What do these buttons do?

First off, what does fn+F3 do?

The symbol is like a little laptop... But whenever I hit it all it does is make a nasty bad noise.

Second..

The little USB button off to the left next to caps lock, and the little cord button right above it next to the TAB button.

Sorry if it's noobish.

I just got worried when hit fn+F3 and it went BSJFKFHLKDAKLSFJDFJ!

Thanks!

 

It's for an external monitor (Fn-F3).

Also, look here: http://www.discountlaptops.com/media/sager2090/2090a.jpg

 

And the little usb button is for powering the usb port without turning the laptop on so you can charge your devices, pretty nice function. But I haven't found what the cord one does yet.

 

with the cord one you can select trought the software of smart battery to charge the battery 100%, 75% or 50%.
When you select example 75% and press the seconde butten with the cord icon the battery will be charged up to 100%.
This is just to keep your battery live a longer life.

 

How can you tell when the buttons on the side are activated?

 

light is on, orange light under the key.

 

I was going to ask this same question and then found this thread. Can you please repeat how this exactly works?

Ok, I run the Smart battery program and it saids full charge, I press the button but nothing happens. And I can not see any led next or under the button.

 

Ok, I found out about the led with the power USB button. The LED actually lights the entire button to an amber color.

Still I can not find the way to activate the Quick Charge option. Please give some more details here.

Thanks.

 

You have to set smart battery to less than full charge, then press the button to charge the rest of the battery.

 

Yeah. My buttons don't light up.

 

Have you installed smart battery.

 

So wait, let me get this straight; if you let the smart battery app charge to 75%, it will charge the battery to 75%, which gives the battery more longetivity? How does charging to 100% lower battery life or am I getting this wrong?

 

Let's say manufacturer covers battery for 300 cycle at 100% capacity.
After that, the wear level increases (you may get lucky to get 305, or 308, or even 310 charges), and your battery capacity is then reduced to 80% after that 300 charges.
So if you charge your battery to 75%, then that's equal to 0.75 charge for the current cycle instead of one full cycle - 1.00.
Conclusion, if you always charge your battery at 75%, your battery should last 375 charges before it starts to wear off.

 

Smart battery is running as we speak.

But why do my buttons not glow amber when pressed?

The cord one and the USB one?

 

My USB button lights up only when the laptop is turned off. Have you tried that?

 

Test.

Open the smart battery tool on the taskbar, select the option to charge to 50%.
Unplug the AC and drain the battery to say 40% or lower.
Connect the AC and charge the battery, check if it's charging and if it stops at 50%.
Then when notebook is power on and the battery is charged to 50% press the top butten on the left side of the keyboard.

Which version of smart batery are you using.
Which BIOS version are you using.

The light must go on and the smart battery application should give you a massage, something about charging.

 

Laptop usage will dictate battery charging mode. Battery life vs portability? I personally need to have my battery always fully charged cze I'm always on the road, then I will buy another one if I need to. Now, if the laptop is a desktop replacement with very little movement, then yes I would go for battery life.