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?

Comments

Re:Betteries don't last forever.

[mfarver]

I worked support for Dell's portable computers a year ago. Dell warrenties batteries for 1 year and expects then to fail after 1.5-2 years. The life span is mostly based on usage, more cycles, shorter life. However, batteries that are never used will still fail in about the same time frame. (The engineers were always denying this, but my guess would be it is because the system gives the battery a short charge everytime it is turned on) If you use the system often, four batteries in as many years is pretty average (most power users get less than a year). IBM and dell use batteries from the same manufacturer(s) so I'd expect simialr results. (heck, if we're being honest, almost every laptop sold is built by one company on one assembly line).

My $.02 USD

Mark