Power concerns for the 5760

I'll be soon purchasing a Sager 5760 (thanks to the advice of this forum!) and have some questions regarding power and surge protection.
This notebook will serve as my office workstation, and any power-related issues that might cause data loss/damage could cost me dearly in time and money.
This notebook will be using AC adapter power from standard 110v outlets 99.9% of the time.

1. Does the AC adapter or PSU in the notebook itself have built-in surge protection? Or do I need to purchase a surge protector?

2.a. In the event of a power outage - will the 5760's internal battery automatically and 100% seamlessly kick-in? Or do I need to purchase an external battery backup unit?

2.b. Is the battery backup a good choice anyway for "clean power" as opposed to the "dirty power" of standard 110v outlets?

3.a. How is the 5760's battery charged? Does it remain in the chassis at all times and recieve charging power when the chassis is drawing AC power? Or does it have an external docking charger?

3.b. If it's always in-chassis and very very seldom used but exposed constantly to power - does the battery life suffer over time? Most rechargeable batteries (cell phones, shavers, etc.) see reduced charge life when not drained 100% and then charged 100%.

Thanks in advance for your help!

 

Surge protection is not built in; it would be a good idea to invest in a surge protector.

The laptop automatically switches to battery power once it is unplugged, so don't worry.

The battery remains inside the chassis at all times. Once the charge level reaches 100%, it stops charging. There is always a trickle of electricity going into the battery so it will remain charged. Some computers will wait until the battery drops down to 97% or 95% charge naturally before it starts charging it again (at least that is how it is on my Clevo).

It can; you are going to want to run down the battery once every two weeks to keep it conditioned.
It is not good to constantly run down lithium-ion batteries to low levels; it is best if they are run down to 50-70% or so and then recharged.
I wouldn't really worry about the battery and leaving it plugged in to be honest.

 

Thanks again Chaz, that's exactly the information I needed.

 

Li-Ion batteries will degrade over time no matter what you do. I personally feel that keeping it connected while on AC power is a good way to have backup power for voltage drops and outages. Of course, a UPS would do the same thing for you. I just don't like the idea of having to connect and reconnect my battery whenever I need to take my notebook off my desk.

You can prolong the battery's life by storing it with a 40% charge in a cool, dry place though.

 

I'll take the opportunity to ask a few more questions along the same topic.

From what I gather, international power is at 240V, but most laptops have a converter as part of their AC adapter so:

Can you just use an adapter for the 5760 if you're going overseas (Australia)?

Also, has anyone bought an AC adapter with an non-US plug (so no need for converter) for use with the 5760 or know of any resellers that stock them?

I believe I read that Clevo/Sager are Taiwanese manufactured and would assume that they have many different countries w/ resellers. Is there any problem with just buying an AC adapter from another country?

 

Yes, it comes with a Full Range, Auto Sensing, Autoswitching AC Adapter that you can use all over the world.

You simply need the plug adapter to adapt from the US 3 prong plug to the plug style for the country you are visiting. You can Google for them and find plenty of suppliers. They are about an inch long and cost around $4-5

 

It`s never a bad plan to check that on the adapter, though... It should have something like AC range: 100-240V or something.

 

The person I'm buying for lives out of country & was wondering about a good way so that they don't have to always have a plug adapter.

But perhaps I'm getting them a nice enuff laptop so they can deal with it themselves

 

Well, all you need to do is buy the power cord that goes from the AC Adapter to the wall socket that has the type of plug that is used in the country visited.

However I would personally prefer the plug adapter because it is so much smaller than having two different power cords.

When traveling abroad people are quite accustomed to needing the plug adapters for all of their electronic and electrical gear like hair dryers, shavers, cell phone chargers etc. Therefore it is not unreasonable to expect that they are already aware of the need for several international adapters. There are even kits available that will provide several adapters for all of the different plug types worldwide. Just get the laptop for them and let them deal with the needed adapter(s).

 

I noticed that you said it was going to also be used in Australia. If your not going to use it before you go to Australia probably check out the aussie clevo resellers to see which is the cheaper option. As said before if you have a US clevo (sager) 5760 just buy the 3 prong clover power lead in whatever country you go to as the power supply is 100-240V.

vetrun