2009年5月1日星期五

How to Increase Laptop Battery Life

How to Increase Laptop Battery Life

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If you Hp laptop battery are like many people, you have had the unpleasant experience of working on a project on your laptop, only to cry out in frustration as your battery dies in the middle of something important. You may not know, but it is possible to increase the life of a laptop battery. Take these steps to make your battery last longer.

Difficulty: EasyInstructions

Step 1Set your computer Compaq Presario NX9000 battery to stand by when it has been idle for a specific amount of time. To set the computer to stand by, go to the "Start" menu and select "Control Panel." Select "Power Options" and click on the "Power Schemes" tab. Select the amount of time you want your computer to wait before going on standby.


Step 2Disable your wireless card. Even if you aren't aware of it, your computer is constantly searching for new networks. This uses a great deal of battery life.


Step 3Close down unnecessary programs. You can do this by clicking on the programs in the task bar, by right clicking on the program, and selecting "Close" or by hitting "CTRL+ALT+DEL" and ending unnecessary Hp F2299A battery, tasks.


Step 4Control the programs that run at startup. You may not be aware that these programs are running in the background. Go to the "Start" menu, and click on "Run." Type in "msconfig" and click "OK." Click on the "Startup" tab and choose which program you want to run at startup and which programs to Hp F3172A battery uncheck. For example, you want your virus protection to start up right away, but you may not need QuickTime.


Step 5Condition your battery by letting it run down, and then charge it up all the way. Partially charging your battery lowers battery life.

Getting More Laptop Battery Life

Getting More Laptop Battery Life - "Good to the Last Drop"


So you got a Hp laptop battery fancy laptop computer with Intel's Pentium M or Celeron M chip, or maybe you went for AMD's Athlon M chip. You got built-in Wi-Fi. Maybe even Bluetooth for your peripherals. You are cutting the cord once and for all right? Making it through a long flight or the most or your day without "plugging in" is a goal most mobile professionals and enthusiasts wish to accomplish. Whether you are a long time user of Tablet PC's or Notebook computers, we have a 7 tips that just might help you squeeze out some extra time out of your battery per charge.


 


Don't do it, we can help you!


Tip 1: Starting Off Right


Our fist tip Hp F4098A battery is to get you off to a good start. When you purchase a new laptop it is essential to calibrate and break in your new battery properly. When you first unbox your new machine, the first place it belongs (after installing the battery) is connected to an AC outlet. Even if the battery indicator shows a full or near full charge, it is a good idea to keep the unit plugged in for a minimum of 5-7 hours. After this initial and absolute full charge, unplug it and have your way with it! Drain that battery until you "force it to shut down" (save your work upon the low battery alert). Then proceed to charge it up again to 100% (this time just charge it to "full"). Go ahead and repeat the drain to zero. After 3 full charge and discharge cycles, your battery is ready for the road.


This process does 2 things. First off, it breaks in your new battery right.Hp F4809A battery Second it calibrates it with your computer to give you a more accurate measurement of charge status from the software's indicator. Over time your battery will slip away from calibration, so it is suggested that you repeat one "full charge" and "discharge" every 3 months. Refer to your owner's manual if you wish as some manufacturers may recommend a slightly different calibration technique.


Tip 2: How Many Times Do We Have to Tell You to Turn off the Light!


The biggest culprit of battery drainage is hands down - the display. Want more time per charge? Turn that sucker down to a tolerable, Hp F4812A battery but comfortable level.


Tip 3: Turn off Unnecessary Hardware


You heard the flight attendant. "Turn off your cell phones during the duration of the flight". Use that as your cue to remember to shut off your WiFi, Bluetooth radio and to remove unneeded PCMCIA cards from the slot if you are not using them. These devices all drain your battery.


Tip 4: Tame Windows


Did you know Hp 319411-001 battery that you have programs "checking for updates", scanning files and running tasks that you don't know about? All of this unnecessary activity accesses your hard drive and over time makes an impact on your battery's charge. You can easily disable these services while on DC power. Here's how:


Click "Start", "All Programs", "Accessories", "System Tools", and finally on "Scheduled Tasks". Right-click on any scheduled task in the list you wish to disable and click "Properties". Select the Settings tab. Under "Power Management", choose "Don't start the task if the computer is running on batteries" and "Stop the task if battery mode begins." Click OK on each selection to save your changes. You are bound to find several "culprits" that you could care less about while you are out and aboutCompaq Presario 2100 battery(compaq 2100 battery) running your notebook on batteries.


Tip 5: Choose the Right Power Setting


In the Control Panel go to "Power Options". In the "Power schemes" drop down list, be sure to select either the "Portable/Laptop" or "Max Battery" option.


Tip 6: Add More RAM!


