W510 maximizing battery lifetime

[darthvader]

Hi,

recently I purchased a W510. I installed Linux and now I'm wondering what charging tresholds I should use in order to maximize the lifetime of the battary. On http://www.thinkwiki.org/wiki/Tp_smapi#Battery_charge_control_features there's a notion of start =50 and stop=80. Are these values reasonable or are there better one?

I'm asking since tp_smapi is there for years now and maybe battery technology might have evolved since that.

Regards,

Stefan

[lead_org Microsoft MVP Contributor · Accepted solution]

try 90% for the upper value. But make sure that you reset the battery every two months or so, by discharging and recharging to full again. 

[CPG]

I have been researching different batteries for my W510 ThinkPad and have come to the conclusion that the ThinkPad Battery 27 + + 9 Cell is the best available one.  Can anyone tell me the expected hours this battery lasts? Currently my battery lasts about 2 hours.  I was looking for a battery with a serious life time that could help me as I go away to college.  Some of the reviews and what not on OTHER batteries listed the life time 10.9 hours for the top batteries, however, this particular one did not list the life time in hours.  Thanks so much!