Attention, Laptop Shoppers: New HP Batteries Will Last Longer

HP is giving customers a good reason to buy their laptops -- starting next year they will be selling machines equipped with a new battery made by Boston Power. Dubbed "Enviro," these improved lithium ion batteries should perform much better than most laptop batteries, which I'm sure most of us would agree are abysmal. Speaking as someone who just dropped over $150 on a new battery himself, I can say that an improvement would be welcome.

While a typical laptop battery will stay strong for about 150 charges, after which its capacity will start to dwindle, the Enviro battery is said to last over 1,000 charges. Customers will have to spend an extra 20 or 30 bucks to get it. Is it worth it? If it works, definitely. And the icing on the cake -- these batteries are made with no PVC, no heavy metals, and can be recycled.

Although the battery itself will last more recharge cycles, it's unclear if the battery life itself will be longer, as well. I personally don't trust my laptop to give me as much battery time as the monitor indicates. It would be nice to have a machine that could be truly portable --something that could be charged overnight and last the whole day without the need to find an outlet. Not only would it be convenient to not drag a power cord around all the time, but if the majority of laptop-related electricity guzzling was restricted to the night hours, laptops could (like electric cars) soak up excess electricity coming from off-peak generation.

So if you're a battery fiend, you might want to wait until after the holidays to buy that new laptop.

Via CNET Green Tech