Top 10 Laptop Battery Basics  Information  
 

Take care of your laptop battery and ensure that it will be ready to work properly when you need it most. Some general tips for laptop care include: avoid extreme temperatures, don’t leave a laptop outside in cold weather or leave it in a hot car. Cold batteries can’t create very much power and hot batteries will discharge very quickly. Use electrical power when available to keep battery charged. Don’t let your laptop go for long periods of time without using the battery.

1. Smaller Is Better
Consider an ultraportable or thin-and-light rather than a desktop replacement laptop. Smaller displays use less power. Going with a hard drive that runs at 4200rpm uses less power than a hard drive running at 5400rpm.

2. Power Control
Use as little power as possible by adjusting laptop settings. Use the Power Options to set to the laptop to go inactive after a set amount of time. Set adjustments so that the display goes off first, then hard the hard drive stay active a bit longer and store the system content’s to the RAM.

3. Turn Down the Lights
Adjust the display brightness to a lower setting, make sure you can view the screen without squinting. You can also adjust the brightness of the display to suit the conditions you are working in.

4. Watch Your Battery Use
Keep an eye on your battery consumption and know how much power you have remaining. Use the battery power icon on the system tray or you can purchase batteries which have LED gauges on the outside of the battery itself.

5. Charging It Up
Whenever you have access to a power source, charge the battery. Before you leave on any trips, fully charge the batteries, especially if you don’t know where or when you might have access to any electrical outlets.

6. Get Another Battery
Some laptops are capable of running with two batteries. If you cannot run two batteries, check with the manufacturer to see if there are high capacity batteries available. External batteries can also be used to extend operating time.

7. Drain the Battery
The first time you use your laptop with battery power, allow the laptop battery to completely discharge. Do this at least twice and don’t try to charge the battery when it is half discharged.

8. Clean Batteries
Keep the battery and its connections clean and free of debris. Clean your battery terminals on a regular basis using a cotton swab with rubbing alcohol on the tip.

9. CMOS Battery Check-Up
The backup battery is a CMOS battery which is a secondary battery to power the clock and can drain a main battery if it is dead. Check with your User Manual or manufacturer’s web site for the location of the CMOS battery and where to get a replacement.

10. Turning It Off
Don’t run programs or devices that you aren’t using. Remove PC cards and turn off Wi-Fi software. Using your laptop to watch movies or play games will drain the battery quickly as well.
 
Extending Laptop Battery Life    
     

Question: If I remove the battery & run from a power source will it lengthen battery life?

Answer:

Laptop batteries have finite life spans. Whether you use the power cord and remove the battery it will lengthen the life of the battery.

Li-Ion laptop battery lifespan is approximately 1000 charge cycles, or 2-4 years under normal operating conditions.

Keeping the battery in a cool place can prolong its life but not in a period of extended storage. The Li-ion battery should be stored at 40 percent rather than full-charge state.

The battery ages even if not used. For best results, keep the battery cool. In addition, store the battery at a 40 percent charge level. Never fully charge or discharge the battery before storage. The 40 percent charge assures a stable condition even if self-discharge robs some of the battery's energy. Most battery manufacturers store Li-ion batteries at 15°C (59°F) and at 40 percent charge.

Keeping a laptop battery on constant charge is and never using it is not good for the laptop battery. Run the battery down and recharging it at least once

     
     
Top 5 Ultraportable Laptops Under A Grand    
     

Ultra portable laptops weigh under 5 pounds. They are perfect for mobile office professionals. Long battery and the fact these laptops are so light and compact make it easy for mobile users to work on the road. One thing to keep in mind with ultra portables is that screen size, keyboards and mouse controls are small, and that can take adjusting to. This selection in this price range may not give you state of the art technology, but will enable you to work on the road at a reasonable price.

1. Averatec AV3225HS Notebook
The Averatec offers mobile professionals who need to watch the bottom-line a laptop which offers Wi-Fi as well as other connectioin options. The DVD/CD-RW combo drive can come in usual when documents or presentations need to be copied. Weighing in at just 4.2lbs, this is a compact and lightweight notebook.
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2. Apple iBOOK M9426LLA Notebook
At 4.9lbs, this laptop provides a mobile user with a 30GB hard drive, 1GHz processor and 12.1-inch display. It has a built in ethernet adapter and fax/modem. With an estimated battery life of 6 hours, this notebook will be very beneficial to mobile professionals.
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3. Fujitsu LifeBook S2020 Notebook
This is a thin and light laptop which weighs just 4lbs. It offers Wi-Fi, Ethernet, iRDA and a modem for a wide variety of connection options for mobile workers. Battery life is only estimated at 3 hours so go for a back-up battery or ensure you have a power source handy.
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4. HP (Hewlett-Packard) NC4000
The HP NC4000 weighs just 3.5lbs and is a true thin and light notebook. A full-size keyboard makes entering large amounts of data easy and comfortable. Optical and floppy drives are sold separately and require additional components. This notebook does have Ethernet, iRDA and a modem for connections.
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5. IBM ThinkPad X24 Notebook
The IBM X24 weighs just 3.8lbs and that's light enough to travel anywhere with it. It has Wi-Fi, Ethernet, iRDA and a modem for making connections wherever you may be working. Battery life is estimated at 4 hours which isn't too bad.
     
Laptop Battery Repair    
 
The greatest strength of a laptop is its portability and the fact that it can be used without needing any external power connections for hours at a time. This makes a laptop battery one of the most important parts in a laptop. It is very important, hence to take care of a laptop battery. Like every other part of the laptop, the battery also undergoes wear and tear and might need repairs.

It must be remembered that most laptop batteries cannot be repaired if damaged. This is because of their complex construction. And even if it were to be repaired, one would need specific and expensive instruments to do so. It is for this reason that often it is suggested that if a battery is damaged, one should buy a new laptop battery, rather than repairing a damaged one. This is often a better and a cheaper idea.

At times when we see the need for a laptop battery repair, it turns out that all it requires is a bit of calibration. This is done in most battery or laptop repair shops locally. However, there are cases when the battery is actually damaged. It then needs thorough repair, or should simply be replaced, as mentioned above.

One needs to remember that it is not a good idea to use a laptop battery that has begun to leak. Do not even think of repairing such a battery as it could be dangerous. Such laptop batteries can usually not be repaired and even if they are, the repairs are expensive and the battery may not be safe to reuse.

However, there are different types of batteries that are available on the market, and quite a few of them even lend themselves to repair in case of damage. One first needs to know the type of battery one has before one goes in for a laptop battery repair. One can then check it out in some local stores. Often the internet is a good source for finding out information regarding the same and also to know whether the laptop battery can really be repaired in the first place.