5.) Conclusion: Taking care of your notebook

Im just wonder one quick thing about the power jack. Should you leave the power kable in the computer when youre not using it? I feel that its getting unecessary stress from the electric outlet. I have no ide but maybe you guys do , I usually take it out over nights and shut my computer off if Im away from it longer than 1 hour

 

I think perhaps the 1 hour thing is a bit over the top, but yes, every night when I shut down my computer I pull the power cord out of the jack on my laptop...

Since my laptop is plugged in most of the time, and usually has 100% battery, it is not only unnecessary to keep it plugged in, but it puts the battery through many unnecessary cycles which doesn't help the battery life.

Hope this helps!

 

How would the power brick be getting unnecessary stress? It only draws the amount of electricity it needs (or did you mean other parts of the laptop?). The heat on this worries me, as I'm using to leaving my laptop plugged in and on for days, and usually shut it down if the ambient temperature is too warm, I don't have the a/c on and I'm not using the laptop (but I usually am, for messaging programs/related at least) or most of the time to reboot windows and stop the lag and whatnot that accumulates.

Most of the time the laptop, or whatever pc I'm using, is on. I think it's more stressful to repeatedly turn on/off laptops (definitely true for desktops, and I assume for most parts of a laptop, barring the battery) than to keep it on, especially if you're only away for an hour or so. The monitor gets turned off or goes to sleep immediately when I'm away, though (switch it to <1 blank screen saver on laptops, turn off on desktop). The battery should be removed though. The only real issue is a power surge, and this should not be an issue as you should always keep it plugged into a surge protector.

 

if the notebook is off and the power cable is still connected... its ok.

... since the notebook is off, the powerbrick is not drawing any more power since there is not need to recharge the battery or to power the notebook.

Leaving it plugged in (when system is turned off) only uses a few volts (like in Standby power) for most desktop systems... it wont damage the notebook or battery.

However, make sure you are connecting the power cord to a good surge protector (preferably one with a equipment warranty) or a UPS (uninterrupted power supply).

 

I meant that the battery inside of the laptop would be getting unnecessary stress...

 

Not that I don't believe you, but do you have a link to an article that backs up what you said in post #2?

 

I'll try to find the article that I read about it and get back to ya

 

Here we go... this article below is what I am talking about keeping it plugged in when you aren't using the notebook and the battery is still inside:

Look at post #3 to be specific...
http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=91846

 

That post is talking about when the notebook is ON (all the posts are). Once it's off, the battery will charge until 100% and then stop charging, unlike continually charging a little bit when the machine's on, has a battery in, and is connected to the wall.

 

So we shouldnt have it plugged in and use it at the same time if we have our battery in? Looks like I have to make some adjustments. I personally leave it plugged in overnight if I have the computer completely shutdown. I did not know that you should have the battery out if you were going to use the computer and have it plugged in.

 

Just take out your battery. Personally.... I've had my current notebook for years and years, most of the time on (like, oh 70% of the time), and with the battery in, and my battery's still around 90 minutes or so (same as it was first year).

The ideal solution would be some sort of software that prevented battery charging when plugged into AC power with the system on, if that option was toggled (AC cuts out, battery would activate, charging only when system is off unless toggle is off). Not sure if this exists or if it's even possible.

 

Actually there is such a software....

RMclock can do it.... maybe.

I believe NHC can as well.

Even Lenovo has their own utility to do it as well.

 

Oh wow, nice I've never noticed that in RMClock; good to know!

 

Here's my take.
1) my HP nx9420, purchased Feb2006, originally packing 4.5 h of battery still packs 3h at the exact same settings after more than 2.5 years. Never removed the battery, used it on battery quite often, but, I always removed the power cord from it when it was shutdown.
I would say it worked.

2) my 1 year old sager packed just as much battery life as when I bought it,after the same endurance.

3)all my friends with laptops pretty much do the same thing, and their battery is still ok after a long time.

It worked for me, but I have no technical fact or study to back it up, just experience...

 

Nice to hear that from ya! I do the exact same thing...

 

My Sager NP5320 is almost three years old and has spent about 90% of its life plugged in. It gets almost the same life (lost about 20 mins off of two and a half hours) today. I unplug it when it's not on.

 

I ran down a lot of notebooks and all their batteries died after 3-4 years. I hoped to win something by using two set of batteries for my last Sager, switching them every few months. But no, they gave up after 4 years.

