Mid-sized Dothan Notebook Roundup: Dell, Gateway, and HP/Compaq

Battery Info & Performance

Dell Latitude D600

Charging the battery of the D600 takes about 2 hours from 0% to 100% in system-off mode. However, with Dell's ExpressCharge, you have the ability to go from 0% to 80% in about an hour. This helps those who are short on time and don't want to wait 2 full hours.

The D600 has two primary battery options: one is a 6-cell battery (standard) and the other is 4-cell (optional). For the purposes of our tests, we are using the 6-cell primary battery.

For those needing a bit more battery life, the modular battery option of the D600 accepts Dell's standard 6-cell modular battery pack.

Gateway M320XL

Charging the battery of the M320XL takes about 2 hours from 0% to 100%, but we found that in the field, it takes a tad longer than 2 hours for us. Unfortunately, there is neither a modular bay option nor an extended battery option.

HP/Compaq NC6000

The NC6000 has two primary battery options: one is a 6-cell battery (standard), and the other is 8-cell (optional). Our sample came with the 8-cell primary battery, which actually only costs 19 dollars to upgrade. Charging our NC6000 sample (w/8-cell primary battery) took us about 3 hours, but with the system on, the charge time could hit the 5 hour mark depending on the laptop's power consumption.

Like the D600, the NC6000 has a modular bay option, which can be used to house HP's 8-cell Multibay battery.