Why does the Z charge sooo slowly?

Hi,
Is there anything that I can do to remedy this? It charges more slowly than my lenovo, apple, dell, etc.

It takes like 5 hours or so to charge.

 

sorry I have no clue..

can anyone please answer this? i'm curious too.. my dell charges to full 9 cell in about.. 1-2 hours, while i'm using it

 

It may be the actual hardware.
Check the Sony page - the European ones list time to charge fully I believe.
Else your manual should.

 

Sounds a bit too long.

Anyway, you can improve it by reducing the power draw of the notebook. Dimming the screen, switching to Stamina, setting Vaio Control center to max. battery and Vista in Energy saver.

And it will charge faster when it's completely power off.

 

I would still like to know why it charges half as quickly as virtually all other notebooks out there.

I timed it. I got home at 7:45 pm and it did not read full until about 2 am. I was starting with 0% and using the computer the whole time.

I recall my sony sz exhibited the same behavior. Just wondering if there is a way to overcome this limitation by buying a different AC adapter.

 

I would still like to know why it charges half as quickly as virtually all other notebooks out there.

I timed it. I got home at 7:45 pm and it did not read full until about 2 am. I was starting with 0% and using the computer the whole time.

I recall my sony sz exhibited the same behavior. Just wondering if there is a way to overcome this limitation by buying a different AC adapter.

 

Slow charging is good. It means the battery will heat up less, and thus prolong its useful lifetime.
Also note how it will charge quicker to start with, and then charge slower and slower, until it's just a trickle near full. This is also very good -- it ensures that the battery really gets charged fully, without being overcharged.

I say live with it, and buy an extra battery if it takes too long to charge it.

 

I did not realize that there is a downside to express charging capabilities. All batteries charge faster and then slow to a trickle, don't they? I am not under the impression that this is something unique to Sony batteries.

 

Express charging is good for getting a charge fast, but they really hurt batteries in the long run. You can't charge a battery without it heating up, and the faster you charge, the more you heat it up. And heat is the #1 killer of LiIon batteries.

No, charging slowing down is not unique to Sony laptops, however, different manufacturers tune their charging differently, and Sony has lately been one of the more cautious ones -- possibly due to previous battery explosions, recalls and whatnot...

 

It's very hard to make the general comment that fast charging hurts.

It all depends on the battery chemistry.

As an example, the newly released Macbook Pro 17" is said to have a battery which is fast charging but will last for 1000 recharge cycles.

The Z is really too young to be able to judge battery capabilities, and Sony hasn't really many/any claims. I don't even know how many recharge cycles it's rated for (does anyone?)

I think the bottom line is that the charging speed can't really be changed by any known user-adjustable setting.