Shhh. This one is a secret of the pros! If you have only 256MB of RAM, your machine is sure to write temporary information to the hard drive constantly. Boost that up to 512MB or even better 768MB+ and you will be sure to minimize this issue, thereby keeping hard drive access to a minimum. No matter what Compaq Presario 2500 battery(compaq 2500 battery), kind of "power saving technology" your processor has, your hard drive is a leech on your battery.


Tip 7: Only Run DVD's and CD's Unless you Have to


Gamers, if you must game on the plane - get a "virtual CD drive" application. There are many out there which allow you to copy an image of your CD to the hard drive, which spares power to run your optical drive. Movie buffs - your bound to drain that battery watching DVD's. The solution: umm well... none at this time.


We hope you find these tips helpful. If any readers Compaq Presario NX9010 battery

have more to add please be sure to post under the "discuss this story" link. We would be glad to learn more!

Top Tips to Extend Your Laptop Battery Life

Top Tips to Extend Your Laptop Battery Life


You seasoned techies dell laptop battery are no doubt thinking, "Another article on how to get more life from your laptop battery. Big deal. I already know how to do that." Well, Mr. or Ms. Techie, I scoff at your hubris. There's still plenty to learn when it comes to getting more juice from a charge and extending your battery's overall life.


So, yes, there are tips that most of us know:


Dim your screen.

Minimize background processes.

Don't use the CD/DVD drive.

Disable your wireless antenna when not in use.


But there's still a lot you may not know about battery technology and the things that both help and hinder your laptop's juicebox.


Getting More Minutes dell INSPIRON 2600 battery per Charge


You can fiddle with background processes and other software settings all you want, but your hardware is the biggest factor in battery life, according to PC Mag's lead analyst for laptops, Cisco Cheng. In fact, software such as power-management utilities can help minimize the impact internal components have on battery longevity. Knowing this can affect your buying decision if you're looking for a new laptop (see the "Picking a Laptop for Maximum Battery Life" section below) or help you get dell INSPIRON 2650 battery the most out of the trusty laptop you've got. Here are a few ways to optimize hardware for maximum battery output.


Turn off ports. Disabling unused ports and components, such as VGA, Ethernet, PCMCIA, USB, and yes, your wireless, too. You can do this through the Device Manager or by configuring a separate hardware profile (see next step).

Create Power-Saving Hardware Profiles. Configure your laptop for the various scenarios in which you use it (on a plane, at the coffee shop, at the office, and so on). You can do this through the Hardware Profiles menu by right-clicking on dell 1G222 battery My Computer and selecting Preferences or by using a freeware utility such as SparkleXP (for Windows XP users).

Configure your display to turn off when not in use. This is different from just using a screensaver, because in many cases a screensaver still requires the display's backlight to be on. You can set the interval to turn the display off in Windows' Power Options—found in the Control Panel.


Extending the Overall Life


The easiest way dell BAT3151L8 battery to give your battery an early death is to damage it. And the two most common causes of damage are from overheating and overloading. Here's how you prevent overheating:


Use a cooling pad when using a notebook computer on your lap.

Avoid propping your laptop on a pillow, blanket, or other soft surface that can heat up.

Clean your desk. It sounds strange, but if you have a dusty, dirty desk, that dust will get into the vents and clog the cooling fan. Once the dust is inside your laptop, it is much harder to remove. You can try blasting it out with canned air, but you run the risk of damaging internal components. You can also remove the vent and clean out the grit, but remember tha tdell Latitude X300 battery taking apart your laptop can void the warranty. So clean your desk at least once a week, if not daily.

Never store your laptop in a place where the air temperature exceeds 80 degrees Fahrenheit, such as a hot car or an outdoor patio.

Consider taking your battery out when using your laptop plugged into AC power. Just make sure to keep the contacts clean. If you need to clean them, use rubbing alcohol.

For lithium ion batteries, you do not need to discharge them fully and recharge constantly. Since they don't have the same "memory" as older nickel-metal hydride batteries, it is actually better to discharge a lithium ion only partially dell W0465 battery before recharging. You need to do a full discharge only about every 30 charges.


Overloading a battery occurs when you use an AC adapter that has a higher wattage than that specified on the laptop (and battery), or if the circuitry of the laptop consistently overcharges the battery. If you're using a replacement or spare adapter, make sure the wattage matches your laptop's within the specified voltage range. In the worst-case scenario, overloading can also damage your motherboard.


Picking a Laptop for Maximum Battery Life


If you're in the market for a new laptop, there are features and components you should consider to get the most mileage from the system's dell Inspiron 2000 battery battery.


An ultra-low-voltage processor, such as the Intel Penryn or one from VIA's line of ULV processors.

