HP reclaims laptop battery life crown from Lenovo
Lenovo's ThinkPad X201s beaten by 20 minutes with EliteBook 2540p's 12.5-hour runtime
Original article by: Eric Lai
Original URL: http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9163958/HP_reclaims_laptop_battery_life_crown_from_Lenovo
Summarized by: Scott Peterson

March 1, 2010

Lenovo Group Ltd. introduced a ThinkPad with a 12.2-hour runtime. Then, only one week later, Hewlett-Packard Co. reclaimed the record. HP's new EliteBook 2540p business laptop can run for up to 12.5 hours--about 20 min. longer than the ThinkPad.

However, buyers of the EliteBook 2540p must opt for a slower, lower-voltage Core i7-640LM processor and a pricier 9-cell Lithium-Ion battery to achieve that runtime. Otherwise, the maximum runtime for the EliteBook drops down to about 11.5 hours.

ThinkPad X201 users must also opt for a 9-cell battery and an Intel Core i7-640LM CPU to hit 12.2 hours. Runtimes for both the Lenovo and HP laptops are only achieved using batteries guaranteed for one year. Thereafter, these batteries rapidly lose their maximum capacity.

Alternatively, Lenovo just began to offer long-life batteries warranted to hold their runtime for 3 years. Last year, HP introduced its long-Life batteries that are also guaranteed to hold their charge for 3 years.

The tradeoff is that long-life Lithium-Ion batteries can't offer the same high runtime as the largest Lithium-Ion batteries. So, the battle continues, as manufacturers pursue longer battery life to satisfy consumers' ever more demanding mobility.