Toshiba A100 Battery Question

I have got a laptop for xmas, and was delighted with it. It all good, and runs smoothly. But my only issue is the battery.
I normally charge it while i'm on it, which i'm told slowly messes up the battery and it doesnt last as long. I was told i should charge the battery while its off. - How should you charge it? How do u get maxium life out of it.

My other question is.. Does anyone have a Toshiba A100-200?
When you charge it and its fully complete - The battery light is Blue. But in the manual it says it should glow Green!

This is confusing!

Thanks in advance!

 

Hi Maatt, I have an A100-147 and when the battery is fully charged, the Battery LED is Blue.

 

Misprints in user manuals are somewhat common--don't worry about the color of the LED.

As for Li-Ion battery care and maintenance tips, I suggest you read through the battery guide.

 

Thanks guys! - Ok, I'll now look!

 

About the battery problem.
I think i am having problems with charging.
I guess its loosing its charge! - It states it should last around 3.27hours.
I believe its just on for around 2hours maybe 2and a half.
I mean this is on MSN and the internet.
Games, it wont even last that.
Is this right?
What am i doing wrong?

 

2-2.5 hours of doing what? If your screen brightness is up and you're doing a lot of intensive work or using the optical drive--that's going to use more power. Also keep in mind that the stated battery life--especially by the manufacturer--are almost always on the high end, and under optimal power saving settings with no work being done.

Is it a 6-cell battery?

 

yeahh its a 6cell.
i'm normally doing internet and msn.
screen brightness is at the lowest.
dont tend to use the CD drive.

ok then, so this is normal?
all i want to know, if i can watch a full dvd on it?

 

You might be able to watch a whole movie. Turn off the WiFi, that will save some power. You can also undervolt your CPU when on battery, and also underclock your GPU (which GPU do you have?).

Shutting down unnecessary programs and devices will also add a little to your battery life.

 

Is for 6-cells battery with:
1. TruBrite screen brightness set at half
2. HD never turn down
3. Power always 100%
lasts for about 1.5 hours is normal ?

 

If his model has Core Duo (I don't know how it is on Celeron), unfortunately, he can't. The Core Duo processor is on the lowest multiplier (1 GHz frequency) already on lowest voltage and it is not possible to set lower (unless I missed some new program).

 

Have you calibrated your battery at all yet? And how much work are you doing for that 1.5 hours? Is the Optical drive spinning? WiFi on? How many applications are running? These all have an affect on how long your battery will run.

You can change some power settings of the Core Duo (I have a Core Duo as well in my notebook) using either RMClock or Notebook Hardware Control. I'm not sure how much actual battery life you gain by doing so though--it may be somewhat minimal.

 

where can we find info. on calibrating batteries? ..thanks..

 

Ok thanks guys!
I have at least.. 12applications running on the taskbar, and normally about 2/3 applications such as AOL and MSN.
I need to find where i can calibrate my battery?
I want my laptop to run a whole DVD without it cutting off.

Should i use the windows wireless connection software instead of the Toshiba ones?
Surely it wastes more battery life?

Thanks