A solid-state storage drive, which requires less power and, since there are no spinning parts, will suffer less wear and tear than a traditional hard drive.

An LED display. Although pricey, LEDs use much less power than LCD.

A smaller screen. A smaller screen means a smaller backlight, which will also save on battery dell Latitude LS battery drain.


According to Andrew Bradner, product line manager for APC, all lithium ion batteries are not created equal. The proof is in the pudding, or in this case the chemistry. Unfortunately, it is almost impossible to discern if the battery you're buying was manufactured in a top-notch facility using high-quality materials. And making that call is not as easy as assuming your laptop manufacturer's battery will be of better quality than a battery from a third-party vendor. But you can stick to a couple dell 2834T battery of key guidelines.


Don't skimp on your battery. If you choose the lowest-cost battery you'll probably get a battery that degrades quickly, and you'll end up buying a replacement too soon anyway. So spend the money now to save expense and frustration down the road.

Don't buy an expired battery. A good indicator of a battery's performance is how far into its product life it is, whether it's used or new. If possible, look at the bottom of the battery and find the manufacture date.


Check out the Expert Help section dell 4834T battery to learn more about extending your battery's life.

How to prolong lithium-based batteries

How to prolong lithium-based batteries


Battery research is focusing heavily on lithium chemistries, so much so that one could presume that all portable devices will be powered with lithium-ion batteries in the future. In many ways, lithium-ion is superior to nickel and lead-based chemistries and the applications for lithium-ion batteries are growing as a result.


Lithium-ion has not yet dell 312-0386 battery fully matured and is being improved continuously. New metal and chemical combinations are being tried every six months to increase energy density and prolong service life. The improvements in longevity after each change will not be known for a few years.


A lithium-ion battery provides 300-500 discharge/charge cycles. The battery prefers a partial rather than a full discharge. Frequent full discharges should be avoided when possible. Instead, charge the battery more often or use a larger battery. There is no concern of memory when applying dell PC764 battery unscheduled charges.


Although lithium-ion is memory-free in terms of performance deterioration, batteries with fuel gauges exhibit what engineers refer to as "digital memory". Here is the reason: Short discharges with subsequent recharges do not provide the periodic calibration needed to synchronize the fuel gauge with the battery's state-of-charge. A deliberate full discharge and recharge every 30 charges corrects dell TD175 battery this problem. Letting the battery run down to the cut-off point in the equipment will do this. If ignored, the fuel gauge will become increasingly less accurate. (Read more in 'Choosing the right battery for portable computing', Part Two.)


Aging of lithium-ion is an issue that is often ignored. A lithium-ion battery in use typically lasts between 2-3 years. The capacity loss manifests itself in increased internal resistance caused by oxidation. Eventually, the cell resistance reaches a point where the dell Latitude D820 battery, pack can no longer deliver the stored energy although the battery may still have ample charge. For this reason, an aged battery can be kept longer in applications that draw low current as opposed to a function that demands heavy loads. Increasing internal resistance with cycle life and age is typical for cobalt-based lithium-ion, a system that is used for cell phones, cameras and laptops because of high energy density. The lower energy dense manganese-based lithium-ion, also known as spinel, maintains the internal resistance through its life but loses capacity due to chemical decompositions. Spinel is primarily used for power tools.


The speed by which lithium-ion ages is governed by temperature and state-of-charge. Figure 1 illustrates the capacity loss as a function of these dell Latitude D830 battery two parameters.



Figure 1: Permanent capacity loss of lithium-ion as a function of temperature and charge level.

High charge levels and elevated temperatures hasten permanent capacity loss. Improvements in chemistry have increased the storage performance of lithium-ion batteries.


The mentioning of limited service life on lithium-ion has caused concern in the battery industry and I will need to add some clarifications.dell MM165 battery Let me explain:

If someone asks how long we humans live, we would soon find out that the longevity varies according to life style and living conditions that exist in different countries. Similar conditions exist with the batteries, lithium-ion in particular. Since BatteryUniversity bases its information on the feedback from users as opposed to scientific information derived from a research lab, longevity results may differ from manufacturer' specifications. Let's briefly look at the various living conditions of the lithium-ion battery.


The worst condition is keeping a fully charged battery at elevated temperatures, which is the case with running laptop batteries. If used on main power, the battery inside a laptop will only last for 12-18 months. I must dell YD626 battery hasten to explain that the pack does not die suddenly but begins with reduced run-times.


The voltage level to which the cells are charged also plays an important role to longevity. For safety reasons, most lithium-ion cannot exceed 4.20 volts per cell. While a higher voltage boosts capacity, the disadvantage is lower cycle life. Figure 2 shows the cycle life as a function of charge dell 312-0393 battery voltage.


