Laptop Batteries?

[gyoung]

What is the life of the average laptop battery? I am thinking of getting a new laptop and was browsing at Best Buy just to see what is available. I was speaking with one of the sales guys and he said that the batteries last only about 12 to 18 months then need to be replaced (whether you use it or not).

Not sure if he was telling me the truth or just trying to sell me the service plan (where the battery is covered). My impulse is that he is just trying to sell me the plan.

I know a lot about desktop computing, but not much in the laptop arena and definitely nothing about the batteries.

If he is feeding me a line of bull, next time I'm back there I will call him on it.

What's the verdict?

[osprey4]

Depends on the kind of battery and how you use it, I suppose. Some need more TLC, they have to be run down every so often to prevent memory effects. I think NiMH fall in this category. Lithium ion (LION) don't have this problem. But 12-18 months seems too short.

[gyoung]

I was basically looking at Sony's, HP's, & Compaq's laptops at Best Buy.

Not sure what type of batteries these brands carry, but you are saying that the 12-18 months is baloney, right?

[PresterJohn]

even w/the new lithium batteries, if you reqularly use a laptop while running on battery, you will probably start to see degradation in the battery charge after about 18+ months.

for our 'power user' laptop users, we find we have to replace the batteries after 12 months.

i was told by a reseller that ibm has a lifetime warranty on their batteries. i was very skeptical about this, but true enough, we have not had to purchase replacement batteries for our thinkpads since i found this out. our reseller has been handling getting us replacements. go figure.

maybe another reason why i like the ibm thinkpads...