HP Breaks the "Holy Grail" of Computing: 24 Hours on a Single Battery Charge

• Author: admin
• Filed under: Tech News
• Date: Sep 9,2008

Now that record didn’t last long. About a month ago Dell said its semi-rugged Latitude E6400 could manage 19 hours of battery life. On Monday, HP announced that the new HP EliteBook 6930p could break the “holy grail” of computing, 24 hours on one battery charge.

Of course, this isn’t without caveats, though the press release still trumpets the fact, as Ted Clark, senior vice president and general manager, Notebook Global Business Unit, HP said:

All-day computing has been the holy grail of notebook computing. With the HP EliteBook 6930p, customers no longer have to worry about their notebook battery running out before their work day is over.

Shoot, I’d like it if my iPhone 3G could make 24 hours without a recharge. The caveats? Check out the footnotes in the press release:

Requires separately purchased Ultra Capacity Battery and customer download of the latest Intel graphics driver and HP BIOS. Notebook must be configured with optional Intel 80 GB SSD drive and HP Illumi-Lite LED Display (planned to be available October 2008) and requires Microsoft Windows® XP operating system. Battery life will vary depending on the product model, configuration, loaded applications, features, and power management settings. The maximum capacity of the battery will decrease with time and usage.

Hey, Microsoft, read that? Windows XP, not Windows Vista. And HP had better be careful about that claim, as the “latest Intel graphics driver” could actually cause a problem if a newer driver than they “certified” with is a little less power-friendly.

And although HP says a business traveler could:

Use an HP EliteBook 6930p continuously on the world’s longest scheduled commercial airline flight – linking Newark Liberty International Airport and Singapore Changi Airport – approximately 18 hours, 40 minutes.

I’d like to know if I could do that while watching a series of movies: say Transformers, The Mist and The Matrix? Otherwise, that long trip, even with a laptop, might prove a little boring.