Whenever you get a laptop one of the first things you want to know is how good is the laptop batteries that it has. Well unless you buy a real top-of-the-line laptop, the battery is probably not going to be that great. Of course worry not, because you can buy better laptop batteries online or at stores. I have never had a laptop that had a great battery to start with, but after buying some laptop batteries online I found that this is the way to go. This way you can spend as little or as much as you want on your laptop batteries. Some of the laptop batteries can cost a lot to almost nothing, but remember that you get what you pay for.

Buying laptop batteries is not something that has to be hard, however, it seems like if you buy them online you can get a better deal than you can buying them in stores. I think this is because you can compare prices to other stores online. It is hard to run around town comparing different laptop batteries. Not only are you not going to save very much money, but after all the driving around your savings will be eaten up buy gas prices. Of course, I think that is why I like to buy everything online, and this includes laptop batteries.

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A whole desktop computer is equivalent to a laptop and I suppose the reason why laptops are preferred instead of desktop computers is because of their mobility which is only possible through laptop batteries. The portable machine can be moved around from one place to another without going through any hassle. Due to the laptop batteries, the machine is ideal for businessmen and college or university students to make their presentations, projects, business dealings and assignments while having a combine study at a friend’s place or colleague. Thanks to the laptop batteries, light weighted and their miniature size, life is now easier than it used to be.

A notebook computer which is completely correspondent to a desktop computer is always preferred for multiple reasons. First there is the fact of a laptop being portable which is ideal for students and businessmen for their daily assignments or presentations respectively. Now with wireless internet connection you can stay logged on to the internet at all times from everywhere and anywhere. The touchpad on the laptop is used as a mouse and the compact keyboard is great and comfortable for typing. Just for the reason that a laptop is small in size does not mean that the comfort of using a laptop is compromised. The best feature that keeps laptop in the spotlight no matter what kind of modern desktop computers is in the market is laptop batteries that make mobility possible in the first place.

Earlier when laptops were new to the market and was still being experimented to make them even better for use, nickel-cadmium laptop batteries were used. But due to being temperature sensitive and highly expensive the use of them was substituted by lithium-ion batteries. These batteries are also temperature sensitive but can resist a lot more heat than nickel-cadmium batteries in addition they are not that expensive making the prices of laptops affordable. Now if you are planning on purchasing a laptop batteries here are a few things that should be considered. First of all make sure that the battery is new and original as used or counterfeit laptop batteries may be cheap but will be a waste of money due to their short life and flimsiness.

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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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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.
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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

Lithium Ion notebook batteries wear down because of two factors:

1. active usage in your notebook battery
2. 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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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

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

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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