Zeke You may be able to get some more battery time by optimizing the Vista laptop settings like Netryder said.
Also check the FAQs to make sure there are no driver quirks. Things like the fan on all the time, etc.
Is the battery life really disappointing or do you just want more life out of it?
I have an IBM and Vista and XP were just about the same. I did not notice any difference.
I like vista on how to change the power settings quickly.
Zeke
I saw 2 laptops today cheap enough I might buy one. One has a 4 cell battery the other has a 6 cell battery. I like the one with the 4 cell better but...
Can you check how many cells your laptop battery has or post the laptop model number. I'm suspecting the 4 cell batteries really suck (I've seen 9 cells on some better laptops) and I wanted to see which you had for comparison.
One reviewer said the four cell won't last 2 hours. So your battery life input and number of cells is of immediate interest to me.
Those are my specs and I get roughly 2hrs of battery life, so really it depends on hardware. What two computers are you looking at exactly?15.4" WXGA (1280x800) TFT Active Matrix w/Intel® GMA950 w/up to 224MB DDR Memory
Intel® Core™2 Duo T7400 2.16GHz Processor w/4M L2 Cache - 667MHz FSB
2,048MB (2 SODIMMS) DDR2/667 Dual Channel Memory
80GB SATA/150 Hard Drive at 7,200 RPM
Combo 8x8x6x4x Dual Layer DVD +/-R/RW 5x DVD-RAM 24x CD-R/RW Drive w/Softwares
4-in-1 Memory Card Reader (MS/MSPRO/SD/MMC)
Built-in Intel® PRO/Wireless 3945 802.11a/b/g
Built-in Bluetooth Wireless
6-cell Smart Li-ion Battery
Windows Vista Premium - (64-Bit installed - 64 and 32-bit CD included)
It was these but with you getting 2 hrs on a 6 cell battery I can forget the 4 cell toshiba.
Your computer will use more power (more toys, faster CPU, faster HD, 4x the memory, and Premium w/Aero) so I should get 2.5, maybe 3 hours. I suspect these would not handle Premium w/Aero. And having just reviewed what few features you get with Vista Home vs XP I'm not sure I even want Vista Home on either of these laptops.
Toshiba A135-S2246
http://www.officedepot.com/ddSKU.do?...Ne=6&An=browse
Compas Presario C552US
http://www.officedepot.com/ddSKU.do?...Ne=6&An=browse
I think I'll stick the laptop idea back on the shelf for a while.