Test out Laptops with Laptop Rentals

Are you willing to book a laptop rental for each machine you are considering buying, just to see how long the battery runs? Probably not. But it is tempting. Battery life is one of the most important considerations in buying a laptop. Verifying a manufacturer’s claims about battery performance with a real–life test run would be highly desirable to most businesspeople.

Although laptop rentals are great for short-term use – like testing features before buying or temporarily replacing a broken laptop – there are, luckily, other ways to evaluate battery life. Third–party reviewers often do this work for you. Here is what some of them have to say.

Factors That Affect Laptop Battery Life

There are many factors that affect battery life in your notebook computer. In its Laptop Buying Guide, CNET summarizes these factors:

• The processor has power management features that will affect the life of your battery. Some processors offer longer life, but less performance, and some come at a very high price. You may want to read up on processors before you buy. (See below.)
• The type of display will affect battery life. Larger, brighter displays use more resources than smaller ones.
• Battery size is also a factor. For example, an 8–cell battery will last longer than a 4–cell.
• Manufacturers sometimes take steps to optimize battery life, which can improve the performance of the battery.

In the fall of 2008, HP announced a 24–hour battery in its EliteBook line. As further proof of the impact of the display on battery performance, the HP laptop uses its Illumi–Lite LED display, which they say adds four hours to the battery’s life, as compared to a standard LCD display. To achieve maximum battery performance, the computer has to run Windows XP, not Vista. With a price in the $2,000 range (according to the PC magazine) this computer is not cheap.

For those of us who need something a little less expensive or who want to run Vista, there are other options.

Evaluating Your Laptop Battery

In its Laptop Buying Guide, CNET shows the relative performance and battery life of the most commonly used processors from AMD and Intel. These listings are not the results of the independent tests that CNET recommends, but are a first step in evaluating battery life.

The best combination of processor performance and battery life was found in the Intel Core 2 Duo. A close second was the Intel Core Duo. Available in all types of laptops, these processors are also among the most expensive. The AMD Turion 64 and Turion 64 X2 Dual Core offer decent battery life, but less performance than the Intel Core Duo chips.

The best performance comes with poor battery performance and a high price – the Intel Core 2 Extreme. Found in desktop replacements, this chip is not intended for a highly portable laptop, so battery life is less of a concern.

For decent performance and a lower price, there is the Intel Pentium M. The lowest score in performance and battery life was the Intel Celeron M, although with a low price, machines with this chip might appeal to those with tight budgets.

Next Steps for Your Laptop Purchase

Now that you know which processor/battery combinations to consider, it is time to evaluate the other laptop features. You can rely on reviews, or use laptop rentals to put the computer through its paces for a few days to see how it responds. Remember – your laptop is a major investment so it pays to evaluate it closely.

Call 1–800–827–0352 for international laptop rentals or fill out our Flexquote to get your quote in one hour.