This place recommends the IBM T40:

laptop-batteries-guide.com/ibm-t40-long-battery-life.html

Any of the Centrino-powered laptops are probably a good bet in terms of battery life.

I always go with Dell, love them completely and have no fear in recommending them. The Inspiron series is a desktop replacement.

Ditto Dell - just got a Latitude D600 - battery life seems very good, all things are road-ready.

If you're not stuck on Windows, look at the Apple Powerbooks. Best computer I ever owned. The smaller the screen the better the battery life.

While not awesome my vaio gets about 2 1/2 hours. I have a frv25, and yes there is a recall right now, when you are plugged into ac power and use the modem the baud rate I believe drops from 56k to 28k and there's a chance of shock. :O

OT, Hopefully the hojo and the clarion have high speed wired access, as I don't have a wireless card. :)

Mac

My Dell inspiration has been brilliant.

Keep an eye out in the daily papers such as the Guardian (UK) because they always have special offers. Alternatively, check out their website.

I'm actually thinking of something along the Avaratec lines: [averatec.com...] - those Centrino systems really seem to be good on batteries. Anyone heard of Avaratec? I hadn't until just the other day.

Avaratec did pretty well here:

pcworld.com/reviews/article/0,aid,111647,pg,1,00.asp

#3 and #4

I always go with Dell, love them completely and have no fear in recommending them. The Inspiron series is a desktop replacement.

I got one of those last Nov-03 .. is an excellent option .. and if you give some more bucks you get it XP-Pro and 64Mb Video .. 3.06 Mhz and 512Mb makes it a powerfull machine.

Don't know if this code still works, I got mine from a catalog using 6F870-D81116z E-Value Code and the price was amazing .. $US 1,299 basic config was (P4-3.06, 512 Mb, 60Gb, CD-RW/DVD, 32Mb Video, 54Mb Wireless) .. this price didn't come on-line at least you had the catalog which cames in the mail .. I'm still so happy because even now the price is a little high and the basic config is less :-) .. it was really a very good deal ..

Almost forgot ... DELL Inspiron 5150.

good luck!

Carlos.

Another vote for Dell here. My inspiron is the most robust laptop I've owned (also owned: sony vaio, NEC ). It gets a LOT of use, and a LOT of abuse. Takes a licking...

I still get about 3.5 hrs on an aged dual battery setup, and keep a third battery as spare for the long hauls in the air, but this is an older model (8100).

I've heard good things about IBM's, but no first hand knowledge.

[edited by: jcoronella at 4:31 pm (utc) on Feb. 6, 2004]

Had dells - ok, but too heavy.

I switched to HP's exclusively (pavillion ze4560us).

Ugh. Can't stand HPs myself; seeing the power button right above the Esc key alone just screamed "bad design".

I hadn't heard of Averatec until I saw one of their laptops in a Staples newspaper insert. The guy at the store said Av. "is a small Japanese firm that makes Vaio clones for less".

They had a 12" laptop for about a grand, not too shabby but the keyboard was too compacted - and this is coming from a typist with really really small hands.

Still, hit their website; definite good deals. Only trouble is figuring out the difference between their configurations of the same machine.

Another good company is M-Tech. Their site also has a lot of attitude - if it's still up, check out their "top 10 reasons to buy a Dell"

I agree with the 'heavy'.

Dell... hmmm, there have been quite a lot of complaints about Dell as a company recently (for not sending ordered computers to their customers etc.).

Well, I've just ordered a 12" iBook G4-800MHz. Maybe you might consider getting a Mac laptop if you don't absolutely have to use Windows for whatever reason.

12" iBook has everything and more than I need for a runabout, battery life is very good. I take it on trips, watch DVD's in the airport, build sites, Photoshop stuff, listen to music, make music ....

They are light, really solid construction, reliable and affordable. If you don't absolutely require Windows, then I recommend an iBook.

Not all Dell's are heavy, the Inspiron series can be on the heavy side but some of the others are as light as any other light weight laptop so really depends what your needs are.

I do not mind the weight of my inspiron at all.

Another vote for IBM's T series. They have one of the best feeling keyboards I've used.

I just got a dell latitude 600m. It's pretty light.

My laptops get a tremendous amount of use and need to be road warriors. I've had two Dells. Definitely heavier than some, but very durable. Did have a bad screen, but the 3 year, next day, onsite service had me up and running in 18 hours. He even replaced the top just to be sure. Best money I ever spent. My Sony I had to send back and was SOL for 2 weeks.

I like the durability of the Compaq/HP. Much better case than Dell. My choice for my next Laptop will be between Dell and HP. Good machines, good next day service. Biggest complaint with HP was Customer Support.

Hint: If you have access to an EEP account through one of the corporations Dell has deals with, the service is noticably better.

Also, with Dell, you can configure the same machine from several different starting points. Depending on whether you start low and upgrade, or start high and downgrade, you can end up with the same configuration but different prices.