The MSI Wind U100 netbook ships with either a 3 cell or 6 cell battery. And that means you can generally get from 2.5 to 5 hours of battery life out of this netbook. But somehow Canadian retailer NCIX thinks that a 9 cell battery will provide up to 12 hours of run time. At least that’s what the company is claiming in a recent email advertisement.
NCIX is selling the Wind U100 with a 9 cell battery for $450 Canadian (or about $364 US). But while I wouldn’t be surprised to see that battery provide 8, 9 or even 10 hours of run time, 12 hours just seems a bit unrealistic.
That’s not to say that MSI doesn’t have laptops in the works that do get that kind of battery life. Eee PC.de tested a pre-release MSI Wind U115 and found that it could run for over 13 hours on a single charge. But it’s a very different computer from the U100, with a different processor and a different storage solution. The Wind U115 uses a combination solid state disk and hard drive to reduce the computer’s energy consumption.
thanks Lee!
NCIX is where I first heard of the Asus EEE PC 1000HE, which gets an advertised 9.5 hours on its 6-cell battery. It doesn’t use any special hybrid drives to do this. So it’s not totally out of the question.
As for the holy grail of battery life? 12 hours would probably about do it. I want a laptop I can turn on in the morning and just use, and not worry about the battery dying on me. It should last until the evening, when I plug it in again to let it charge. I don’t want to have to futz with turning down the screen brightness every few minutes, or turning wireless on and off when I need it, or constantly monitoring the battery meter to make sure I still have enough.
It also means I can leave the charger permanently at home, which saves some carrying weight.
My 1000HE is pretty much there. My 15″ MacBook Pro isn’t (obviously) but if they could come up with a MBP with 9-12 hour battery, I’d be all set. The 17″ seems to be getting close, perhaps in a few years…
What do people think is teh holy grail of battery life? Would 12 hrs do it, or woudl you want 24 hrs or 48hrs on a single charge.