Lenovo sounds duff ThinkPad battery alert
Threat to runtime not safety
Lenovo has posted an battery check-up utility after a "limited number" of ThinkPad owners began complaining about power packs that wouldn't recharge or provided a suspiciously low capacity.
The Chinese company stressed that the problem was not extensive and that batteries suffering from the capacity issue do not pose a safety risk.
The issue affects ThinkPar R60, R61, T60, T61, X60 and X61 machines sold worldwide. It manifests itself as a sudden drop in the battery charge displayed by Windows or by a very short battery life.
In some cases, Lenovo's Power Manager app will flag up an "irreparable damage" or "battery cannot be charged" error message.
The diagnostic tool can be downloaded from Lenovo's website here. If the tool determines that your battery is eligible, Lenovo said, it will open up the site where a free replacement battery can be requested. ®
COMMENTS
Spot on problem definition
shame the tool's a load of bollocks. My ThinkPad X61 has *exactly* the problem described - I have the larger battery (6 or 9 cell, can never remember), it's about 2 months old, cycled 67 times. New, in other words. It gives a suspiciously low indicated runtime, about 2 hours on full charge, then when the charge gets to about 54% it suddenly drops to 4% and gives me a low battery alert. Total runtime before the battery dies is about 45mins to 1hr.
I'm also getting the error messages that it has a very low capacity and if I'd like to head over to Lenovo they'll sell me a new one for $lots.
So I was overjoyed when I saw this article, headed straight over to the Lenovo site and ran the tool in full confidence that it would see my battery for the steaming pile of doo-doo that it is.
BUT NO - the tool says everything is ok, and my battery is within the expected capacity range for it's age and number of charge cycles.
I cried.
Had that problem...
My ThinkPad T61's 6-cell battery failed at around 9-10 months; I've never had such poor performance from a battery.
Now I have a T400 which has been much better so far, but the wife has the T61. I'll have to download the utility and check into it.
A very useful utility, that
Seems to be Windows only. Since I run linux, does that mean my battery is by definition not affected?
Not just ThinkPad
I had a Lenovo N100 3000 notebook which had the exact same problem: battery died a week after warranty expired. Speaking with a client of mine (who has the same notebook) today who has just had the exact same thing happen. Battery will not charge at all and will not power machine. Don't think I would buy another Lenovo/ThinkPad product again.
boo hoo
and I just chucked my dead battery ....now I can't get a replacement as the utility won't run ....I wonder if Lenovo will show some sympathy ...will let you know