Figure 2: Effects on cycle life at different float charge levels (Choi et al., 2002)

Higher charge voltages boost capacity but lower cycle life.


There are no remedies dell Latitude D800 battery to restore lithium-ion once worn out. A momentary improvement in performance is noticeable when heating up the battery. This lowers the internal resistance momentarily but the condition reverts back to its former state when the temperature drops. Cold temperature will increase the internal resistance.


If possible, store the battery in a cool place at about a 40% state-of-charge. Some reserve charge is needed to keep the battery and its protection circuit operational during prolonged storage. Avoid keeping the battery at full charge and high temperature. This is the case when placing a cell dell Inspiron 8500 battery phone or spare battery in a hot car. Running a laptop computer on the mains has a similar temperature problem. While the battery is kept fully charged, the inside temperature during operation rises to 45°C (113°F).


Removing the battery from the laptop when running on fixed power protects the battery from heat. With the concern of the battery overheating and causing fire, a spokesperson for the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission advises to eject the battery of affected laptops and to run the machines on a power cord. It should be noted that on a power outage, unsaved works will dell 8N544 battery be lost.

The question is often asked, should the laptop be disconnected from the main when not in use? Under normal circumstances, it should not matter with lithium-ion. Once the battery is fully charged, no further charge is applied. However, there is always the concern is malfunction of the AC adapter, the laptop or the battery.


A large number of lithium-ion batteries for cell phones are being discarded under the warranty return policy. Some failed batteries are sent to service centers or the manufacturer, where they are refurbished. Studies show that 80%-90% of the returned batteries can be repaired and returned dell Inspiron 8600 battery to service.


Some lithium-ion batteries fail due to excessive low discharge. If discharged below 2.5 volts per cell, the internal safety circuit opens and the battery appears dead. A charge with the original charger is no longer possible. Some battery analyzers (Cadex) feature a boost function that reactivates the protection circuit of a failed battery and enables a recharge. However, if the cell voltage has fallen below 1.5V/cell and has remained in that state for a few months,ell Inspiron 6400 battery a recharge should be avoided because of safety concerns. To prevent failure, never store the battery fully discharged. Apply some charge before storage, and then charge fully before use.


All personal computers (and some other electronic devices) contain a battery for memory back up. This battery is commonly a small non-rechargeable lithium cell, which provides a small current when the device is turned off. The PC uses the battery to retain certain information when the power is off. These are the BIOS settings, current date dell TD347 battery and time, as well as resource assignment for Plug and Play systems. Storage does shorten the service life of the backup battery to a few years. Some say 1-2 years. By keeping the computer connected to the main, albeit turned off, a battery on the PC motherboards should be good for 5-7 years. A PC should give the advanced warning when battery gets low. A dead back-up battery will wipe out the volatile memory and erase certain settings. After battery is replaced, the PC should again be operational.


Longevity of high-power dell KD476 battery lithium-ion

Generally speaking, batteries live longer if treated in a gentle manner. High charge voltages, excessive charge rate and extreme load conditions will have a negative effect and shorten the battery life. This also applies to high current rate lithium-ion batteries.


Not only is it better to charge lithium-ion battery at a slower charge rate, high discharge rates also contribute the extra wear and tear. Figure 3 shows the cycle life as a function of charge and discharge rates. Observe the good laboratory performance if the battery dell GD761 battery is charged and discharged at 1C. (A 0.5C charge and discharge would further improve this rating.)


Figure 3: Longevity of lithium-ion as a function of charge and discharge rates.


A moderate charge and discharge puts less stress on the battery, resulting in a longer cycle life.


Battery experts agree that the life of lithium-ion depends on other factors than charge and dell Inspiron E1505 batterydischarge rates. Even though incremental improvements can be achieved with careful use of the battery, our environment and the services required are not always conducive to achieve optimal battery life. The longevity of a battery is often a direct result of the environmental stresses applied.


Simple Guidelines


Avoid frequent full discharges because this puts additional strain on the battery. Several partial discharges with frequent recharges are better for lithium-ion than one deep one. Recharging a dell Inspiron 1000 batterypartially charged lithium-ion does not cause harm because there is no memory. (In this respect, lithium-ion differs from nickel-based batteries.) Short battery life in a laptop is mainly cause by heat rather than charge / discharge patterns.


Batteries with fuel gauge (laptops) should be calibrated by applying a deliberate full discharge once every 30 charges. Running the pack down in the equipment does this. If ignored, the fuel gauge will become increasingly less accurate and in some cases cut off the device prematurely.


Keep the lithium-ion battery cool. Avoid a hot car. For prolonged storage, keep the battery at a 40% charge level.


