Hi, this is my first post at tabletpcbuzz. Af

[jayson]

Hi, this is my first post at tabletpcbuzz.

After months of suffering with p3 desktop, i am in a NEED to buy a new computer. I have setteled my mind on a labtop and as of right now am leaning towards the Tosiba M4.

I just have one question to thoes who own/used it, does the low battery life of M4 become a limiting factor on the usage of the labtop ? Is this big enough of a problem to avoid the purchase of the M4 ? Thanks you all.

[wthor]

See this thread: http://www.tabletpcbuzz.com/forum/to...TOPIC_ID=29392

It should give you a picture of the possible battery life :-)

[Wcrocker]

jayson,

Welcome to the Buzz. Battery life depends largely on how you use your Tablet. The thread referenced in the post above is good one to check out. Also, you can run the ~search function and find many others.

[markh]

If you are going to be away from a power source for any length of time I think you will need a second battery (the one you stick in, in the CD bay). At home I somtimes don't plug the M4 in and it doesn't last that long though I haven't timed how long the batteries last.

[jayson]

The thing with me is that am in High School right now, and working a part time job to save up for a labtop, but now switched to tablet. Its between 200 and M4. I was looking at the details 200 has much greater battery life than M4.

SO my initial question was for thoes who attend University and take notes on the M4, can the M4 last you thorughout the lecture and the notetaking process without quitting on you ?

[howeezy]

I have an r15 and a lot of f*ing classes... and I still have 35% when I get home. AND I have a 50 minute commute to school - 31 of it's on the bus. I like to draw. Not sure what the other computers are like but they can't be far away

[newst]

jayson,

The M4 is never going to last you through a day of classes on internal batteries. Even with the slim bay battery installed you can't reasonably expect more than 5 hours use. That big 14" screen just requires too much juice, it's part of the trade-off decisions Toshiba made when designing a powerful tablet.

If you really want to carry the M4 to classes you could purchase an external power supply. An example is the PowerPack 130
http://www.batterygeek.net/PowerPack130.htm

This will not only power your M4 in use, but recharge the internal battery at the same time.

However, a suggestion. Do an experiment. Get a book with similar dimensions in size and weight as the M4. Take it to school with you, take it to every class, and pretend it's a computer. Do you have room to use it? Is it easy or awkward to deal with. What do you do with it when you need to use the facilities? If you just left it unsupervised, color it gone. Before you invest make sure it's something you'll be able to use safely.

[howeezy]

newst,
Why is 5 hours of battery enough? It's plenty for me. Go to class, take notes, back up the notes, and throw it on stand-by. Am I missing something? The reason I'm supporting this for college so much is that I was SO unorganized in high school and the tablet is helping me VERY much. Secondly, if you are willing to spend thousands of dollars on a computer, it would be nonsense to treat it like a regular notebook.

[newst]

howeezy,

I was basing my estimate on past experience in college oh so many years ago. A day could consist of two or three 1.5 to two hour lectures, or a lecture and a 3 hour lab. Add time to study between classes, lab or library work after classes etc. I wouldn't have wanted to depend on a PC that was dead in five hours. Remember this is the exhaustion point with TWO batteries. Remember also that unlike NiCad batteries that run better if you exhaust them before recharge the current Lithium batteries degrade faster if you run them down to empty on a regular basis...which might make a difference at $150.00 a pop.

I'm not saying not to get a tablet for college. I wish they had been around when I was in school (that abacus was accurate but had lousy graphics). The M4 is a great tablet. I own one myself. However it is somewhat heavy and very large and awkward in a setting where desktop space may be limited. The high res screen has a limited viewing angle and is worthless in sunlight. It is also a major power hog.

There are plenty of smaller, lighter, more easily read tablets with much higher battery life available at lower prices that would be my choice for a tablet intended to "Go to class, take notes, back up the notes, and throw it on stand-by...".

It's your choice do the research and spend your money as you see fit.

[wthor]

I'd say that the life expectancy of lithium cells varies just as much as the manufacturers are many.

My Clio is still on its original battery pack, finishing its sixth year where it's run down flat every day and sometimes twice a day.

The time I get from the battery has recently shortened from eight hours down to around six and a half, but that's still a lot of juice it keeps at that age :-)

Of course, YMMV.