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by mxfh 4465 days ago
Maybe this feature was a bit underreported: the current line of Lenovo's Ultrabooks, the ThinkPad X240/T440s allows for hot swapping the battery pack while running on a secondary built in battery. Adding up to 23.5 Whr built in plus up to 72Whr per battery pack.

http://shop.lenovo.com/us/en/laptops/thinkpad/t-series/t440s...
2 comments
wmf 4465 days ago
So they're catching up with my old Pismo. It could even sleep for a few seconds with no battery at all.
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bananas 4465 days ago
Yep. I could do this on my circa 2005 IBM T43.
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mxfh 4465 days ago
Without hibernating to disk first?

or via using the Ultrabay as secondary battery? [1]

[1] http://www.thinkwiki.org/wiki/How_to_use_Ultrabay_batteries#...

[EDIT] Also I'm not in any way affiliated with IBM/Lenovo. But the always-on USB-port feature is also a handy emergency travel phone charger if you can (or have to) prioritize phone usage over computer usage with no power outlets in reach. Since the Ultrabook is off and doesn't have to use any power itself you could theoretically stay connected for weeks given a charged battery pack.

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bananas 4464 days ago
Ultrabay as secondary battery. I had two batteries in the machine always. One 9-cell in the machine, one 9-cell in my bag and a 3-cell in the ultra bay. I could get 9 hours out of that without too much trouble and both the 9-cell packs were knackered.

Now you can get 22 hours apparently on a X220 with battery base and a 9 cell!

I use my ThinkPad as a charger too. You have to turn it on in the BIOS but it charges literally anything.

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pekk 4465 days ago
Great. So why can't you do it on a MacBook Pro?
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photojosh 4464 days ago
Because they valued more the engineering advantage of a built-in battery: thinness, weight, individually connected cells for power management.

Those attributes of design are more appealing to the majority than are interchangeable batteries.

My MBP and MBAir, even with the single built-in battery, gets more runtime than a 1996 laptop with two battery packs.

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w1ntermute 4464 days ago
Because removable batteries would offend the sensibilities of most Apple customers?
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