<p>I have a laptop with 2 hours battery life, do you think it'll be fine for a biology or chemical engineering major? (once I decide :|)</p>
<p>Possibly. Battery life isn’t that big of a deal if you plant yourself next to an outlet in class. You have to carry around a power brick all day, but you’ll have a fully functioning PC to use in class or whatever you need it for. If possible, i’d try to find a larger battery (more cells) which will enable you more time to use your computer without even needing an outlet. 9 cells usually get anywhere from 3.5 to even 6 hours on some machines. Your classes will most likely last 1 to 2 hours at most so it shouldn’t be a huge deal either way. Good Luck with your decision on your major by the way. I originally majored in Bio to go to med school but didn’t find it as interesting as I had hoped. If you’re a science buff though, you should no problems in it.</p>
<p>I agree with Big Cat, if you can get a seat next to an outlet then it doesn’t matter. You might want a bigger battery anyways just in case you aren’t sitting next to an outlet in a two hour class because some laptops like to shut off without being completely dead. Just my opinion.</p>
<p>im thinking about chemical engineering too. what battery life is most practical?</p>
<p>Same thing pretty much. 3-5 hours is a good average to shoot for. Computer companies like to overrate their PC’s battery life so keep that in mind when looking around for a laptop. Their usual battery testing consists of the lowest screen brightness and very little work being done on the PC. Take about an hour off the battery rating and you should have a better image of how long its going to last you. Hope that helps.</p>
<p>Really I go for the best battery life I can get because you never know when you will need those extra few hours.</p>
<p>An alive computer > a dead computer</p>
<p>I agree with big cat, try to get 3-5 hrs. Nowadays 3 to 4 hrs is average on the modern laptop with a 6 cell battery.</p>
<p>Also as a warning be careful about internal components. A battery life test is gonna take a huge hit from higher-power consumption parts (ex. dual-core vs quad-core processor), so that is something to keep in mind when customizing. company-performed battery life testing is usually done with basic options.</p>
<p>Additionally many laptop reviews often have real world battery life tests such as video playback, so look at those too.</p>
<p>Battery life is not a major issue as you generally will be near an outlet. I get by fine using a laptop with a terrible battery that lasts for less than an hour. Most classrooms will not have many outlets, but that doesn’t matter since you should not be using a laptop during class.</p>