M processor and get extra batteries for it. That will be ur most power saving. Make sure you have your screen sent to dim and graphics set to low.


Will G.

 

[TheCanuck]

Also keep in mind that a 12-cell battery is going to take longer to charge. Charge times may be anywhere from 5 to 8 hours (or more) per battery. At least if you get the universal / external battery it will have its own charger and you won't have to switch batteries every 8 hours in order to have enough battery life for the next days classes.

 

[fbrdphreak]

Originally posted by: TheCanuck
Also keep in mind that a 12-cell battery is going to take longer to charge. Charge times may be anywhere from 5 to 8 hours (or more) per battery.

I really don't think it is quite that long for a 12-cell, perhaps only if the notebook is on.

But that does raise a good point

 

[Jaihahih]

Originally posted by: zveruga
Hi guys,

I want to buy a notebook sometime between now and July (no rush, can wait for a really good deal). My specs are somewhat weird in that I need something:

1) Hopefully less than $800. Ideally around $500. Yes, I know thats low, thats why i am giving myself 6 months to find it.

2) I need the battery to last AT LEAST 10 hours firm. By last I mean active use, not idling. Ideally, 12 hours would be best. If that means getting a laptop with an extra battery that is ok, but the price of that extra battery needs to be included in the overall cost. I am currently applying to medical schools and ill need the lappy for note taking. Which means that from 8AM till 5PM it will be on, active, and I wont be able to charge it.

3) I dont care about speed. If I can get this done with a Pentium 2 or celery, no problem. Especially if it can save me cash.

4) it would be NICE if it could also burn cds and play dvds. But this is something I can buy down the road, so I dont care about this much. It would also be nice if it weighed less, rather than more, but again -- i wont pay more for it.

Now... any suggestions? Brands, models? Ill make a list and wait for the right sale on your suggestions... THANKS!

HP V2000 with 1.4 Celron M and 2 12 cell batteries should get you around 12 hours, probably more if you undervolt. Cost is around 730 AR shipped. Add a 256 stick for around 20 dollars from fs/ft and total is around 750-760 shipped(no tax included though).

 

[imported_jon1003]

Get a small screened laptop, and make sure the screen brightness is down, as the backlight draws mucho power. Then underclock the video(it will prob have builtin video so not sure if u can do this with intel extreme graphics). You'll be looking at a celery m (since ULV procs go in expensive tiny machines) so undervolt the celery. Then buy high cap batteries or that external battery extender.

and what the person above me said sounds like a feasible plan for you^^

 

[Ionizer86]

Get a pentium m if you can. If your laptop comes with a celeron m, buy a cheap one off ebay and switch it. I used to get 3:15 on my celeron m, but my pentium m gets me 4:30, both off the standard T4x/R5x 6 cell battery.

As for undervolting the celeron m, IIRC, I installed Rightmark, messed around with it, but I couldn't undervolt the chip.

 

[cheesehead]

Get a HP NC4010. 800$ at Geeks.com, but I got mine on sale for 750$. It gets an acceptable 3.5 hours battery.
This is a "subnotebook"; the battery is really, really small. (It only provides 40 watt-hours.) You can get 70 watt-hour external batteries for about 100$ if you know where to look; these batteries connect to the power connector and can power your laptop directly. Admittedly, they're a little clunky, but you can just leave 'em in your laptop bag and connect it via power cable.
EDIT: Here's a 120 watt-hour pack. Considering that my NC4010 (It's a great laptop, in my opinion; however, it lacks an external optical drive) draws about 15 watts, it should (theoretically) power it for eight hours.
http://store.l-f-l.com/cgi-bin/cp-app.cgi?pg=prod&ref=NBMATE-118

Alternately, you can buy a power inverter (20$ for a Monster Power 150w inverter at Geeks.com) and one or two sealed lead-acid batteries. A while back, RadioShack had 96 watt-hour 12 volt sealed lead-acid batteries for 20$ each; although it would weigh a ton, you can put two of these and a power inverter in a container the size of a small lunchbox, and you should be able to power it for at least ten hours, even after factoring in the inherent inefficiency of the components. A direct 12-volt (car cigarette lighter) to laptop adapter would be even more efficient, but cost more.

BTW, the latter solution would work with nearly anything. Connect it up to an old Toshiba Libretto, and you could power it for 24 hours, no sweat.

EDIT:
Yes, I have done such things before.
And yes, sealed led-acid batteries (I.E. "wheelchair" batteries) produce the same voltage as a cigarette lighter, and most car batteries.

 

[wedi42]

get one of those solar panel charges and just make sure you sit next to the window

 

[Fox5]

Originally posted by: zveruga
wow guys thanks for the unanimous voice of dissent I guess I better rethink my idea... the thing is depending upon which school I attend -- yes, i need flexibility in terms of battery life. The med school in Guadalajara does have lecture from 8 till 3:30 (labs after that). I like the external universal battery idea.

My question is, then, out of all the laptop processors ever made, which is the most power friendly? Would lower processor speed mean leaner power requirements? Would smaller screen also help?

thanks...

You probably want a low voltage or ultra low voltage pentium m based laptop. Tablets are often considered good for those in the medical profession as well, and there are some lightweight tablets with good battery life. (though that's like 4 to 6 hours of battery life) If you go for pure tablets instead of a convertible, you may even find one for under $1000 with 6 hours of battery life.