Older Laptop with LONG Battery Life - Do They Exist? - What Do You Recommend?

TiredKitty78 on 08/07/2024 - 14:56

Looking for a used/refurbished laptop with 8+ hours battery life under decent load (multimedia) if possible. I have googled, but I'm more interested in what real world machine you know has great battery life when the battery's good.

8h+ battery irl > QuadCore+ > Usb-C charging > 2gb+ GPU > Thunderbolt

Bonus internet points if it has usb-c charging, graphics card (2gb+) and second/optional to that, thunderbolt. And I'm not shy about upgrading parts - so we're probably getting into ThinkPad territory. Probably t480 for external batteries alone but it there are underrated models you can recommend I'd love to know.

But really, are there any say gen 8+ Intel's (and AMD) with long battery life, and in real life - not just what they say on the box?

Computing Computer Laptop

Comments

  • CyberMurning on 08/07/2024 - 15:01
    +10

    yes they do exist if you replace their battery with the brand new one

    • HeWhoKnows on 08/07/2024 - 15:47

      Correct
      Always best to check cost of new battery before purchasing.

      Cheap batteries can be found on ebay

      Often the same ebay sellers selling for more on thier own website

    • TiredKitty78 on 08/07/2024 - 17:25

      Plenty of manufacturers say 8+ hours….with brand new battery, no brightness, using Microsoft word, lol.

      So I was hoping for real world recommendations.

  • freefall101 on 08/07/2024 - 15:51
    +2

    Buy an M1 macbook air.

    Depends what you're doing with it. Running any laptop under full load (particularly with a GPU) and you won't get 8 hours. That can make it better to buy a newer laptop with more processing power, because it should be under load a lot less. Likewise buying a screen with high resolution and running max brightness, it will eat into your battery

    So what are you using it for? That will define battery life more than anything else. The 8+ hour tests are usually video playback and web browsing, not gaming at full brightness.

    • TiredKitty78 on 08/07/2024 - 17:10

      Video and web browsing. Gaming is more of a whim, then likely usage. High resolution does not bother, 1920 X 1080p is fine.

  • netjock on 08/07/2024 - 16:02
    +1

    2gb+ GPU

    This is the impossible part.

    Dell Latitude 7390 can do 8hours on a new battery but that is under standardised test with low brightness etc.

    • TiredKitty78 on 08/07/2024 - 17:24

      Yeah, I knew any GPU would be pushing it. So it's more web browsing + video.

      And that's why I was kinda hoping people here could tell me about ~their~ laptops, or laptops they know first hand have great battery life. Or can be quick charged from usb-c in like, 30 minutes I guess.

    • plmko on 08/07/2024 - 17:40

      I get 12 hours on my 7390 when all I do is web surf to research for docs.

  • giordan0 on 08/07/2024 - 17:17
    +1

    Second hand M1 MBA.

  • rumblytangara on 08/07/2024 - 18:31

    GPU and long battery life are kind of opposite. That's P series Thinkpad if you're looking at T480s already.

    I doubt that a T480 with new batteries would last 8 hours, but I've never bothered timing mine. Bought one for the swappable battery but never had to make use of it. Note that the idiotic setup of the T480 drains the internal battery first, before touching the external battery- totally the wrong way around.

    • TiredKitty78 on 17/07/2024 - 01:36

      That doe seem real dumb to use the internal then external. Especially since internal would be sort of 'last resort since i don't have the external'.

      See i read of someone else having that problem…But opposite. The external was getting used up first, so the internal was not. Thus, the external was getting used and recharged and burnt put faster, and the internal was not getting used, which brings it's own problems that….have it burn out faster.

      Looking around it seems to be a new setup for the t480.

  • AndyC1 on 08/07/2024 - 19:01

    Playing videos on a laptop with a GPU will run the battery down in a few hours (2 to 4)….

  • Kiro on 08/07/2024 - 21:01

    Had a netbook, the original battery lasted a decent amount of time but I purchased an extended version and lasted 1.5 times longer. When upgraded to SSD and 2gb RAM with Linux distro it was a little power house.

    Used it for work related documentation house keeping etc.

    These days get yourself a power bank that can supply the rate charge wattage and a stack of blue tack

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