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    Defective x200 battery? 285 cycles, 15 months?

    Discussion in 'Lenovo' started by Big-O, Nov 17, 2009.

  1. Big-O

    Big-O Notebook Guru

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    Had this computer since August 2008. Put 285 cycles on the battery over 15 months...

    I'm now at 30% capacity according to the Lenovo Power Manager in Windows 7. Defective? Think Lenovo would ship me a replacement? Any advice on what to say to the repair dudes?
     
  2. ZaZ

    ZaZ Super Model Super Moderator

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    Nope, the battery warranty is only one year.
     
  3. cassiohui

    cassiohui Notebook Evangelist

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    doesn't sound defective to me...
     
  4. BaldwinHillsTrojan

    BaldwinHillsTrojan Notebook Evangelist

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    Just set power manager to charge below 45% and stop at 50% or whatever gap you choose and leave it pluged on AC all the time. My battery has a cycle count of 108 and its more than 2 years old.
     
  5. jonlumpkin

    jonlumpkin NBR Transmogrifier

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    Some of us (particularly those with ultraportables) actually use our batteries from time to time so those thresholds are a bit too drastic. However, something like start at 60% and start at 95% is probably a good idea to reduce the number of cycles.

    I don't think your battery is defective, but I would say it's done. My x200 Tablet battery has 116 cycles after nearly a year and still holds 97% of design capacity (it was originally 104%). However, in my experience with my T40 the max charge starts to fall off a cliff when you get above 200 cycles (my original T40 battery only held about 15% [but would run past 0%] after 5 years and 500+ cycles). I would suggest you buy a replacement battery if you plan on keeping the x200 for the foreseeable future.
     
  6. Big-O

    Big-O Notebook Guru

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    Interesting... So a cycle is a 0 -> 100% movement?

    It's then safe to assume from your comments that I don't want to start charging right away (i.e., 50-75%), and I don't want to store at 100% (i.e. 50-95%)

    I don't think I could do 45-50%, but the 60-95% ratio makes sense.

    It then suggests that going from 60-95% and back down more often is better than 100 to 0 less often
     
  7. BaldwinHillsTrojan

    BaldwinHillsTrojan Notebook Evangelist

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    Sorry I'm not a notebook snob and dont own an ultraportable. Need to get real work done. I dont work out of Starbucks, McDonalds or the public library. I have a home office and my own company.