With the battery being such an integral component of a notebook computer, the cost of the laptop battery can have a noticeable effect on the cost of the entire notebook.

Reuters reports that Dell announced this week that there was a shortage of laptop batteries because in part of a fire at a major laptop battery manufacturer - LG Chem.

Dell also admitted that prices for laptop batteries sold separately from a notebook system have gone up because of the shortage. LG Chem, one of the leading makers of batteries for laptops, had a fire in its Ochang plant on March 3. Dell says that it is working with other vendors to obtain batteries in an attempt to stave the shortage and prevent price increases for new notebooks from being passed on to consumers.

Dell spokesman Jess Blackburn told Reuters,

“We sell battery packs. The prices of those battery packs for people ordering extra batteries have gone up.”

However, Blackburn didn’t comment on the amount of the price increase.

Dell isn’t the only PC maker looking at laptop battery shortages; Hewlett Packard is feeling the same pinch. Hewlett-Packard spokesperson Mike Hockey said,

“The full extent of the impact to Hewlett Packard and other OEMs is still being determined. We are aggressively working within the battery cell industry to secure additional supply of battery cells.”

Source: DailyTech.com

Dell laptop battery stores:

• JustLaptopBatteries.com
• LaptopPartsWorld.com
• HQBatteries.com

LG Electronics has offered free replacement batteries after two users claimed that their notebook PCs exploded. Despite the recall offer, LG has so far described the incidents as “isolated “. The partial recall applies to batteries manufactured by LG Chemical for two recent laptop models, the LG Z1 and LG Z2.

Video shot in January showed a journalist’s LG Z1-AE007 notebook burning and then exploding.

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We intentionally created conditions in which the Li-ON battery pack would explode inside a generic portable. The results are dramatic. There are numerous conditions where these fires can occur in real life. Faulty battery packs (driving the recalls), faulty protection circuits inside the PC, exposure to excessive heat, and blunt force are some of the major ways that this could happen to you.

Video source: Pcpitstop.com

Wow! It’s Wednesday’s IT Blogwatch: in which we’re really, really excited about a notebook battery that lasts 30 years. Not to mention an awful, awful performance from Commander Riker hawking enterprise IT automation software…

A breathless Next Energy News reports:

Your next laptop could have a continuous power battery that lasts for 30 years without a single recharge thanks to work being funded by the U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory. The breakthrough betavoltaic power cells are constructed from semiconductors and use radioisotopes as the energy source. As the radioactive material decays it emits beta particles that transform into electric power capable of fueling an electrical device like a laptop for years.
…
Betavoltaics generate power when an electron strikes a particular interface between two layers of material. The Process uses beta electron emissions that occur when a neutron decays into a proton which causes a forward bias in the semiconductor. This makes the betavoltaic cell a forward bias diode of sorts, similar in some respects to a photovoltaic (solar) cell. Electrons scatter out of their normal orbits in the semiconductor and into the circuit creating a usable electric current… [more]

Addy Dugdale digs it:

Made from radioactive material … the batteries end their life being completely inert and non-toxic, so they’re not as scary-bad as they sound … Before you all run for the tinfoil, the batteries don’t use fission or fusion, nor are there any chemical processes to produce energy, which means no radioactive or hazardous waste … Small and thin, the batteries use a porous silicon material to collect the hydrogen isotope tritium that is generated in the process. And as it’s a non-thermal reaction, your laptop will stay cooler than if its juice came from traditional lithium-ion batteries… [more]

Rupert Goodwins, the first ever blogger scoffs:

Sadly, no. As with the best techno-rubbish, there is a story in there, but you’ll be pootling around the skies in jetpacks before you’re powering your Dell from neutron decay.
…
Tritium’s half-life is around twelve years, so every decade or so your battery will halve in power … the sort of atomic structures that generate power when bombarded with high energy electrons are the sort that tend to fall apart when bombarded with high energy electrons … there’s the small problem that if you break the battery during its life the nasties come out … they don’t have a great conversion efficiency. Around 25 percent is the best you can get - which is pretty good, but leaves 75 percent sloshing around as heat. That means a 25 watt battery will get plenty warm … Even the latest devices, which are very clever in the way they saturate a porous structure with the gas and thus usefully capture quite a large number of the energetic electrons, have an energy density of the order of twenty five watts per kilo. Lithium ion batteries, the sort you have in your laptop, manage 1.8 kilowatts per kilo… [more]

Full story ComputerWorld.com

There are three refurbished notebook battery types, each named for its component materials:

Nickel Cadmium batteries (NiCad battery) are hardly ever seen anymore. They have dismally low capacities (2000-3000 mAH) and contain heavy metals that harm the environment. Worst of all is the dreaded “memory effect”. When you recharge a Nickel Cadmium battery before it is completely drained, the longevity of the laptop battery is compromised. That is the memory effect.

Nickel Metal Hybrid batteries (NiMH battery) have twice the capacity of Nickel Metal Hybrid batteries (4000-6000 mAH) and are half as susceptible to the memory effect. But these too are becoming rare.

Lithium Ion batteries (Li-Ion battery) are today’s laptop battery standard. They have all the capacity of a Nickel Metal Hybrid battery, but zero memory effect and zero toxins. Bonus: Li-Ion notebook batteries weigh half as much as Nickel Metal Hybrid laptop batteries. In purchasing a notebook battery, the consumer has three options: used, refurbished, or new.

