The LG X110 netbook comes with a 3-cell battery that runs for 1.5 hours (with WiFi on) or 2 hours (WiFi off). One of the first things I do after buying a new portable computing device is to head over to eBay and buy a large capacity battery from the helpful folks in Hong Kong.
(How do I know which seller to buy from? I pick one with lots and lots of sales, like over 10,000, along with nearly perfect positives, like over 99.5%.)
For my first netbook, the ASUS Eee 701, I wasn't very happy with the larger battery's life. Since then, however, I have learned that this can be due to the computer's BIOS, and not the battery. My Asus figures every battery has the same capacity, no matter the actual capacity.
(Battery life is so variable that the computer industry has reduced itself to speaking of the number of cells in a battery, typically 3, 6, or in rare cases, 9. This is only a rough solution, however, because the capacity varies between even same-cell batteries due to size, technology, and efficiency. Capacity is measured in milliampere-hours, or 'mAh', with 3300 or 4400mAh being common for 3-cell batteries.)
Over on the MSI Wind Forums, some posters noted the same 3-cell-only problem. (The LG is a re-badged Wind.) Six-cell batteries would not last much longer than 3-cell ones. Other posters, however, noted that a newer BIOS allowed the Wind to accurately detect 6- and 9-cell batteries. How would my LG react, I wondered.
The $70 battery arrived, and I inserted it. Like other 9-cell batteries, it sticks out by an inch at the bum of the netbook, and adds heft to its otherwise welter weight. I warily checked the battery meter, and was thrilled to see an estimated life of 7.5 hours!
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