I am waiting for advanced battery technology!

 

So, I downloaded this wdiget called istatpro for my work's macbook... is there such an add on (maybe even for the windows sidebar!?!?) for the window's platform?

It's a pretty cool widget. It tells you Temps (CPU, HD, airport card, heat sinks etc) network information (ip, ins outs) your fan's rpm, HD space (used and free) Memory usage (with a graph as well) CPU usage (in %) and of course.. BATTERY LIFE! It shows you how many cycles your battery has gone through... and its health in %!

Since apple notebooks I guess were notorious for having such a low battery life span, they now monitor it so... I think its 800 cycles ur health should be... ugh... i forgot... its a cycle to % ratio. But anyways... is there such an addon for windows platform? I think that would be a good indicator!

As for battery life tricks, well, I have always left my toshiba satelite plugged in, and really never turn it off either (just sleep). After unplugging it, I can still get the same battery life I had since I've had it (almost a year). As for the Macbook, I leave it plugged in with +3-4 hrs on top (while i'm at work) and then I still get my 3-4 hr battery life (god I love this macbook's battery life). I am now at 152 cycles @ 93% battery life =/ maybe I'm doing something wrong lol... my sister's mackbook is 250+ cycles w/ 99% battery life doing the same thing... she leaves hers more plugged in than mine too!

But great tips, something I'll definitely consider w/ my 9262. I'll be better w/ her than I was with my toshiba >.<

 

I hate to bring this up again, but I cant figure out how to do the battery setting in rmclock. Can you explain it at all Gophn?

 

Dämn I like the Lenovo software.

Dämn it won't work with Vista.

Dämn

 

So, Zenica do you know how to use rmclock to do it then?

 

Nope. Besides, I am still looking for a Vista version of the Lenovo software.
I found XP for those that use XP.

 

The lenovo software didnt work for me anyway. Its pretty easy to find the vista version.

 

It is?

$5 bucks says you can't find it, a genuine IBM│Lenovo version

 

Doesnt matter.

The Lenovo utility are custom made for their systems only.

If someone can mod the program to work with other notebooks, that would be cool.

In any case, RMclock does not do auto discharge, it just monitors the battery.
- so you still need to unplug the notebook to discharge it.

You need to discharge the battery (to 50% or lower) and recharge it at least once or twice a month.
.... but for a gaming notebook that is used more often with AC power, you should do it at least once or twice a week.

I have been doing this for 2.5 years, battery is as healthy as it was when I built it.

 

Gophn can you show me an article or some kind of study that indicates that battery life is lost if the battery is not discharged 50% or more a couple times a month? I have found no evidence that this is necessary to preserve the length of battery life. I know this was definitely true in older batteries but I'm not sure its true with modern Lithium-Ion batteries.

Discussion of the issue here: http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=30627&page=2

 

I found a good article regarding Lithium Ion battery tech but it is 2 years old so keep that in mind:

 

Lenovo has known this for a while now... and made an awesome utility that I wish worked for my notebook:


Also went over it here (which tells you in the manual):
http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=291888

Here is a pic of the D901C (NP9262) manual:

 

Here is the link to the vista version. http://www-307.ibm.com/pc/support/site.wss/MIGR-70601.html
Like Gophn said, it doesnt work for any other notebooks so its worthless.

So Gophn, are you saying as long as I discharge the battery every once and while that it doesnt matter that I have both the battery in and the ac plugged in? I have classes almost every day so it gets discharged almost every day. Then when I get home I hook the ac in and charge it. More often than not, I still have the ac in and am using the computer a few hours after it has been fully charged. Will I lose any lifespan doing that or will it be ok?

 

Sounds ok.

since you are letting the notebook discharge daily from using it in class, seems fine.

 

Ok, I just didnt know since its supposed to be bad to have you battery in and run off ac power. I probably run it on ac power with the battery fully charged for about 2 or 3 hours at a time. Then I go to school and run it down, come home and charge it, and then use it with ac for the rest of the night. I wanted to make sure I am not hurting it in any way.

 

How about your keyboard? forgive me with all these nuuby questions, Im just a first time owner of a laptop but would compressed air and then fallowed with a cottonstick with alcohol do the job? or is there another better way that you do it? thanks

 

It would be great if all of these "taking care of your notebook" series of posts were a "sticky" at the top of the Sager and Clevo forum for quick access.

 

Its actually a section of the stickied Clevo Guide.