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mamamia88
May 21st, 2009, 02:14 AM
is it normal for a lapop to run noticeably quieter and cooler on battery powwer? earlier it was extremely hot and the fan was going non stop. about 5 minutes after i unplugged it the fan stopped and it seems cooller

phrostbyte
May 21st, 2009, 02:16 AM
Yes. Laptops often go into a power save mode when on battery, which also makes them run cooler.

mamamia88
May 21st, 2009, 02:17 AM
good to know from now on i will only plug it in when battery is low or when i sleep to charge

xavierp94
May 21st, 2009, 02:19 AM
good to know from now on i will only plug it in when battery is low or when i sleep to charge
Doesn't the battery's life end faster if you do that?

Giant Speck
May 21st, 2009, 02:22 AM
Doesn't the battery's life end faster if you do that?

Actually, the exact opposite happens.

When you first buy an electronic device such as a laptop or a cell phone, you want to use it on battery power until right before it runs out of power, and then begin charging it. If you plug it in when it hasn't fully uncharged, it will begin to act as though it is completely uncharged when in fact, it's only halfway charged.

Someone who is a little more knowledgeable about this might be able to describe it more accurately.

Ceiber Boy
May 21st, 2009, 02:23 AM
my laptop cuts off the instant the power cable is removed---battery dead!

mamamia88
May 21st, 2009, 02:26 AM
my laptop cuts off the instant the power cable is removed---battery dead!

time to replace it eh

FuturePilot
May 21st, 2009, 02:57 AM
Actually, the exact opposite happens.

When you first buy an electronic device such as a laptop or a cell phone, you want to use it on battery power until right before it runs out of power, and then begin charging it. If you plug it in when it hasn't fully uncharged, it will begin to act as though it is completely uncharged when in fact, it's only halfway charged.

Someone who is a little more knowledgeable about this might be able to describe it more accurately.

This isn't true with Lithium Ion batteries. Lithium Ion batteries actually hate being fully discharged and it can actually ruin it if you do fully discharge one.

http://www.batteryuniversity.com/parttwo-34.htm

Mr. Picklesworth
May 21st, 2009, 04:25 AM
Indeed. Laptop battery lives can be nicely measured in charge / discharge cycles, usually handling around 500 before quickly becoming useless. An issue with leaving it plugged in, though, is that it generates a lot of heat (which does hurt the battery over time, depending on how well designed your computer is) and the battery discharges on its own pretty quickly. Usually once it gets below 95% it starts recharging again, which can't be good.

Smaller phone batteries are a bit different in that they generally don't mind being topped up whenever it's handy :)

monsterstack
May 21st, 2009, 06:26 AM
Indeed. Laptop battery lives can be nicely measured in charge / discharge cycles, usually handling around 500 before quickly becoming useless. An issue with leaving it plugged in, though, is that it generates a lot of heat (which does hurt the battery over time, depending on how well designed your computer is) and the battery discharges on its own pretty quickly. Usually once it gets below 95% it starts recharging again, which can't be good.

Smaller phone batteries are a bit different in that they generally don't mind being topped up whenever it's handy :)

Well I've charged up my laptop's battery at least 600 times, so put that in your pipe an

powerpleb
May 21st, 2009, 08:00 AM
Just thought I'd throw this in: Ipods have the worst batteries and they are difficult to replace.
Bad Apple!!!!!!!!!!!!

I want to be able to go for an hour long walk and have my ipod play for the WHOLE TIME!!!!

Never buying Apple product again!

mister_pink
May 21st, 2009, 09:14 AM
Lithium ion batterys have an expected number of charge-discharge cycles, but I think they also have a shelf life after which they start going bad whether you've used them or not. And as for getting more than the average out of your battery- well done. Its just an average, and you've got lucky and got a good one. Or your battery was made to a higher spec. I suspect that was just meant to be a ballpark figure, not gospel.

rob2uk
May 21st, 2009, 06:00 PM
If you have a soldering iron and a small amount of experience with electronics, it's actually really easy and extremely cheap to rebuild a laptop battery - £15 to rebuild it, £50 to buy a new one

Video how-to (http://www.metacafe.com/watch/479447/laptop_battery_hack_dont_buy_a_new_one/)

Text/Photo how-to (http://www.engadget.com/2005/06/28/how-to-rebuild-your-laptop-battery/)