Laptop Battery Life: The Best of 2011

I’ve been browsing around some PC related magazines this week, trying to find something laptop related to help my inspiration kick in. I must say gone are the days when laptops used to be the most intriguing of all personal computers. These days it’s all about tablets. Don’t get me wrong, I love tablets mainly because their battery lasts way longer than your average laptop and they’re perfect for some browsing and emailing. I used to think that that was the case with all laptops, having a battery life that’s below the iPad or the Galaxy Tab but I was wrong.


I came across an article in the new issue of PC Pro in which they give us a rundown on all laptops that have unusual battery capabilities and even can reach the unimaginable 17 hours of battery life.

I shall start with the Apple MacBook Air 11″ and 13″ versions which both scored a pretty near perfect score on their charts. Although many users will choose the thinner one, which is the 11in version, if you’re more concerned about battery life than design you should definitely pick out the 13in version because of its impressive 8 hours and 13 minutes of battery life during light use. The 11″ version, although better looking and more popular among people, has only a near 7 hours of battery life.

Not many home users know this but there are some laptops on the market that are dubbed Toughbooks and Panasonic is one of the companies that produce the best of these. So, what is a Toughbook? It’s a very sturdy and well-built laptop specially developed for industrial use. So, you’ll more likely to see this on building sites or even in the army and definitely not on someone’s home desk. Next to a couple of neat features like hard disk shockproof and rubber seal covered parts, this monster also packs an amazing accumulator that can last up to 11 hours of usage. Sure, it’s no MacBook when it comes to weight and design but it was never meant to be one. This machine was built to last in any conditions and it definitely delivers!

Asus makes the list with more than one laptop and the best of them is the Asus U46E. Packed with a wonderful 2.5GHz Core i5-2520M processor, this machine also has a very attention grabbing battery life as well: more than 8 hours. It’s a great option for anyone who’s looking for a Windows laptop under £700.
Now, if you’re not an Apple user and you definitely don’t want a Toughbook I might have something else for you. The guys from PC Pro also tested a Sony VAIO SB Series and the results were smashing. During light-use the battery will last nearly 8 hours. But here’s the catch: the laptop also supports extra battery slice, which for £109 will add a further 4,400mAh of extra juice to the standard battery. You shouldn’t worry about the design of the slice once attached to the laptop, it’s very neatly done. How much does it last with the slice? Believe it or not, it lasts 17 hours. Now that’s a hundred quid well spent!

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