New To Laptop Usage

Hello Everyone ... I own an HP Pavilion dv6236us notebook ...

There is something which confuses me about the notebook power supply...

what is the default power supply that someone should use in order to operate a notebook ?? ... Is it the battery or the A.C Adapter ??? until now i only use the A.C adapter as I'm only working on the notebook in the house and of course to maximize the battery life... but is this true ?? or should I be working only on the battery and charge it whenever it requires like we all do with cell phones ??

About the battery Calibration ... As I have left the notebook for more than two weeks unturned on (been removing the battery from the notebook that long too) ... Do i have to disable hibernation before initiating on the calibration process ?... the Help and Support doesn't mention that... but i read that hibernation disabling is necessary for the calibration process on some user manual i think... I only did what the Help and Support mentioned ...

Another matter regarding the battery ... when I shutdown the notebook I notice that the battery indicator meter is fully charged (100% fully charged) but when i turn on the notebook again -maybe on the next day- I notice that it is being charged from at least 96% ... Is this normal ???

Hope my english helped in describing my questions...

Thank You All...

 

For more information on how your battery works, consult Chrisyano's battery guide

Short answer: If your laptop is going to be sitting on your desk for over 2 weeks, discharge your battery to 50%, then take it out of your laptop, and put it in a cool dry place (a fridge is best).

If your putting your laptop on your desk for a day or two, leaving it plugged in on AC power is perfectly fine.

When you put your computer on standby, all the information that is currently needed to run everything on your screen is saved into your ram, and all the other components in your laptop are turned off. A small electric current still goes through your ram because ram cannot store information without power. As a result, your laptop can stay like this for a very long time, but you need to always have a battery or AC power in your laptop.

Hibernation puts that info into your hard drive instead of your ram, and since a hard drive doesn't need power to store information, the entire computer can be shut off. The only downside is that when you start your computer up, it takes longer to load memory from the hard drive than it does to load it from ram. I prefer hibernation because of this.

READ the battery guide. It will answer many of your questions.

 

Thank you Glare for your assisatance...

So far there are recommendations to remove the Battery (And work only on the A.C power) from the notebook as long as there is a gurantee of continous plugging the notebook to AC and that is to prolong the battery life....

Now if that what is meant to say... at which per cent should i remove the battery from the notebook and store it in a refrigrator and how long should I leave the battery in a refrigrator ??... How about leaving the battery in the refrigrator for two weeks ?? then use it for one day after a calibration process ... and finally get it back to the refrigrator again ...

By the way... I bought my notebook a month ago ....

Looking forward to hearing from you soon ...Thank you

 

Don't worry about it...your notebook uses a Li-Ion battery so it does not suffer from any kind of memory effects nor can it be under or over-charged with typical use. Li-Ion battery packs contain an electronic circuit which regulates charging and discharging - it's very difficult to abuse this type of battery, which is why cell phones, notebooks, and lots of other hi-tech toys use them today. It's also best to keep a Li-Ion battery topped up rather than running it down all the time.

Use your notebook with the AC adaptor when AC is available. Use the battery when you don't have AC nearby, and then top it back up on AC when you can. Don't worry about leaving it plugged in overnight to charge either, since it shuts off the charging circuits automatically.

As the other poster suggested, if you don't need the battery for a few weeks, you can just remove it and put it in cool dry place, like a closet. I do NOT recommend the fridge though unless you take steps to make sure there is no condensation (water moisture) when you take it out of the fridge and put it back in the laptop - that might corrode or short-circuit the battery contacts or worse. A dry closet in a cool room is fine.

A note about storing Li-Ion batteries - they have a finite life to them even if left unused, so unless the storage is temporary like a month or so, it's best to just leave it in the laptop and use it.

I wouldn't worry too much about the calibration tool. It has nothing to do with the life or function of the battery itself. The tool is used to monitor battery life and calibrate the tool, not the battery. The tool will warn you when the battery is nearing the end of its useful life so it can be replaced with another new battery. More than likely the HP tool gives early warnings so you have to buy a new battery before you really need it.

The calibration tool is completely unnecessary to operation and use of the notebook. It's just another toy that HP installs to add "value" to their consumer notebooks, just like the trialware and other bloatware they install (other companies do it too).

Yes it's normal. When you turn off the notebook and disconnect the AC adaptor, there is no AC power supplied to the computer, so it relies on the battery a small amount to maintain the power circuits (less than 1%) so it can turn on the computer with a quick tap of the button.

And when you turn on the computer the next day, it takes a few percent to start up the system, such as spinning up the drive, lighting the LCD panel, etc. By the time you see the battery meter, it's dropped a few percent and that's normal.

If you leave the AC adaptor plugged in, it will keep the battery at 100% because it will use the AC to start up the computer and keep the battery topped up at the same time.

 

Thank you KSC for your assistance and your detailed reply ...

Now if i only use the laptop on AC power for a long period of time and to avoid the continuous battery exposure to heat .. do u suggest that i remove the battery and store it in a closet or leave it plugged anyway in the laptop ? .... for the former suggestion ... how long should i keep away from the laptop?

finally could you please excuse my english and illustrate "topped up and top it back up "" ??

Thank you.

 

its up to u if u want to store it or keep it in the laptop. if u keep it on AC all the time then maybe u shud store it. i hear u shud wear the battery down to 40-50% wrap it in a airtight bag and store in a cool place. if u dont have the battery plugged in then what happens is ur PC will turn off instantly if ever the AC is unplugged.

what he means by topped up is keep it at 100% when the AC is plugged in and whenever u use the battery to a certain level, plug the AC in and recharge it.

 

Thank you SideSwipe for you assistance ...

Thank you All for your assistance ... your replies were helpul ...