Consider removing the battery from a laptop when running dell Inspiron 2200 battery on fixed power. (Some laptop manufacturers are concerned about dust and moisture accumulating inside the battery casing.)


Avoid purchasing spare lithium-ion batteries for later use. Observe manufacturing dates. Do not buy old stock, even if sold at clearance prices.


If you have a spare lithium-ion battery, use one to the fullest and keep the other cool by placing it in the refrigerator. Do not freeze the battery. For best results,dell 312-0292 battery store the battery at 40% state-of-charge.


Top 15 Ways to Extend Your Laptop’s Battery Life

Laptops tend to lose their dell laptop battery charm quickly when you’re constantly looking for the nearest power outlet to charge up. How do you keep your battery going for as long as possible? Here are 15 easy ways to do so.


1. Defrag regularly - The faster your hard drive does its work - less demand you are going to put on the hard drive and your battery. Make your hard drive as efficient as possible by defragging it regularly. (but not while it’s on battery of course!) Mac OSX is better built to handle fragmentation dell C1295 battery so it may not be very applicable for Apple systems.


2. Dim your screen - Most laptops come with the ability to dim your laptop screen. Some even come with ways to modify CPU and cooling performance. Cut them down to the lowest level you can tolerate to squeeze out some extra battery juice.


3. Cut down on programs running dell 1X793 battery in the background. Itunes, Desktop Search, etc. All these add to the CPU load and cut down battery life. Shut down everything that isn’t crucial when you’re on battery.


4. Cut down external devices - USB devices (including your mouse) & WiFi drain down your laptop battery. Remove or shut them down when not in use.dell 6Y270 battery It goes without saying that charging other devices (like your iPod) with your laptop when on battery is a surefire way of quickly wiping out the charge on your laptop battery.


5. Add more RAM - This will allow you to process more with the memory your laptop has, rather than relying on virtual memory. Virtual memory results in hard drive use, and is much less power efficient. Note that adding more RAM will consume more energy, so this is most applicable if you do need to run memory intensive dell 312-0068 battery programs which actually require heavy usage of virtual memory.



6. Run off a hard drive rather than CD/DVD - As power consuming as hard drives are, CD and DVD drives are worse. Even having one in the drive can be power consuming. They spin, taking power, even when they?re not actively being used. Wherever possible, try to run on virtual drives using programs like Alcohol 120% rather than optical dell Inspiron 1100 battery ones.


7. Keep the battery contacts clean: Clean your battery’s metal contacts every couple of months with a cloth moistened with rubbing alcohol. This keeps the transfer of power from your battery more efficient.


8. Take care of your battery - Exercise the Battery. Do not leave a charged battery dormant for long periods of time. Once charged, you should at least use the battery at least once every two to three weeks. Also, do not let a Li-On battery completely discharge. (Discharing is only for older batteries with memory dell Inspiron 5100 battery effects)


9. Hibernate not standby - Although placing a laptop in standby mode saves some power and you can instantly resume where you left off, it doesn’t save anywhere as much power as the hibernate function does. Hibernating a PC will actually save your PC’s state as it is, and completely shut itself down.



10. Keep operating temperature down - Your laptop operates more efficiently when it’s cooler. Clean out your air vents with a cloth or keyboard cleaner, or refer to some extra dell 6T473 battery tips by LapTopMag.com.


11. Set up and optimize your power options - Go to ‘Power Options’ in your windows control panel and set it up so that power usage is optimized (Select the ‘max battery’ for maximum effect).


12. Don’t multitask - Do one thing at a time when you’re on battery. Rather than working on a spreadsheet, letting your email client run in the background and listening to your latest set of MP3’s, set your mind to one thing only. If you don’t you’ll dell Inspiron 630m battery only drain out your batteries before anything gets completed!


13. Go easy on the PC demands - The more you demand from your PC. Passive activities like email and word processing consume much less power than gaming or playing a DVD. If you’ve got a single battery charge - pick your priorities wisely.


14. Get yourself a more dell Inspiron 640m battery efficient laptop - Laptops are getting more and more efficient in nature to the point where some manufacturers are talking about all day long batteries. Picking up a newer more efficient laptop to replace an aging one is usually a quick fix.


15. Prevent the Memory Effect - If you’re using a very old laptop, you’ll want to prevent the ‘memory effect’ - Keep the battery healthy by fully charging and then fully discharging it at least once every two to three weeks. Exceptions to the rule are Li-Ion batteries (which most laptops have) which do not suffer from the memory dell Y9943 battery effect.


Bonus Tip #1: Turn off the autosave function. MS-Word’s and Excel’s autosave functions are great but because they keep saving regular intervals, they work your hard driver harder than it may have to. If you plan to do this, you may want to turn it back on as the battery runs low. While it saves battery life in the beginning, you will want to make sure your work is saved when your battery dell RC107 battery dies.


