FAQ: Run Time Issues

How long should my new rechargeable battery last?
What should be the run time of a battery? How long will my laptop stay ‘powered’ by the battery?
Does using the wireless network card drain a laptop battery?
How long will my fully charged battery last?
Does disconnecting USB devices from my laptop, help conserve battery life?

• How long should my new rechargeable battery last?

  
  The life of a battery under normal use is around 500 to 900 charge-discharge cycles. This is between one and a half to three years of battery life for the average user. As the rechargeable battery begins to fail the running time of the battery will begin to decline. When a battery supplies thirty minutes of charge, it is time for a replacement.
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• How long will my fully charged battery last?

• What should be the run time of a battery? How long will my laptop stay ‘powered’ with the battery?

  
  Run time will vary between individual notebook computers. This makes it difficult to predict exactly how long a battery is will last. There are several other factors that adversely affect a batteries run time:
  
  
  • The type of applications being run, i.e. power hungry applications such as games, graphical shoftware or wireless networking will dramatically reduce run time
  • The number of times a file is saved or retrieved from the hard drive or CD Rom drive
  • The RAM size of notebook
  • The chemistry and capacity of the battery
  • The age of the battery
  A ‘realistic’ average run-time for a battery is 1.5 to 3 hours.
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• Does using the wireless network card drain a laptop battery?

  
  Yes, wireless network cards do reduce the battery run time. It is difficult to quantify the adverse effect a wireless card has on battery run time because it varies depending on laptop model and wireless card. The operating system and the software installed with the card may have utilities for conserving battery life. See Apple's Battery Care page.
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• Does disconnecting USB devices from my laptop, help conserve battery life?

  
  Yes, disconnecting unused USB devices does help conserve battery life. It has also been widely reported that a flaw in Windows XP affects certain Intel based laptops to drain the battery at a faster rate than normal when a USB device is connected. More information can be found on the article, Windows USB flaw drains batteries.
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