Laptop Battery Care

Whenever you buy a new laptop or a laptop battery the battery will normally need to be completely charged before it can be used, as it will arrive in a discharged condition. To fully charge your battery we recommend leaving your laptop connected to a suitable mains supply overnight for at least 12 hours if the laptop battery you have purchased is either a NiCd or Li-Ion type. If your battery is of the NiMH type we recommend leaving your battery on charge for up-to 24 hours.

It is worth bearing in mind that NiCd or NiMH  batteries will not reach their peak condition or full capacity until they have been charged and discharged 4 or 5 time through normal use, so please do not be alarmed if your battery does not initially last as long as the manufacturer has specified. These types of battery should always be fully discharged before charging where possible as they become conditioned to remember how long they should last. For instance if you only use 50% of your batteries capacity and constantly top up the charge from this point, the battery will sooner or later presume it should only last 50% of its original capacity even if your completely discharge and recharge.

Most new laptops will come with a Li-Ion battery, as it is a more effective and consumer friendly product. Li-Ion batteries work in a completely different way and do not remember charging history, in fact they perform best being kept topped up to full capacity, ideally doing so from around a 50% charge.

Laptop Battery Performance

NiCd, Li-Ion, and NiMH are all different types of battery and as such vary in both user performance and durability. Performance also varies slightly from manufacturer to manufacturer depending on the quality of cells that form the battery. Under normal laptop use you should expect a good quality Li-Ion battery to last for around 1000 cycles (approximately 3 years) with NiMH around 500 cycles, and NiCd being the least efficient performer at around 400 cycles.

The type of application you are using on your laptop will also have a dramatic effect on the run time of your battery. For instance playing a dvd or rendering images would consume more battery power than say editing a simple word document. In addition the type of laptop you have will affect battery performance, for instance a larger brighter screen, lower ram size, or power hungry processor may give you more speed, but like a car this extra speed consumes more energy. 

Monitoring your laptops power settings allows you to enhance your batteries perfomance by taking advantage of your laptop's energy saving mode. Microsoft Windows includes two power settings created specifically to improve the performance of laptop computers. The Laptop setting minimizes power usage to conserve your battery, but at the same time adjusts itself to suit your laptops processing requirements, this way performance is not affected. The second setting called “Max Battery� minimises power consumption and is designed for situations that require lower processing power such as viewing documents or browsing the Internet.

Technology is moving at a rapid pace and manufactures are improving the performance of all laptops helping to make mobile computing more consumer friendly as is demonstrated by say the release of the  Intel Centrino 2 processor which offers a significant improvement to battery performance  with run times reaching on average up-to 4 hours on a standard laptop. To achieve even greater battery performance you should consider an ultra portable laptop from Acer, Toshiba, or Sony etc which will give you 7-8 hours of computing time on just one charge.

For overall best battery performance disconnect your battery when you are using your laptop for a prolonged period connect to a mains supply, keeping it safely stored in a cool dry place preferably around 15 degrees centigrade. Remember though the older your battery the less run time you should expect.

External Laptop Battery

If you are looking to really achieve maximum mobility from your laptop then an external battery provides extra capacity. For example  Maxpower produce a range of external batteries that are a designed to fit any laptop thanks to their universal tip system. These super slim external battery packs are designed to rest underneath your laptop and provide up-to an additional 9 hours of run time, making them a perfect choice for people who work away from a normal electricity supply during their working day.

Laptop Battery Technology Explained

A rechargeable battery is a device that is capable of storing chemical energy that converts into electrical energy when connected to a mains supply. It is made up of different cells that link together to form a complete usable battery. Once the electrical energy has been used or discharged, it can be restored by passing an electrical current through the cells which takes place each time the battery is connected to a mains supply. A typical laptop battery will contain 6 inter-connecting cells.

Li-Ion Battery

A Lithium-ion battery is now one of the most popular laptop battery, Li-Ion batteries are a mixture of Lithium Oxide and a Carbon compound used as electrodes with an electrolyte film which acts as a separator. The lithium ion moves from the anode to the cathode during discharge and vice versa during charging. This type of battery is the best of all 3 for keeping its charge.

NiMH Battery

A Nickel-metal hydride battery uses a hydrogen-absorbing alloy for the negative electrode and nickel oxyhydroxide (NiOOH) for the positive electrode. Generally this battery has three times the capacity of an equivalent size NiCd battery. NiMH batteries are also constructed from non-toxic metals making it more environmentally friendly than a NiCd battery but not as efficient as a Li-Ion battery for keeping it’s charge.

NiCd Battery

As the name suggests a Nickel-cadmium battery uses both nickel and cadium as electrodes. Generally and older type of laptop battery that is being phased out due to the higher levels of heavey metals required to make it work. This type of battery has the advantage of being able to reach full charge very quickly.

Most new Laptop batteries use "smart" technology, which basically means they have internal microprocessors fitted allowing them to communicate charge/discharge information with your laptop to achieve greater efficiency.

A battery cycle

is the term used for one complete charging and discharging event. This occurs by connecting a suitable device i.e a charger, to a laptop while the battery is in place.

Memory effect

is caused by continually recharging a battery, or topping it up before it is fully discharged. This effects NiCd and NiMH batteries only and result in the battery only remembering the amount of capacity charged and the full true capacity of the battery is not reached.

Overcharging

is caused by exceeding the manufacturers prescribed time for charging your battery, or by not following their guidelines on keeping your battery in tip top condition.

Power Management

is controlled from your laptop and helps to manage the power consumption by controlling various processes taking place within the laptop itself.

Rechargeable

is the ability to return the battery sells to their originally fully charged state.

Run Time

Is the length of time your laptop will operate from the battery alone before it is fully discharged.

Self-Discharge

is what eventually happens to a battery when it is not used.