Bonus Tip #2: Lower the graphics use. You can do this by changing the screen resolution and shutting off fancy graphic drivers. Graphics cards (video cards) use as much or more power today as hard disks - Thanks Andrew


Update 7/7/07: Bonus Tip #1 to give caution about turning off autosave, tip #8 to change information about discharging batteries - thanks to all who pointed it out. Added Bonus tip #2, Tip #1 to add in clause in regards to Mac OSX, Tip #1 about the spinning of hard dell Latitude D620 battery drives - thanks to all who pointed it out


How to prolong lithium-based batteries

Battery research dell laptop battery is focusing heavily on lithium chemistries, so much so that one could presume that all portable devices will be powered with lithium-ion batteries in the future. In many ways, lithium-ion is superior to nickel and lead-based chemistries and the applications for lithium-ion batteries are growing as a result.


Lithium-ion has not yet fully matured and is being improved continuously. New metal and chemical combinations are being tried every six months to increase energy density and prolong service life. The improvements in longevity after each change will not be dell 1691P battery known for a few years.


A lithium-ion battery provides 300-500 discharge/charge cycles. The battery prefers a partial rather than a full discharge. Frequent full discharges should be avoided when possible. Instead, charge the battery more often or use a larger battery. There is no concern of memory when applying unscheduled charges.


Although dell 75UYF battery lithium-ion is memory-free in terms of performance deterioration, batteries with fuel gauges exhibit what engineers refer to as "digital memory". Here is the reason: Short discharges with subsequent recharges do not provide the periodic calibration needed to synchronize the fuel gauge with the battery's state-of-charge. A deliberate full discharge and recharge every 30 charges corrects this problem. Letting the battery run down to the cut-off point in the equipment will do this. If ignored, the fuel gauge will become increasingly less accurate. (Read more in 'Choosing the right battery for portable dell 5081P battery computing', Part Two.)


Aging of lithium-ion is an issue that is often ignored. A lithium-ion battery in use typically lasts between 2-3 years. The capacity loss manifests itself in increased internal resistance caused by oxidation. Eventually, the cell resistance reaches a point where the pack can no longer deliver the stored energy although the battery may still have ample charge. For this reason, an aged battery can be kept longer in applications that draw low current as opposed to dell Inspiron 700m battery a function that demands heavy loads. Increasing internal resistance with cycle life and age is typical for cobalt-based lithium-ion, a system that is used for cell phones, cameras and laptops because of high energy density. The lower energy dense manganese-based lithium-ion, also known as spinel, maintains the internal resistance through its life but loses capacity due to chemical decompositions. Spinel is primarily used for power tools.


The speed by which lithium-ion ages is governed by temperature and state-of-charge. Figure 1 illustrates the capacity loss as a function dell Inspiron 710m battery of these two parameters.



Figure 1: Permanent capacity loss of lithium-ion as a function of temperature and charge level.

High charge levels and elevated temperatures hasten permanent capacity loss. Improvements in chemistry have increased the storage performance of lithium-ion batteries.


The mentioning of limited service life on lithium-ion has caused concern in the battery industry and I will need to add some clarifications. Let me explain:

If someone asks how long we humans live, we would soon find out that the longevity varies according to life style and living conditions that exist in different countries. Similar conditions exist with the batteries, lithium-ion in particular. Since dell F5136 battery BatteryUniversity bases its information on the feedback from users as opposed to scientific information derived from a research lab, longevity results may differ from manufacturer' specifications. Let's briefly look at the various living conditions of the lithium-ion battery.


The worst condition is keeping a fully charged battery at elevated temperatures, which is the case with running laptop batteries. If used on main power, the battery inside a laptop will only last for 12-18 months. I must hasten to explain that the pack does not die suddenly but begins with reduced run-times.


The voltage level to which the cells are charged also plays an important role to longevity. For safety reasons, most lithium-ion cannot exceed 4.20 volts per cell. While a higher voltage boosts capacity, the disadvantage dell 312-0306 battery is lower cycle life. Figure 2 shows the cycle life as a function of charge voltage.


Figure 2: Effects on cycle life at different float charge levels (Choi et al., 2002)

Higher charge voltages boost capacity but lower cycle life.


There are no remedies to restore lithium-ion once worn out. A momentary improvement in performance is noticeable when heating up the battery. This lowers the internal resistance momentarily but the condition reverts back to its former state when the temperature drops. Cold temperature will dell 312-0305 battery increase the internal resistance.