Used notebook batteries that are not refurbished will probably only last you 30 minutes to an hour before needing recharging…

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Laptop users love to complain about how their notebook batteries don’t last long enough. But what if you could get more life out of your laptop battery?

Peter Robbins knows when he turns on his two year old laptop, he doesn’t have long to work.

“My laptop battery dies within a half hour,”

Robbins said.

And when he forgets to watch the power meter,

“all of a sudden it will just go into standby mode and you lose whatever you’re working on. It’s pretty frustrating,”

Robbins said.

Pc Magazine’s Cisco Cheng says no matter if a laptop user has an old, fast dying battery or just can’t plug in, there are simple ways to squeeze out more power when running on a battery. One easy tip: dim your screen.

“Dimming it by 50 percent or even to a level that you can tolerate, can have a profound effect on battery life,”

Cheng said.

Cheng says if you don’t need to be online, disable the wireless connection. Also, pick your programs wisely. Avoid using music and video players, and doing things like watching a DVD, or playing games.

“They can tax your CPU and your battery,”

Cheng said.

“If you’re running a web browser, if you’re running word processing programs, those don’t usually take a toll on your battery.”

Make your battery stronger with regular exercise. Cheng says do something called conditioning everyday…

Full Story: Keyetv.com

Toshiba has issued its second recall in a month of Sony laptop batteries that could overheat and burst into flames.

The latest recall, announced Thursday by the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, affects about 1,400 notebooks. The models include the Toshiba Satellite A100 and A105, and the Toshiba Tecra A7, which sell for as little as $680.

The recall stemmed from three reports outside of the United States of laptop batteries overheating. No injuries were reported, but the CPSC is advising laptop computer owners to run the systems on AC power and send the batteries back to Toshiba for replacements at no charge.

Toshiba in July recalled 10,000 batteries in Toshiba Satellite and Toshiba Tecra laptops. The company reported in June that a Sony laptop battery was responsible for at least two notebooks bursting into flames. The CPSC has listed 16 reports of Sony lithium-ion notebook batteries overheating.

Apple, Dell, Lenovo, Gateway, and Acer America also have issued recalls of the faulty rechargeable batteries. The global effort started last year when power sources used in notebooks from several manufacturers began showing defects and overheating. Sony last year recalled 9.6 million batteries, making it the largest recall ever in the computer industry.

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FreshBattery announced a new Legacy line of laptop batteries. The units are designed to provide batteries for notebook models that have been discontinued for three to 5 years, including older Apple PowerBooks and Apple iBooks.

According to Macworld News, the company claims that the laptop batteries are designed to meet or exceed the original manufacturer’s specifications. In the case of a Legacy battery for an original Apple PowerBook G4, FreshBattery has substituted the original 3600 mAH cells with 4400 mAH cells, resulting in a battery that adds an additional 40 minutes of run time between charges.

FreshBattery currently produces a battery range that covers the original “Clamshell” iBook G3s and goes back as far as the Wall Street and Pismo-era G3 PowerBooks. The Legacy battery line is currently priced under US$100 and available immediately.

Full Story: Powerpage.org

Tekkeon announces myPower ALL Plus MP3450, an external rechargeable laptop battery that doubles the life of laptop batteries and can simultaneously charge other small portable devices through an on-board USB port. myPower ALL Plus is modular, so a second extended battery can be added to provide even more mobile power.

myPower ALL Plus powers and charges most laptop computers and virtually any mobile device on the go. In addition to powering a laptop for up to four extra hours, myPower ALL Plus powers and charges most portable electronics like portable DVD players, digital cameras and camcorders, portable media centers, portable MP3 and CD players, PDAs, and mobile phones.

“Tekkeon’s new external laptop battery is a must-have alternative for expensive notebook batteries that are dedicated to a single device,”

says Jerry Yang, president of Tekkeon, Inc.

“Before needing to be recharged, our new lightweight battery can power a notebook up to four hours, provide up to six hours of extra play time on a portable DVD player, or up to 12 hours of recording time on a digital camcorder - making it a truly universal mobile power solution.”

myPower ALL Plus connects to the power jack on the portable device. Selecting the right voltage for a portable device is done quickly and easily using the voltage selector. Automatic reset upon adapter change provides added safety to protect the connected device.

Full Story: PRNewswire.com

Toshiba said Thursday it will recall lithium-ion notebook battery packs made by Sony Corp.

Up to 5,100 battery packs are defective, but the recall will include 10,000 laptop batteries, as that is the size of the manufacturing lot involved, spokesmen from the companies said.

The recall is unrelated to the much bigger recall of Sony-made li-ion batteries last year.

A Toshiba spokesman said the recall would affect 10 different notebook models sold worldwide. He said the company knew of three separate incidents where the laptop battery packs had overheated and damaged notebooks, and all three came from the lot in question.

A Sony spokesman said all of the batteries involved had come from the same lot the company made in December 2005, and so the companies had decided to recall all batteries from that lot.

He said Sony was still investigating the cause of the problem, but that it was limited to that specific lot.

Both companies expect the financial impact from the recall to be minimal

News source: MarketWatch.com