Laptop Battery Charging?

[TheGreatSatan]

My laptop arrived today and even though I got a bunch of guides on basic setup, none of them said anything about charging the battery. I know the battery has to be attached when the laptop is plugged in, but I don't know how long the battery needs to be charged for and how to determine when it's done. Can it be over-charged? Does the laptop need to be booted in order for the battery to charge or can I plug in the laptop without booting to let it charge?

I'm a laptop noob, so I'm sorry if I sound like an idiot.

[Jim Beam]

most laptops have an internal regulator that stops the charging when the battery is fully charged. mine takes about 4 hours from dead to fully charge it's a pretty new sony viao

[Spawn-Inc]

well i don't have any reaexp with laptops but i'm going to say that you can charge it while its turned off. i'm assuming its a lithium ion batter 6 or 9 cell so plug it in for a while, i'm guess 6 hours?, since its the first charge. i don't think the laptop would let it over-charge. i'm prettyy confident in my post 70-80% but wait for others who have experience with it.

[Zephik]

When in doubt, charge for 12 hours. Thats my motto for first time charges on new devices, such as laptops. Unless its otherwise specified. Cell phones are usually 6 hours for the initial charge, I'm not sure what laptops are.

My laptops battery has a nifty button on it, when I push it, it lights up LED's to let me know its charge.

No, it can't be "over-charged". It can be "under-charged" the first time you charge it though. These things usually say how long you have to charge it for, like with cell phones. If it doesn't list it, charge it for 12 hours. It shouldn't take more than that.

The laptop does not need to be on for the battery to be charged. The battery will charge whenever the AC is plugged in. Whether the laptop is on, or off. For the initial charge, I would leave the lappy off while it charges. After that, charge it whenever you want and however you want.

Any other questions, feel free to ask. ^_^

[Exley]

All the laptops i have bought have come with the battery at least somewhat charged which is good because i dont want to wait to mess with it :devious: . Also as others have said you cannot over charge the battery, once it is fully charged the power is limited to just hold the charge.

[Redundant]

I say just turn it on with the battery installed and the laptop plugged in.

Windows will tell you how much it's charged. (click the battery icon near the clock) It doesn't matter whether it's on or off; the only thing that changes is how long it takes to charge. If you charge the battery with the lappy on, it will take a little longer than if you charge it with the lappy off. In power management in Windows, you can set audio and visual alarms for when the battery is low too.

You cannot over-charge the battery as there is a limiter. The only way to over-discharge the battery would be to use it up and then not charge it for a few months.

I like to wait for the battery to discharge to about 10% before recharging; I know li-ions don't have memory problems like ni-cd though so it's not necessary.

You guys are funny when it comes to laptops. "So what do you think will happen when I charge it up?" "Oh crap, wrong button, the battery's gonna blow!" lol ;)

I speak from experience; my parents never buy desktops! :eek:
(Note: these precedures are for laptops made in the last 8 years or so)

[Zephik]

I speak from experience; my parents never buy desktops! :eek:


I'm actually thinking about calling it quits too. Dell has that dual core power house of a lappy for what? $999USD? Sure, the screen is tiny, but thats what makes it so great for portability. If I want a bigger screen... voila, hook it up to a monitor! Sure sure, there is no real upgrade-ability in laptops, and your pretty limited in performance because of that. But, that laptop that I'm thinking of is better than all of the PC's I've ever owned combined. Aside from HDD space. But hell, it has a much better CPU, better ram and even a better gpu compared to anything I've ever owned. So its tough, because having a portable pc that also blows any pc I've ever owned out of the water is great, but at the same time, it will never look as cool as a desktop pc (Blackline = drooling) and when it becomes outdated, you cant upgrade it. You have to buy an entirely new lappy. Which means anything thats custom about it... goes out the window when you buy your new one. >< But then again... it also opens up the option of modding it again...

I'm just not sure what to do. I could get both a lappy and a desktop, but neither of them would be awesome if I did that. Whereas if I went one way or the other... I could get a pretty powerful machine that wouldn't need "upgrading" for quite some time. Like TheGreatSatan's new lappy. That thing is just downright sexy! ...performance wise. It needs a coat of paint and some light modding if you ask me. Personalize it a bit. ;)

lol sorry for the hijack TGS. What I thought was going to be a sentence or two turned out to be a tad bit more. :p

Btw, do you plan on doing anything with your lappy TGS? Paint? Modding of some sort? Not that it matters if you do or not, it's still a badass laptop!

[xRyokenx]

Here's my idea: Laptops for portability and convenience, desktops for gaming and/or affordability. Gaming laptops are too pricey and are only really good if you travel a lot, which I do, but not enough to be able to have a good reason to buy one.

