Microsoft: Windows 7 isn't killing laptop batteries

The Windows 7 notification is a battery meter icon and notification with a message 'Consider replacing your battery'

Is that the entire message? Did they really not think to include a reason why they were suggesting the user spend £££ on a battery?

By Mark_Thompson on 9 Feb 2010

I really do not see the problem!

I had that message and it was quite true that my battery needed replacing since out of the usual 2 and half hours of available time it only produced about 30 minutes. And to answer Mark_Thompson, i am really not an expert, but the reason why it is displaying the message is prety obvious, your battery it coming to the end of its usefull lifetime. and it is for your own good as well that you replace it when or shortly after the warning.

Best

By mobilegnet on 10 Feb 2010

"Consider replacing your battery because it's knackered" ?

By Phoomeister on 10 Feb 2010

Win 7 IS a problem with battery life!

On the two laptops I have both have considerably lower battery life under Windows 7 than they did under XP or Vista. The battery on one of the machines does need replacing, there is no doubt of that but it doesn't explain why battery life went from 1 hour on XP to around 10 minutes on Win 7. The other machine has dropped from 3 hours to less than an hour. The amount of time the machines can spend on standby is also considerably less - it used to be several days, now it's around 2 at the most.

By shaunpugh on 10 Feb 2010

Am just laughing at Microsoft's language. "collective ecosystem knowledge"...otherwise known as 'team'. What a shower of prats.

By denismahoney on 10 Feb 2010

How right you are, denismahoney !

There's far too much of this 'claptrapspeak' in our lives.

Get real, Microsoft and all the other prats !

By DBThomas on 11 Feb 2010

Ubuntu says the same!

The first time I installed Ubuntu on my laptop, I was also surprised to discover that it reckoned my battery was duff. It only charges to 65% of max, which ubuntu flagged as 'poor'. Not Ubuntu's fault either.....my battery is, indeed rubbish!

By wigsta1 on 11 Feb 2010

Battery life vs Laptop model

I've never seen any review of the quality of batteries in terms of the useful life that users obtain. That is, does the battery still hold charge after 3, 6, 12, 24, 36 months of normal use.
Clearly depends on the user and the use to which the laptop is put. My limited experience: >80% of initial charge capacity on a HP Evo after 5 years of use;

By TonyC on 11 Feb 2010

Battery life vs Laptop model

I've never seen any review of the quality of batteries in terms of the useful life that users obtain. That is, does the battery still hold charge after 3, 6, 12, 24, 36 months of normal use.
Clearly depends on the user and the use to which the laptop is put. My limited experience: >80% of initial charge capacity on a HP Evo after 5 years of use;

By TonyC on 11 Feb 2010

Battery lifespan review

I agree with TonyC above, a review of batteries to see how they fare in terms of overall lifespan would be useful.
My findings:-
Compaq Evo N620c, unknown age (2nd-hand) - only recently replaced the battery.
Dell Latitude D620, runtime now down to about 5 minutes and has been for the past year.

By mspritch on 11 Feb 2010

Battery Life

I am getting a new laptop.An Acer.The Handbook suggests that the life of the battery is around 300 full charges once you have conditioned the new battery.IE fully charge and discharge the battery 3 times.Also i have read somewhere else that if batteries loose there ability to hold a charge after 3-4 years even if they are not used.If I therefore condition my battery and leave it fully charged as recommended then put it to one side and then pull it out 3-4 years later and use it for the first time i would find i would need a new battery.That's current (no pun intended) battery technology for you.

By Jaberwocky on 12 Feb 2010