9-cell for T61? Possible?

I'd love to get some extended battery time on my T61 (wide format). I have the 6-cell battery now but can't see that the 7-cell or the 6-cell plus the Ultrabay battery would help much.

My hope would be that eventually there will be a 9-cell battery for the T-61. Does anyone have a sense of the usual ways Lenovo works on batteries? Is it possible they may come out with a longer-lasting battery?

 

All the available batteries usually come out the same time the laptop does. I don't see Lenovo making a 9 cell for the T61 wide anytime in the future. A 7 cell plus the ultrabay battery should be comparable to a 9 cell T61 standard.

 

If I understand your dilemma ... I have a T61p w/ WUXGA and it has a 9-cell battery stock. The part number is:

FRU P/N 92P1133

 

docdeh: 9-cell for T61 widescreen?

 

He's talking about the 14'' wide, not the 15'' wide. The T61 14'' wide only comes in 4, 6, and 7 cells.

 

I think he meant for a 14.1"

 

i have a ws 14" with a 7 cell....i wish they offered the 9 cell

 

Right. This is a 14.1" widescreen notebook. Considering the disappointment some are finding with battery life on the T61 it's a surprise they didn't plan a 9-cell battery. I can at least go up to the 7-cell, though that doesn't seem much of an increase.

 

I haven't checked dimensions or anything, but have often wondered if the 9 cell available for the 14.1" SXGA would also fit the 14.1" WXGA models. Probably not!

 

It does not.

 

It is confusing, but here's the breakdown on battery options:

T6x/R6x 14.1"/15" standard & 15.4" widescreen: 6-cell & 9-cell batteries
T61/R61 14.1" widescreen: 4-cell (called Standard) , 6-cell (called Enhanced, different from above 6-cell) and 7-cell (called High Capacity) batteries

The 7-cell does offer 33% more capacity than the 6-cell, so it is worth looking into.

The UltraBay battery will add about 20-30Whr I think, and the 7-cell has ~77Whr. So figure another 1-2 hours. However, on T4x models, the Ultrabay battery discharged FIRST - which was just a poor design IMO.

If you have a main battery and Ultrabay battery, you want the main one to discharge first. That way if you have a spare main battery, you can swap it. The way the T4x functioned, the Ultrabay drained first and while it gave you a couple extra hours, you wouldn't be able to swap main batteries without powering down.

 

I use the APC extended battery and it gives me 3-4 hours of additional juice

 

Dave, we all share the same yearning as yourself for a longer lasting T61 hi-cap battery.

The truth is, 7-cell is the max at this moment. Any higher-cap to be introduced ? (Write to Lenovo for a definitive reply; I do not rule out but I doubt so. 7-cell is max.)

I do not see the efficacy of buying a bay-battery as it only gives you a very negligible boost in relation to its cost; in simple terms, the cost vs. benefit ratio simply isn't there to justify. You would be better off spending on extra hi-cap 7 cell batteries instead.

In general, the T61 has never been fasmous for battery-life. So, you are not alone here. It is the X61 that has the extended battery-life.

The general norm is this : a fully charged 6 cell should give you 2hr 15min of DVD run-time based on balanced power setting with Wifi-radio turned ON.

rgds,
Benjamin Chin
9 Oct 07.