[Spawn-Inc]

i personally hate laptops, i've never owned one and only messed around with ones at school (teachers) and display models at stores. its cool to take your pc with you but other than that desktops will forever rule.

[simon275]

I love my newest lappy a Lenovo X60 with like 6-7 hours battery life. I had a sony vaio and it lasted me two years before the hinges went. But hey it go dropped almost like every day at school. Lappy's are also great for watch tv and surfing the net at the same time.

[Redundant]

Lappy's are also great for watch tv and surfing the net at the same time.
Be careful if it gets hot in your lap; they can cause sterility in men (http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/article400872.ece).

[xRyokenx]

What fun!

[Luke122]

Surfing on the couch is super easy with my new toy.. XPS M1210 from Dell. It's the smallest one they make, but even with the 12" display it's still plenty big. :) Oh, and I put 2gb ram and a 7400 in it. :D

[Luke122]

RISE FROM THE DEAD!!!!!!

Just a bump.. I'm sad to announce the passing of my loyal and trusty XPS M1210. It's been 3 short years, filled with fun and games, but sadly it's gone on to the big ecycling depot in the sky.

Rest in peace (pieces) little buddy.

[OvRiDe]

:(

[knowledgegranted]

1. First time charging let it stay plugged in for a day



You can leave the laptop plugged in as long as you want, there are many protection circuits that allow it to be used to it's full extent. So you can't overcharge or overdrain it.

[mDust]

1. First time charging let it stay plugged in for a day



You can leave the laptop plugged in as long as you want, there are many protection circuits that allow it to be used to it's full extent. So you can't overcharge or overdrain it.

Thread reading FAIL!

This thread is 3+ years old.

My condolences Luke122.

[TheGreatSatan]

I still get a good 6 hours out of my Alienware M11x

[knowledgegranted]

Thread reading FAIL!

This thread is 3+ years old.

My condolences Luke122.

I get right to the point and answer the question, I don't bother to read little things like that.


Sorry all

[mDust]

I get right to the point and answer the question, I don't bother to read little things like that.


Sorry all

On behalf of everyone, it's OK, no need to apologize.

[BuzzKillington]

Did you part it out or something? Why is it resting in piece(S)? Sorry to hear about your loss.

[Luke122]

Replacing the mobo is not cost effective, so yes, it'll be parted out.

All other components are 100%.

*except battery (toast) and psu (frayed cord)*

[Konrad]

I've used these guys (http://www.batteryrefill.com/) before - an innovative enviro-friendly approach, but it does cost more ... I chose them because batteries for my particular discontinued old laptop were no longer available anywhere (except from some dubious-looking eBay vendors).

They basically mail you a recycled battery, you use the packaging to mail them your dead one. They drain out the electrolytes, replate the metals, and send it to the next guy. Sometimes you send them your battery first because they don't have your model in stock.

My refurbed battery actually had much better capacity than the OEM part (2800mAh vs 1800mAh); lithiums keep improving over time and this process apparently gives you the "latest". I suppose it might be a bit of a problem with things like PDA and phone batteries if the battery itself incorporates a regulator chip which interacts with the software.

[TheGreatSatan]

I'm a laptop noob, so I'm sorry if I sound like an idiot.

You do sound like an idiot.

[Konrad]

Sorry? I thought this ancient thread looked like an active topic again.

[Luke122]

You do sound like an idiot.

LOL :D

[mDust]

Sorry? I thought this ancient thread looked like an active topic again.

Relax, he was responding to himself because he's apparently an idiot. This thread has completely become active again. There are no rules preventing that from happening! NO RULES! Weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!:)

[Konrad]

No worries. I really do understand your concerns, but I'm definitely not fool enough to bash horns against TheGreatSatan for what might be (at worst) an incidental and ambiguous provocation. Besides, you could say he's got a wicked sense of humour, sometimes. I've never met anyone else who's fatter than Vista.

Speaking of RULES ... I'm surprised ancient threads (say, inactive > 1y) don't automatically get closed ... a fairly common practice.

[Drum Thumper]

Speaking of RULES ... I'm surprised ancient threads (say, inactive > 1y) don't automatically get closed ... a fairly common practice.

We're a bunch of modders, we don't need no stinkin rules!

[TheGreatSatan]

As far as anything goes, the eco-friendly wasy is never the way I want to go. Screw the planet! Kaos-Theory, party!! :banana:

[mDust]

As far as anything goes, the eco-friendly wasy is never the way I want to go. Screw the planet! Kaos-Theory, party!! :banana:

Woooooooooooooooooooooooooo!

[TheGreatSatan]

I've never met anyone else who's fatter than Vista.


If only I sig quoted. . . .:grouphug - not mine