Incorrect Battery Time... TravelMate

hi folks

was wondering about a couple of things i've noticed with my laptop battery:
when fully charged, it says 100% and the time estimate is roughly three
hours. however, every time i get to the 50% mark (after an hour and a
half), the laptop reports only 10% battery left, and urges me to plug in
to an outlet. so, i have an immediate drop of 50 -- 10 percent of power.

i was wondering what the cause might be - is this how dying batteries make
themselves known? i bought a used battery which doesn't do the same thing
- it just tops out at a maximum charge of 68% and gives me two full hours.

thanks.

"Michael Murray" wrote in
:

It might be the battery dying, my old Packard Bell Laptop's battery
started doing this and now its completely dead.

Are you doing anything intensive when the powers at 50%, if you are
using different levels of power the estimate would be rather poor,
I've had a battery last about 10mins when trying to play a game.

yes actually, im doing power-intensive the whole time unfortunately through
my Orinoco Wireless card, which runs 5v. thanks for the reply.