If possible, store the battery in a cool place at about a 40% state-of-charge. Some reserve charge is needed to keep the battery and its protection circuit operational during prolonged storage. Avoid keeping the battery at full charge and high temperature. This is the case when placing a cell phone or spare battery in a hot car. Running a laptop computer on the mains has a similar temperature problem. While the battery is kept fully charged, the inside dell Inspiron 500m battery temperature during operation rises to 45°C (113°F).


Removing the battery from the laptop when running on fixed power protects the battery from heat. With the concern of the battery overheating and causing fire, a spokesperson for the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission advises to eject the battery of affected laptops and to run the machines on a power cord. It should be noted that on a power outage, unsaved works will be lost.

The question is often asked, should the laptop be disconnected from the main when not in use? Under normal circumstances, it should not matter with lithium-ion. Once the battery is fully charged, no further charge is applied. However,dell Inspiron 510m battery there is always the concern is malfunction of the AC adapter, the laptop or the battery.


A large number of lithium-ion batteries for cell phones are being discarded under the warranty return policy. Some failed batteries are sent to service centers or the manufacturer, where they are refurbished. Studies show that 80%-90% of the returned batteries can be repaired and returned to service.


Some lithium-ion dell Inspiron 600m battery batteries fail due to excessive low discharge. If discharged below 2.5 volts per cell, the internal safety circuit opens and the battery appears dead. A charge with the original charger is no longer possible. Some battery analyzers (Cadex) feature a boost function that reactivates the protection circuit of a failed battery and enables a recharge. However, if the cell voltage has fallen below 1.5V/cell and has remained in that state for a few months, a recharge should be avoided because of safety concerns. To prevent failure, never store the battery fully discharged. Apply some charge before storage, and then charge fully before use.


All personal computers (and some other electronic devices) contain dell Latitude D500 battery a battery for memory back up. This battery is commonly a small non-rechargeable lithium cell, which provides a small current when the device is turned off. The PC uses the battery to retain certain information when the power is off. These are the BIOS settings, current date and time, as well as resource assignment for Plug and Play systems. Storage does shorten the service life of the backup battery to a few years. Some say 1-2 years. By keeping the computer connected to the main, albeit turned off, a battery on the PC motherboards should be good for 5-7 years. A PC should give the advanced warning when battery gets low. A dead back-up battery will wipe out the volatile memory and erase certain settings. After battery is replaced, the PC should again be operational.


Longevity of high-power lithium-ion

Generally speaking, batteries live longer if treated in a gentle manner. High charge voltages, excessive charge rate and extreme load conditions will have a negative effect and shorten the battery life. This also applies to high current rate lithium-ion dell Latitude D505 battery batteries.


Not only is it better to charge lithium-ion battery at a slower charge rate, high discharge rates also contribute the extra wear and tear. Figure 3 shows the cycle life as a function of charge and discharge rates. Observe the good laboratory performance if the battery is charged and discharged at 1C. (A 0.5C charge and discharge would further improve this rating.)


Figure 3: Longevity of lithium-ion as dell Latitude D510 battery a function of charge and discharge rates.


A moderate charge and discharge puts less stress on the battery, resulting in a longer cycle life.


Battery experts agree that the life of lithium-ion depends on other factors than charge and discharge rates. Even though incremental improvements can be achieved with careful use of the battery, our environment and the services required are not always conducive to achieve optimal battery life. The longevity of a battery is often a direct result of the environmental stresses applied.


Simple Guidelines


Avoid frequent dell Latitude D520 battery full discharges because this puts additional strain on the battery. Several partial discharges with frequent recharges are better for lithium-ion than one deep one. Recharging a partially charged lithium-ion does not cause harm because there is no memory. (In this respect, lithium-ion differs from nickel-based batteries.) Short battery life in a laptop is mainly cause by heat rather than charge / discharge patterns.


Batteries with fuel gauge (laptops) should be calibrated by applying a deliberate full discharge once every 30 charges. Running the pack down in the equipment does this. If ignored, the fuel gauge will become increasingly less accurate and in some cases cut off the device prematurely.


Keep the lithium-ion battery cool. Avoid dell Latitude D600 battery a hot car. For prolonged storage, keep the battery at a 40% charge level.


Consider removing the battery from a laptop when running on fixed power. (Some laptop manufacturers are concerned about dust and moisture accumulating inside the battery casing.)


Avoid purchasing spare lithium-ion batteries for later use. Observe manufacturing dates. Do not buy old stock, even if sold at clearance prices.


If you have a spare lithium-ion battery, use one to the fullest and keep the dell Latitude D610 battery other cool by placing it in the refrigerator. Do not freeze the battery. For best results, store the battery at 40% state-of-charge.


Top 15 Ways to Extend Your Laptop’s Battery Life

Laptops tend to lose their charm quickly when dell laptop battery you’re constantly looking for the nearest power outlet to charge up. How do you keep your battery going for as long as possible? Here are 15 easy ways to do so.


