So, apparently the drastically reduced battery life that comes with the Windows 8.1 update is actually a known issue? http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/windows8_1_pr-performance/reduced-battery-life-and-laptop-heats-really-fast/7e08bca3-cf82-499a-afc1-a5c3bbdbd578 …
@Jonathan_Blow It seems likely, not that I know how to actually do that, since of course laptops don't come with install media anymore :(