Top laptop care tips

Interesting article. Some valid and useful information. Also some obvious information (for me at least).

The thing that boggles me the most is how to get the most out of your battery. I work with a laptop computer 100% of the time, either at work or at home, connected to an external LCD. I don't have time to remove/insert the battery even if I will be connected at one place for the whole day, heck I don't even have time to change power cables - I use 2 power cables, one permantelt at work, one permanentely at home, and I will probably get a 3rd to use when I am on the move, as a 30min battery life is terrible. Also, how useful is it to cycle the battery (discharge fully, recharge fully, 3 times), and how often should this be done? My battery only lasts me about 30 minutes nowadays. The laptop is 13 months old. When it was new the battery lasted me up to 3-4 hours. I have an Acer TravelMate 5730.
 
I had my old Acer Travelmate 8210 from 2006 till October 2009, battery was awesome could go for 3 hours on a full charge, my Brother in law has it and it is still going strong. If you keep a laptop in good shape it can give you many years good service. I am loving my new HP though.
 
I've left my laptop plugged in 24/7 for the last year and its capacity has only degraded about 3%. I do try discharge it once a month or so (down to 5%) but I almost always forget. Full charge/discharge cycles every day are actually bad for the new batteries as well.
 
Another tip, which the article alludes to. Keep the battery cool. Do not leave the battery in a car standing in the sun. Just 1 afternoon in a hot car in Summer can noticably degrade your battery life. It's quite dissapointing when you find out that the battery cost over R1000 to replace.
 
Thanks for the tips, I'm planning to buy my first laptop next month, I will adhere to your tips and advice.
 
Major fail on the battery advice in the article...

Just a few, unordered, uncategorised points:

Knowledge of how lithium-ion batteries work completely invalidates the claims made in the article.
1) Lithium-ion batteries have limited charge cycles, so running down your battery wears its life. However, keeping it charged causes it to build up an electronic memory. i.e. it becomes uncalibrated. You can usuall recalibrate by letting the battery run down, and recharging.
2) Lithium-ion batteries come "activated" from the manufacturer. If the chemicals were not properly activated, you'd have a dangerous situation on your hands. the 12-hour charge is a ridiculous claim.

I have a Dell Studio 1537. I bought it in 2008. I still get > 4 hours of battery life from it. If there's a power point available, I plug in.
I also have a Compaq Mini 311. I bought it this year. I still get > 4 hours battery life from it. If there's a power point available, I plug in.

I use both my notebook and netbook a LOT. My Dell is on pretty much the whole day. If I'm not working on it, I'm running simulations or doing this-or-that unattended task. My Compaq sees a LOT more unplugged usage than my Dell.

I never EVER let my batteries run down and leave them that way. I hardly ever let them get to the point where they turn the computer off. If possible, I try to keep them above 75%.

The theory says that a lithium-ion battery is happiest in the 25% - 75% region.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top
Sign up to the MyBroadband newsletter
X