How long does a notebook battery last?

Notebook battery endurance depends on its capacity, equipment and usage. See table below for approximate information.

Battery endurance for special ultra portable or extra performance models may differ from this table significantly. These devices are normally labeled with information regarding battery performance.

Battery capacity

Batteries are normally marked with the number of cells they have, and there is a simple rule, the more cells, the greater capacity.

Notebook equipment

The above table illustrates average values, whereas actual battery life may differ significantly. If your device has an energy saving processor, you could acheive 30% higher performance. In the case of gaming models, equipped with powerful gaming graphics cards, battery life could be 30-40% lower. The exceptions are models that contain an integrated graphics card in addition to the dedicated gaming graphics card. These models intelligently utilize the integrated graphics card when operating in 2D, then automatically switch to the dedicated gaming graphics card for better performance in 3D.

Usage 

Battery life also depends on the intensity of use. Working with your notebook in office applications, watching movies and similar activities, will see batteries lasting longer than in demanding applications such as gaming.

Aging batteries

Battery capacity will gradually degrade over time, with older batteries providing less time to work on notebooks than newer batteries. In order to maintain optimum performance from the battery, read the notebook manual, especially the chapters regarding the battery itself and its charging.

Important information about batteries

• Do not dispose batteries in mixed waste! Please recycle responsibly.
• Unused rechargable batteries discharge themselves over time.
• Do not short-circuit or disassemble batteries, or place them in fire or water.
• Batteries are negatively effected by large changes in temperature and humidity. 

Battery types

NiMH - are almost obsolete in notebooks, advantage was mainly price.

Li-Ion - are lighter and longer lasting than NiMH batteries.

Li-Pol - have the best weight, stamina and durability ratio, plus very low self-discharge.

Battery life

Battery life is measured in the number of charge cycles, meaning the number of times the battery can be fully charged and discharged. Intensive use will degrade capacity.