Re: Reply

[dewar@SCHONBERG.CS.NYU.EDU (Robert Dewar)]

2.5 hours is about what you can expect from a 750C running on the high
setting with an extra memory card installed (the memory card noticeably
affects battery usage). 

You may be able to coax out 3.5 hours by going to the lowest power setting
and barely using the disk at all. The 8 hour figure is completely bogus
I think, it could only be achieved by using suspend mode for a lot of that
time.

I think the 2.5 hour figure for a 10.5" active matrix screen (which eats a
lot of power) is quite reasonable, and in fact I am very pleased with the
battery life (I usually get somewhat under 2 hours, because I use the
PS2 BR N command to put the screen brightness back to maximum). The problem
here is not technology, but possibly misleading advertising. In my experience,
all published battery life figures are junk -- I have now owned 12 portable
battery operated computers, and NONE of them measured up to the stated
battery time.

I do think you should remove the memory card before comparing the claimed
and actual battery life. It certainly seems reasonable for a manufacturer
to advertise the battery life of the base machine as sold, without figuring
in extra power requirements of add-on equipment.