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IBM 600 Series Laptops and Flaky Batteries?
netdemonboberb asks:
"I don't know where else we should turn, because no site will write articles on [this subject] and IBM is denying that their IBM 600 series laptops have flaky batteries. Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute distributed these laptops to freshman students in 1999 and almost everyone I knew in my class had this issue. Ralph Levien's page has suggested it appears to be an issue with the 'Smart Monitoring' circuitry.
I'm writing this article to get the issue out in the open so IBM can no longer deny it. These batteries are expensive, and I have had to replace mine 4 times already. Can anyone who reads/maintains slashdot help or provide any advice on getting resolution for this?" I must say that from personal experience, I've wondered if this might be the case as well. I have an IBM Thinkpad 600e laptop and I've already gone through 2 batteries. The laptop is currently inactive as it must be tied to the wall if it is to be used. Has anyone else experienced shorter-than-average battery life using these laptops? Were you able to do anything to improve the battery life?
I have an old Fujitsu from 1996 that still holds a good charge, but I also have an IBM thinkpad that someone gave me, I'm guessing it's about a 1998 or 1999 model and the battery is stone dead.
Send lawyers, guns, and money. Dad, get me out of this.
If this is as widespread as it would appear, it's just a matter of time before someone works up the nerve to file a class action lawsuit. If I were you (and IANAL), i'd keep any paperwork IBM has sent you disputing your claim of a faulty product. It may help you to settle the matter if it ever does go to court.
today is spelling optional day.
Many battery manufacturers design generic cells and current regulators and package them in carriers that are specified by the PC manufacturer. In this case the current regulators are to blame as they have difficulty dealing with minor variations in current required by the laptop's power supply. In particular, systems with less than robust power management, Linux for instance, literally suck the regulators to death.
I've had a variety of IBM thinkpads...so its hard to keep track. I did have a 600e and if i used the battery, I always let it run completely out on the battery before plugging it back in...and I never had any problems with it. I've carried that practice on from the early days of laptop computing...where batteries had a memory of sorts that if oyu kept recharging them when they were halfway full you'd end up with the 50% of the battery being the active aprt, and the other 50% would be forgotten about, and un rechargable. I'm not sure if that is still the case in the newer thinkpads like the 600e though. Just an old habit. Anyone an expert on battery types?
I need a TiVo for my car. Pause live traffic now.
Your standard nimh cell should last for over 1000 discharge/charge cycles and will not be affected by "topping up" (read unlike nicd memory problem).
Even if you killed your battery and charged it every day this battery should still last close to 3 years. This guys talking about 4 batterys. Thats completely unacceptable.
On another note my compaq presario 1210 model had a zillion power problems with the smart monitoring stuff. But that was more in the fact that the computer would not charge the battery as it always thought it was full.
Same here... I rarely (a few minutes per month)
use my battery and I've gone through two.
(My 560 did not not have this problem, sure the
battery life diminished but the 600 has burned
through two batteries)
Friends are having the same problem.
i've been sticking with thinkpads.
the cdrom failed long ago.
I'd like to get a new thinkpad but since IBM
can't even get it together to get USB 2.0
(or firewire) I'm looking elsewhere.
Maybe I'll go back to Mac... is't been 19 years
since I bought a Mac.
Wrong. The more you use your battery the longer they last. If you have a laptop and never take it out of the dock (like tons of users in my office building) after a few years the battery will be shot. But if you take it off the dock and use it without being plugged in (ie. only on battery power) the batterys tend to last a LOT longer. I have seen perfectly fine working laptop batterys from the mid and early 90's and others that are just a few years old that don't work worth a Beowolf cluster....
I would suggest contacting the Better Business Bureau [bbb.org] to get these complaints addressed.
SNORT! Have you ever contacted the better business bureau? I have. I was told they dont do anything to companies/about companies that that dont honor their claims, advertise truth, etc. etc. I was actually told that as long as the companies continue to pay their "listing fee" with the BBB, the BBB could care less what the company is actually doing.
Dude.. the BBB is a money maker for the BBB, and a trap for gullible people who believe that moniker means something.
In reality, you should send a polite letter to Consumer Reports and see if they are interested, or to one of your local muck-raking news reporters looking to do a human interest story.
Maeryk
Feminine Protection? What is that? A chartreuse flame thrower?
Alas, the Extended Warranty doesn't cover batteries. See here (PDF).That falls under 'consumables and wear and tear', along with worn out keys and sticky mouse pointers. To quote:
So don't expect them to warranty-replace a flat battery unless they issue a recall notice for a defective batch (like Dell did back in 2000 for some of their Latitude batteries).Batteries may seem to be getting weaker, but the fact is that battery tech can't nearly compete with the break-neck pace of the electronics they power. Laptops today are so incredibly power hungry due to the ever increasing number of systems that each one has to support (now P4s and Athlons with seperate actual video cards; huge hard drives, huge screens, and our biggest power guzzling friend the WiFi card) that batteries loose it quite quickly. I've got a compaq armada 7700 from either 98 or 99 at 266 mhz. This thing will run for two or three hours on battery (I bought it off of auction, too; go figure) and stay on stand-by for literally days. Then again, it's got a 12 inch screen, is almost three inches thick and weighs about 29 pounds. But hey, I'm willing to sacrifice size, looks, and everything else for longevity. But if you want the latest, then power hungry ye be; better bring your adapter.
We now have confirmed reports from an informed Orange County minister that Ethel is still an active communist.
For the 2000 600/600e's that my office is responsible for. That is over three years. We have seven other techs who have changed out about the same number. So in three years, we have had to change out over 1400 batteries.