Laptop Battery

Post Reply New Topic

I've noticed lately that my netbook battery has been running out faster and faster. I sometimes leave the netbook power outlet plugged in overnight. I've read that the batteries in any device should not be overcharged. Could that be ruining my battery? What should I do to prevent my netbook battery from dying?

Leaving it plugged in shouldnt harm it, most modern laptops will not let the battery get overcharged.

I recomend that once a month, fully charge it, use it until it dies and then fully charge it again. This will recalibrate the battery level sensor so it will be more accurate.

Outside of that once a month, dont let it get below 20-30%. Once you go below there, the battery has to do more work to keep the computer up and it'll shorten its life in the long term.

If neither of those help, how old is the battery? It might just need to be replaced if its over 2-5 years. Sadly, battery technology is not that great, so they dont last very long in the long run.

Thanks for the advice. I did not know that about trying to not let the thing go beyond 30%. The netbook + the battery are about one and a half years old, so not that old at all.

How hot does your laptop get? If you leave your laptop on things like beds the fan will be blocked and it'll overheat. Heat can kill the batteries and of course laptops. Get a cooling pad if you don't have one. You might need a new battery and they're expensive.

I use my laptop while it's on my pillow all the time and it hasn't harmed it. Then again, I guess it depends on where the vents are.

Maybe you just got a lemon battery.

You can buy a new battery. Or get a Mac; they tend to have better batteries, though unfortunately they don't come in netbook form.

Well, if you have £850 laying around behind your sofa cushions, you can buy a 11 inch MacBook Air, that's the closest you'll get from Apple.

Or, if you want OS X on a normal netbook, you can get a Dell Mini and install OSx86 on it, but that goes against the whole point of having the better battery

Nopey, don't have much moneys at the moment at all, unfortunately. I have Acer Aspire One, I don't know how reputed the batteries of this model are. I don't see any relationship whatsoever between the OS and battery life. As long as the OS isn't Vista or some ancient Microsoft OS, I'm fine. I've yet to try Windows 7, but I've heard good things about it.

Just buy a new battery. Asp-Z, I love the Phantom in your avatar. I'd take a Rolls over a Bentley any day.

This is probably the best option TBH.



Thanks! I'd like a Rolls to be driven in, but I'd still have a Bentley when I want to be the one at the wheel

There are a couple of points...

I bought an Acer Aspire One, shortly after they came out. I rapidly (same evening) broke the Linux (Linpus?) it came with and went over to Ubuntu, then UNR. It has been fine.

However, for a while, I was running with a little "add-on" script - which ensured that the fan got turned off. I.e. without the script, the fan stayed on permanently... and rather defeated the idea of having a totally silent netbook (SSD).

In the process, I also found that the BIOS had several patches outstanding. As they were all for problems with Microsoft stuff, I have never bothered to do the update. IIRC at least one of those patches was indeed to do with controlling the fan.

Oddly enough, though I've never figured out exactly why, it has a dual core CPU. I seem to have accidentally ended up with maybe a prototype? My battery life has ever been spectacular, but I haven't noticed any degradation, but there again, I don't often use it for extended periods on the battery.

Intel makes a dual-core Atom processor for netbooks. Of course Apple leapfrogged the Atom by sticking an Penryn-based Core 2 Duo in the MacBook Air.

And my OEM Apple battery lasted 2 years, it gave up the ghost in 2009 after ~200 cycles. I called up Applecare and had a new battery Fedex'd to me. Both PCs and Macs are susceptible to battery failure. Batteries have a finite lifespan. But, in my experience HPs have crap batteries as OEM. Dell used to be decent, but my neighbor's Vostro needed a new battery after 1 year.

Also, Li-Ion batteries HATE constant cycling and work best at a full charge. NiMH/NiCds need to be "exercised" so to speak - it's a good idea to drain the Ni-based battery of any device and charge it up - such as a electric toothbrush/electric drill/cordless phone.

Sounds like you got a faulty battery. I've had my MacBook for almost 3 years (32 months to be precise) and the battery's fine. It has 3:58 left on it as I type.

The problems happened weeks after I upgraded to Snow Leopard.

Coincidence. An OS can't kill a battery. Besides, I'm on Snow Leopard too.

Actually, leaving the power in after the battery is charged does ruin the battery. My battery lasted ~30 min last week, and now it's down to 17 min, and I didn't unplug my laptop for more than 5 min for the entire time.