1. Defrag regularly - The faster your hard drive does its work - less demand you are going to put on the hard drive and your battery. Make your hard drive as efficient as possible by defragging it regularly. (but not while it’s on battery of course!) Mac OSX is better built to handle fragmentation so it may not be very applicable for Apple systems.


2. Dim your screen - Most laptops dell Inspiron 4100 battery, come with the ability to dim your laptop screen. Some even come with ways to modify CPU and cooling performance. Cut them down to the lowest level you can tolerate to squeeze out some extra battery juice.


3. Cut down on programs running in the background. Itunes, Desktop Search, etc. All these add to the CPU load and cut down battery life. Shut down everything that isn’t crucial when you’re on battery.


4. Cut down external devices - USB devices (including your mouse) & WiFi drain down your laptop battery. Remove or shut them down when not in use. It goes without saying that charging other devices (like your iPod) with your laptop when on battery is a surefire dell Inspiron 2500 battery way of quickly wiping out the charge on your laptop battery.


5. Add more RAM - This will allow you to process more with the memory your laptop has, rather than relying on virtual memory. Virtual memory results in hard drive use, and is much less power efficient. Note that adding more RAM will consume more energy, so this is most dell Latitude CPX battery applicable if you do need to run memory intensive programs which actually require heavy usage of virtual memory.


6. Run off a hard drive rather than CD/DVD - As power consuming as hard drives are, CD and DVD drives are worse. Even having one in the drive can be power consuming. They spin, taking power, even when they?re not actively being used. Wherever possible, try to run on virtual drives using programs like Alcohol 120% rather than dell Latitude C600 battery optical ones.


7. Keep the battery contacts clean: Clean your battery’s metal contacts every couple of months with a cloth moistened with rubbing alcohol. This keeps the transfer of power from your battery more efficient.


8. Take care of your battery - Exercise the Battery. Do not leave a charged battery dormant for long periods of time. Once charged, you should at least use the battery at least once every two to three weeks. Also, do not let a Li-On battery completely discharge.dell Latitude C610 battery (Discharing is only for older batteries with memory effects)


9. Hibernate not standby - Although placing a laptop in standby mode saves some power and you can instantly resume where you left off, it doesn’t save anywhere as much power as the hibernate function does. Hibernating a PC will actually save your PC’s state as it is, and completely shut itself down.


10. Keep operating temperature down - Your dell Latitude C640 battery, laptop operates more efficiently when it’s cooler. Clean out your air vents with a cloth or keyboard cleaner, or refer to some extra tips by LapTopMag.com.


11. Set up and optimize your power options - Go to ‘Power Options’ in your windows control panel and set it up so that power usage is optimized (Select the ‘max battery’dell 1691P battery for maximum effect).


12. Don’t multitask - Do one thing at a time when you’re on battery. Rather than working on a spreadsheet, letting your email client run in the background and listening to your latest set of MP3’s, set your mind to one thing only. If you don’t you’ll only drain out your batteries before anything gets completed!


13. Go easy on the PC demands - The more you demand from your PC. Passive activities like email and word processing consume much less power than gaming or playing a DVD. If you’ve got a single battery charge - pick your priorities dell 75UYF battery wisely.


14. Get yourself a more efficient laptop - Laptops are getting more and more efficient in nature to the point where some manufacturers are talking about all day long batteries. Picking up a newer more efficient laptop to replace an aging one is usually a quick fix.


15. Prevent the Memory Effect - If you’re using a very old laptop, you’ll want to prevent the ‘memory effect’ - Keep the battery healthy by dell 5081P battery fully charging and then fully discharging it at least once every two to three weeks. Exceptions to the rule are Li-Ion batteries (which most laptops have) which do not suffer from the memory effect.


Bonus Tip #1: Turn off the autosave function. MS-Word’s and Excel’s autosave functions are great but because they keep saving regular intervals, they work your hard driver harder than it may have to. If you plan to do this, you may want to turn it back on as the battery runs low. While it saves battery life in the beginning, you will want to make sure your work is saved when your dell Latitude C610 battery battery dies.


Bonus Tip #2: Lower the graphics use. You can do this by changing the screen resolution and shutting off fancy graphic drivers. Graphics cards (video cards) use as much or more power today as hard disks - Thanks Andrew


Update 7/7/07: Bonus Tip #1 to give caution about turning off autosave, tip #8 to change information about discharging batteries - thanks to all who pointed it out. Added Bonus tip #2, Tip #1 to add in clause in regards to Mac OSX, Tip #1 about the spinning dell Latitude C640 battery of hard drives - thanks to all who pointed it out