October 21, 2007 – 1:46 pm
While the portability of laptops is the main reason they’ve grown increasingly popular, that portability comes a price, namely rechargeable batteries. Not only do these batteries limit how long you can use the computer away from a power outlet, they gradually lose their ability to hold a charge.
Battery Health Monitor: Another freeware option, not quite as pretty as CoconutBattery, but gives you most of the same information. Battery Health Monitor has a grid at the top that shows you the power status of the laptop. When plugged in, the word “A/C Power” is bold for example; when on battery power, the word is grayed out.
Other indicators include “Battery Depleted” and “Not Chargeable,” neither of which you’ll want to see bolded. Battery Health Monitor also tells you how many charge cycles the battery has gone through as well as the current voltage the battery is delivering.
SlimBatteryMonitor: This piece of freeware is essentially a fancy replacement for Apple’s laptop battery icon.
While it does not provide any of the supplemental data the other options do, SlimBatteryMonitor’s main attraction is that it takes up less space in the menu bar than Apple’s built-in version and is much more customizable, particularly in the colors you can choose for the battery icon…
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October 21, 2007 – 1:31 pm
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
October 21, 2007 – 1:24 pm
Lithium Ion notebook batteries wear down because of two factors:
- active usage in your notebook battery
- natural aging of the notebook battery
Both will wear down your notebook battery over time; the trick is to minimize their impact while still getting the performance out of your laptop battery that you need.
The most important thing to understand about laptop batteries is that they are always losing a small bit of their charge. The hotter the temperature, the faster notebook batteries loose their charge. So rule number one is: keep your notebook battery cool. Notebook battery manufacturers store their products at around 60F.
The second most important thing to understand about notebook batteries is that their capacity decreases with each cycle of charging and discharging. By itself, this is not surprising – but when combined with the previous point, it leads to a surprising conclusion.
When laptop users leave their laptop battery inside the machine but leave the computer plugged into the wall, the laptop battery is going through a constant charge-discharge cycle. The notebook battery is sitting unused inside the notebook, discharging a little faster than normal because of the notebook’s heat. Once its charge level drops to a predetermined level, the AC adapter provides extra juice to “top off” the notebook battery. As the laptop battery gets older, it tends to self-discharge a little faster, which accelerates the process even further…
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September 15, 2007 – 3:22 pm
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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September 7, 2007 – 8:23 pm
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
August 19, 2007 – 8:15 pm
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.
Read More »
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
Gateway today recalled 14,000 batteries used in its notebook PCs after four customers reported that their computers had overheated, a similar condition to the massive laptop battery recall that swept the industry in 2006.
Dell, Apple, Lenovo Group, and other vendors recalled more than 8 million batteries made by Sony when customers began complaining that the rechargeable lithium-ion cells could overheat and catch fire after being dropped. Gateway recalled 35,000 notebook batteries in that episode, beginning in October 2006.
However, the new recall affects battery cells made by Samsung Electronics and assembled into laptop battery packs by Simplo Technology, of Taiwan, Gateway spokeswoman Lisa Emard said today.
Gateway, the third-largest PC vendor in the U.S., expects both vendors to help cover the cost of the action.
“We’re working with our suppliers to cover the cost of replacement battery packs and other direct costs. We expect our costs to be limited to incidental expenses associated with administering the exchange program,”
Emard said.
Simplo and Samsung did not return calls for comment.
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