Dev.igner

I have been a long time fan of netbooks and have owned an Eee PC 701 since its launch in November 2007. These little laptops are great for anyone on the go that wants to do light computing tasks like email, taking notes or web browsing. As a student and someone who had long commutes in the summer, my Eee PC comes with my everywhere as it practically weighs nothing and can fit in even the most packed full of backpacks.

Netbooks are an obvious draw to people who like to hack and pimp out their devices. They are cheap and practical devices. I have decided that a year and half later, I would dive into the modding scene with my Eee PC. I have planned to add a touch screen, internalize some USB drives and to get a new bigger battery.

Third party Eee batteries have been around for a while. I have followed some threads on eeeuser.com about people ordering third party batteries over Ebay. There were mixed reviews about how good the batteries were and there were even some scams. Hearing these stories made me a little hesitant to get a third party battery, even though I would love to get more than 2 hours out of my machine. I noticed that DealExtreme.com started selling aftermarket Eee PC accessories. It was comforting to buy from a website rather than an Ebay store and the reviews of Deal Extreme itself are positive. Deal Extreme also has free shipping on everything on their site. The company is based in China, so do not expect overnight delivery. I found that the user reviews of the different products on Deal Extreme helpful and the 10400mah battery I was eying had good reviews. I went ahead and purchased this battery.

I received my package the other day, less than 2 weeks after it was shipped. Reviews are giving the battery a 6 to 8 hour life. My hopes are to stretch my battery over a whole 10+ hour day of school by suspending my EeePC to RAM while not in use and while I am on the move. I am currently running Ubuntu 8.10 (Intrepid Ibex) installed with the Eee specific Kernel from Array.org (thanks to Array.org for their awesome service to Eee owners). Ive decided to properly benchmark the battery and post the results as I have yet to find reviews online doing so.

To benchmark my battery decided to run an XvID movie in a continuous loop in VLC. I had the screen brightness set to 50% the volume set to 75%, and WiFi was turned on. This models one of my personal use cases for me on the EeePC; watching movies on long car or bus rides. Here are my results:

Stock 5200mah battery: 2 hours and 38 minutes.

Deal Extreme 10400mah battery:3 hours and 44 minutes.

I was actually quite surprised by these numbers. I did not expect that the stock battery would last so long. This may be because I have only recently installed Ubuntu 8.10 after running Windows XP for the last few months. Many benchmarks are putting Ubuntu on top for getting the most battery life out of your laptop and it shows here. I did not get the double battery life I was expecting from the double amp hours, but I am still happy. Also, my day to day use results are promising with the new battery. I have no numbers yet, but I will update this article when I get some solid numbers.

The build quality of the battery seems good and the connection to the laptop feels secure. The battery protrudes out the bottom, rather than out the back as many of other extended batteries do. This is both a pro and a con. It does increase the overall thickness of the Eee, but it does form a nice gap underneath the laptop while in use. This provides better airflow for the laptop which is always a plus.

I would recommend this battery to anyone who needs longer battery life for commutes or cant guarantee having a wall socket like in a lecture hall. The price in my opinion is great and the free shipping is a big plus.