brand new toshiba battery last 1 hour !

kmufc77 · 31 Dec 2007 at 16:19

hi ive just bought the mrs a new latop its TOSHIBA EQUIUM A200-1VO £399

The battery is only lasting about 1hour -120 mins i have set the power settings to balanced and the screen brightness is 45% when on battery, disabled the slidebar and disabled windows aero. all other settings as far as i know are set to save power as i spent a good half hour on the power options.
i know vista will use more battery life than my old laptop which has xp but i was expecting a good 2hours on a brand new battery im i expecting too much for a £399 laptop???.
i have also let the battery run down to 2% which is the lowest i can run it down before the sleep hibernate shutdown settings kick in and then left it to charge overnight but still not happy which the battery life time. do i have to calibrate the battery a few times to get better battery life or is the 1hour -120mins using vista correct for a cheaper laptop. please can someone help me on this.

richolmes72 · 31 Dec 2007 at 16:50

You should not let the battery run down to 2%, unless its important, charge it up around the 20% mark, thats the optimum point for maintaining performance. - the calibration you speak about won't do any good imo. Modern batteries are Lithium-Ion. Not the old fashioned Nickel Metal style

kmufc77 · 31 Dec 2007 at 16:55

richolmes72 said:
You should not let the battery run down to 2%, unless its important, charge it up around the 20% mark, thats the optimum point for maintaining performance. - the calibration you speak about won't do any good imo. Modern batteries are Lithium-Ion. Not the old fashioned Nickel Metal style

i been reading up on google and many ppl posting on forums say to run laptop battery down to nothing to maintain and get better life out of a laptop battery ?

sja360 · 31 Dec 2007 at 21:03

1 hour does not equal 120 mins, 120 mins equals 2 hours.
so which is it your getting a hour or 2 hours usage? also it could be the toshiba has a upgraded battery to a 6/8/9 cell and the one you got was a standard 4 cell or something perhaps?

Aod · 31 Dec 2007 at 22:22

my satellite gets at least 3 1/2 hours on a good charge, and its not a special battery or anything. its also got a C2D in there, so you ought to be getting some fairly good runtimes. better than 60 mins at least.

MeatLoaf · 31 Dec 2007 at 23:17

I got the toshiba also but ive not run it off battery yet ive had it plugged into the mains

kmufc77 · 1 Jan 2008 at 01:11

MeatLoaf said:
I got the toshiba also but ive not run it off battery yet ive had it plugged into the mains

see what your battery is like be nice to know if its just my battery running down quick

Meatball · 1 Jan 2008 at 12:03

We've got a budget Gateway laptop(£349) that lasts 2-3hours so I don't see why your laptop shouldn't last as long or longer :confused:

.

kmufc77 · 1 Jan 2008 at 13:02

Meatball said:
We've got a budget Gateway laptop(£349) that lasts 2-3hours so I don't see why your laptop shouldn't last as long or longer .

i been told that the P4 DUAL CORE which i have suck up battery life on laptops ?

Tk7 · 1 Jan 2008 at 13:36

Not sure if you're aware, but you can obtain a free second battery for the laptop you have purchased, check out this link.

kmufc77 · 1 Jan 2008 at 13:50

Tk7 said:
Not sure if you're aware, but you can obtain a free second battery for the laptop you have purchased, check out this link.

yes i sent off for the free battery a few days again thanks for the link though

hoppus44 · 1 Jan 2008 at 13:52

i remember my toshiba a few years ago would turn itself off either from over heating or flat battery all within 20 mins of use

kmufc77 · 1 Jan 2008 at 13:57

i have another toshiba which is a satiellete which ive had for 3-4 yrs with xp on. when battery was new it lasted 2-3 hrs not just over a hour what im getting now.toshiba have a excellent repeptation in the laptop market so im thinking ive either got a faulty battery or the P4 DUAL CORE processor is just too hot and eating the battery life.

ive got norton security pre installed on latop 90 days free im going to uninstall to see if this is drainig battery life

MeatLoaf · 1 Jan 2008 at 17:27

Well ive got mine on battery now. Fully charged the battery meter recons 1 hour 11 mins

Now shows 57% or 43 mins remaining

kmufc77 · 1 Jan 2008 at 18:06

MeatLoaf said:
Well ive got mine on battery now. Fully charged the battery meter recons 1 hour 11 mins

Now shows 57% or 43 mins remaining

thanks for trying your battery for me i guess this make of laptop or battery is rubbish but hey what do u expect for £399

MeatLoaf · 1 Jan 2008 at 21:12

Tk7 said:
Not sure if you're aware, but you can obtain a free second battery for the laptop you have purchased, check out this link.

Hadnt seen that. Cheers

mejinks · 1 Jan 2008 at 21:13

My old acer laptop was the same. It had a normal desktop processor though.
I would guess there is a reason why Toshiba are offering an extra battery free of charge.

kmufc77 · 1 Jan 2008 at 22:26

mejinks said:
My old acer laptop was the same. It had a normal desktop processor though.
I would guess there is a reason why Toshiba are offering an extra battery free of charge.

yes thats what i said to the mrs you never get nothing for free in this world now i know the reason why toshiba are giving away a free battery still could be worse and not get a free battery i supose

MeatLoaf · 2 Jan 2008 at 00:38

Well on the 2nd charge it lasted an hour and 30 mins so maybe it just needs running in a bit

scaramanga182 · 2 Jan 2008 at 12:52

I've bought one of these as well and have the same issue with the battery. Having just had a quick glance through the documentation it says depending on the model you will have a 3, 6 or 9 cell battery. I take it you can buy the higher capacity batteries from some where, anywhoo just ordered my free one! (Hopefully it will arrive before I move house!)