Simple laptop with long battery life

Nechushtan

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Apr 15, 2007
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Hi folks, the girlfriend is looking to replace her aging 13" MacBook with a new laptop. She doesn't need anything fancy, just basic internet, youtube, email type stuff, occasional DVD watching, etc. But she does want a long battery life, its pretty much the only requirement she has for it (other than, hopefully, not being too expensive).

Anyone have any recommendations for me to look into?

thanks!!
 

boonality

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Mar 8, 2008
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My 15.4" dell with a 2.0GHz Core 2 Duo and a cheesy 7300go video card gets about 4~5 hours continuous just surfing and chatting out of one charge with the more expensive battery offered by Dell. If I game on battery power I still get about 2 hours out of it.
 
Yeah, just about any basic Dell or HP would work fine. Technology has come to the point were even the simple 6-cell batteries can give decent computer around 3 hours of battery life. I would look at either the Dell Inspiron 1520 or the HP DV6700t. Also, if cost is really a concern, google "HP or Dell Coupons" and you can find some pretty good deals. Just make sure you pay attention to when they expire.
 

Nechushtan

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Apr 15, 2007
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thanks folks! I've got a Compaq V2000 with the "half battery" that I bought about 3-4 years ago and I can only get about an hour out of it, good to know the new laptops get so much more!
 

rodney_ws

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Dec 29, 2005
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I have a basic Dell 15.4" laptop with the base model battery and I was getting a good bit over 3 hours when it was new... however, two years later the battery honestly will not hold a charge for longer than 5 minutes (seriously) That said... I know that the Lenovo laptops come with a battery maintenance applet that takes steps to keep the battery working as well as possible. I know I've abused my battery (leaving it plugged in for weeks/months at the time... but come on... 5 minutes?!?) Also, the Lenovo laptops we have at work seem to be considerably more sturdy than the Inspiron I have at home. My Dell has developed a serious screen wobble... the plastic hinges that hold the screen up have gradually loosened and it's really annoying. Again, the Lenovos have metal hinges that seen to contribute to a much sturdier laptop. It's really difficult to explain until you're able to put your hands on a Dell and a Lenovo side-by-side.
 

soloman02

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Oct 1, 2007
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Dell's new line of notebooks, the Vostro series fare pretty well. They are fairly cheap if you want them to be and have a similar aluminum alloy frame as the Thinkpad's. Dell Has announced a refresh of the vostro lineup. I think they look better than the current design. I have a vostro 1400 and have been quite happy with it. With the cpu at max speed and brightness at max, I receive about 3 hours of battery life with the small six cell battery. That is with me using a bluetooth mouse, surfing the web via wifi, and using MS office.

My Specs:
Core 2 Duo 1.4Ghz, Intel X3100 graphics, 2 GB ram, 160GB HD, Intel Wireless G, Bluetooth.
Link to vostro refesh pics:

http://www.engadget.com/2008/04/15/dells-vostro-1310-1510-and-1710-small-business-laptops-redefi/

I believe Dell will be using the new 45nm cpu's in the new vostro lineup. If intel has a newer mobile platform than Santa Rosa, dell may also be using that. You don't need to have a business to buy from dell small business.