Laptop Battery Life

[Dragonbite]

Is there a listing somewhere of expected battery life of all of the laptops for comparison sake, regular and extended batteries?

[Dragonbite]

*bump*

This is something that I would like to find out because my current laptop's battery life is deplorable (1hr) and getting worse.

I would love to find something that would last 4-5+ hours even if I would have to purchase and extended battery. Depending on the rest of ths system I may be flexible.

Does anybody have any information?

[isantop]

Sorry about missing this thread initially. It may have slipped through.

Here's a rough estimate for the battery life on our systems:

The Starling gets about 3 hours on the standard battery. The extended battery should last around 6-7 hours.

The Lemur gets around two hours.

The Pangolin gets about 1.5 hours.

The Serval gets about an hour.

Keep in mind that these are rough estimates, and that actual battery times will vary based on usage, hardware, and slightly on configuration. Expect 5-15 extra minutes with an SSD.

[Dragonbite]

Sorry about missing this thread initially. It may have slipped through.

Here's a rough estimate for the battery life on our systems:

The Starling gets about 3 hours on the standard battery. The extended battery should last around 6-7 hours.

The Lemur gets around two hours.

The Pangolin gets about 1.5 hours.

The Serval gets about an hour.

Keep in mind that these are rough estimates, and that actual battery times will vary based on usage, hardware, and slightly on configuration. Expect 5-15 extra minutes with an SSD.

Does the Lemur, Pangolin or Serval have an extended battery or 2nd battery (like in place of an optical drive) option?

[isantop]

Unfotunately, I'm not aware of options like that on them. The Serval and Lemur have special Lithium Polymer batteries that are specially designed for this system, and an extended life Pangolin battery would impede the screen from opening. Additionally, the optical drives in the Pangolin and Serval are fixed and not modular.

[Dragonbite]

Just found the Laptop Accessories page which lists available batteries here : http://www.system76.com/product_info.php?cPath=30&products_id=68

It confirms there is only one size for the Lemur, and because it is "thin and light" I would suppose there isn't much room to work with there.


Pangolin Value (6 Cell Lithium Ion) ( +$79.00 )
Pangolin Value (9 Cell Lithium Ion) ( +$129.00 )
Pangolin Performance (6 Cell Lithium Ion) ( +$125.00 )
Serval Performance (6 Cell Lithium Ion) ( +$79.00 )
Serval Performance (9 Cell Lithium Ion) ( +$129.00 )
Serval Professional (8 Cell Lithium Ion) ( +$125.00 )
Serval Pro Li-Polymer Battery Pack ( +$125.00 )


I'm not sure about the differences between Performance and Professional (or what technically is the Li-Polymer Battery Pack, if that is just a different battery than Lithium Ion, or if it is more), but are they all compatible with each model?

[isantop]

The Serval Performance was the old name for the Servals that we used up to the SerP4. When we released the SerP5, it became Serval Professional. The SerP5 used that Li-Ion battery but it is not compatible with the SerP6, our current model.You'll need the Li-Poly battery for current Servals.

The Li-Poly technology basically allows us to form the battery to a more custom shape as opposed to a standard, rectangular brick. We use them for the Serval and Lemur because they need to be flatter in order to fit. The basic technology is similar to Li-Ion, but slightly different in terms of packaging: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Li-Poly

[jml]

isantop,

Can you tell me how big the extended battery for the current Starling is? How does it change the shape of the computer? Does it raise the back off the table? How much weight does the extended battery add? I plan to purchase a Starling soon, and would like to know this information before I order. Can you supply a picture showing how the Starling looks with an extended battery attached. (side view if possible.) Thanks.

Joe

[dlavi1976]

I'd also be curious to see pictures of the Star 3 with the larger battery.

[pilbender]

I'd be interested if anyone knows of an external battery for the Serval Professional. I have the Serp 6 and the battery life is only 1 hour.

I have a few inquiries out there pending but the power requirements are quite high so even high end external batteries only will get about 4 to 5 hours based on my calculations.