Umm, this is just how it is for me, but I've spent a lot more time on my NV playthroughs than I did with my FO3 ones. Just getting to the Strip usually takes me about 20-30 hours, since I like taking my time with exploring/loitering/doing lots of the sidequests. I'm usually anywhere between 40-80 hours by the time I've finished the MQ and reached the ending.
I don't know how it is for others, but my game includes time spent paused via the ESC key as time played for the number given in save game names (I tested it to be sure, once, and yup). So I have a difficult time knowing exactly how many hours on a character, because I tend to hit ESC and run off for long periods of time. heh
Ahah, I do that too (and have the same issue lol), though I just leave my Pipboy screen open instead of pressing ESC.
Sometimes I even sleep through the night while my game's running in the background.
Ha, it's like I try to torture my laptop. D':