Laptop Thoughts: Laptops That Sip the Juice

"When it comes to battery life, you can’t just trust manufacturers’ lofty claims. That’s why we test the endurance of every notebook we review with a script that surfs the web continuously over Wi-Fi until the battery is completely drained. These five notebooks, ranging in size from 10 inches to 15 inches, each earned close to or greater than 8 hours of juice on a single charge. One lasted more than 10. With that much gas in the tank, you won’t have to refuel for a full work day, maybe even longer. Have fun leaving that power cord at home."

My wife's Asus will eek out 6 or 7 hours, so she'll often forgo the power adapter for a trip of just a few days. If you are tired of always being tied down to a wall outlet, you may want to check out the full review and especially the HP Mini 5102 which gets and impressive 10.1 hours of web surfing on a single charge. Lenovo, Acer, and 2 Mac's round out their top 5.