The life of a rechargeable laptop battery is about 500 charges. If you find the run time on battery power is minutes not hours, you are due for a new laptop battery. If your laptop battery is more than 2 years old it may have already experienced its life of 300-500 recharges. In a similar fashion, car batteries predictably wear out after the stated monthly service use. Once a battery has been charged and discharged this many times it is simply out of gas.
It is not possible to revive a spent rechargeable battery. A used computer laptop battery may not be any better than the non-functioning one you are currently seeking to replace. Combined with the favorable cost of a new battery, used laptop batteries are not a good bargain.
We do not recommend used or refurbished laptop batteries.
Brand new laptop batteries with 12-month warranty can be purchased at LA SoftSync Sdn Bhd (www.lasoftsync.com) at reasonable price.
How long will my laptop battery run?
Average run time is 1.5 hours to 3.5 hours depending on what applications you are running. High capacity batteries (available for certain laptop batteries) can also be purchased to provide extended power.
Functions that require more power will deplete your laptop battery faster. Viewing a DVD or using your CD player to play and record music are power intensive functions and will consume power at a faster rate. Also different notebooks use more power than others.
Most laptops have a power management control panel where power use can be reduced while on battery power, such as reducing the brightness of your LCD screen.
Latest energy saving laptops using ULV (Ultra Low Voltage) processor together with SSD (Solid State Disk); can work from 6 hours to 12 hours on battery.
Why does my laptop battery lose power over time?
Over time, laptop batteries lose their ability to hold a charge. This is a normal occurrence and is common to all rechargeable laptop batteries. Most notebook batteries today are made with advanced materials that hold their charge much longer than earlier technologies used just a few years ago. Even so, the life of a laptop battery today will be approximately 500 discharge cycles. For most users, 2-3 years is a typical life expectancy of a laptop battery.
How to take care of your new laptop battery?
New replacement laptop batteries from LA SoftSync Sdn Bhd (www.lasoftsync.com) are shipped in a discharged state and must be fully charged when you receive your new battery. Charging your new battery overnight is sufficient to give your new battery a full charge.
A new battery may cause the battery power icon on your computer to indicate you have a low battery condition. We recommend that you let the battery charge overnight in your notebook computer.
It may be necessary to remove and reinstall the newly charged battery and restart your computer with the battery installed in order for the computer to start up and properly recognize your new battery. Some laptop model requires you to go into BIOS setup once and save changes to register the new battery.
Li-ion batteries will wear out over time, providing shorter battery run times. You can extend the life of your battery by providing some basic ongoing maintenance.
Your new battery should be charged and discharged 3-4 times during the first month. This will properly engage the battery to hold its maximum energy.
After the first month you can maintain the battery energy capacity by discharging and recharging the battery every 3-4 weeks.
How to calibrate your laptop battery to optimize its performance?
Inside the laptop battery is microprocessor software, which calculates the battery volume during the charging/discharging. Short discharges and recharges do not fully synchronize the battery's fuel gauge with the battery's state-of-charge. This can result in the amount of power available in one cycle being less than expected or the battery meter being inaccurate.
Under normal usage, batteries should be calibrated at the beginning of use and minimum of once every 3 months.
Your battery can be calibrated by following these steps:
Step 1 - Disable the Windows Power Management
In Windows, right-click the Desktop and select Properties in the menu list.
Click the Screen Saver tab and then click the Power button.
Under Power schemes, select Always On in the drop down menu.
Under Settings for Always On power scheme, select Never in each of the drop down menus.
Click OK on the Power Options Properties window and then click OK on the Display Properties window.
Step 2 - Fully Discharge the Battery
Remove the AC adapter.
Keep the notebook on until the battery has completely drained and the notebook automatically turns off.
Step 3 - Fully Charge the Battery
Connect the AC adapter to the notebook.
Keep the AC adapter connected to the notebook until the battery has completely charged and the Windows battery meter is at 100%.
Step 4 - Enable the Windows Power Management
In Windows, right-click the Desktop and select Properties in the menu list.
Click the Screen Saver tab and then click the Power button.
Under Power schemes, select Portable/Laptop in the drop down menu.
Click OK on the Power Options Properties window and then click OK on the Display Properties window.
After completing the steps above, your laptop battery will be calibrated.
What are the battery care practices?
Laptop battery cells suffer gradual, irreversible capacity loss over time. Such aging occurs more rapidly as temperature and discharge loads increase. Here are some suggested ways to minimize the capacity loss for your battery.
Store Li-Ion batteries between 20°C and 25°C (68°F and 77°F) with 30% to 50% charge.
Do not leave batteries exposed to high temperatures for extended periods. Prolonged exposure to heat (for example, inside a hot car) will accelerate the deterioration of Li-Ion cells.
Remove the battery if the notebook will be stored (turned off and not plugged into AC power) for more than 2 weeks.
After the battery is stored for a time period, it is necessary to perform an effective charging/discharging cycle for the battery to ensure a reasonable service life of the battery.
How to maximize laptop battery's life?
Your laptop battery life depends on the power capacity of your laptop battery and the amount of energy your computer draws. You can maximize your laptop battery life by changing the amount of power your computer draws while in battery mode. Here are some ways you can extend your battery life.
Set your system to run on Power Saving Mode. If you are a Windows user, within your Control Panel section you will find Power Options. In this section you can change power usage level. Choose “Power Saver” for Windows 7 and Vista; for Windows XP, under “Power Scheme”, choose “Maximum Battery”.
Cut down external devices. USB devices (including your mouse), Bluetooth and WiFi drain down your laptop battery. Remove or shut them down when not in use.
Minimize the use of CD/DVD drive. You can also extend your battery by minimizing the use of your CD and DVD drive operation.
Cut down on programs running in the background. Messenger, iTunes, Desktop Search, Windows Update, etc. All these add to the CPU load and cut down battery life. Shut down everything that is not crucial when you are on battery.
Add more RAM. This will allow you to process more with the memory your laptop has, rather than relying on your hard drive as virtual memory.
How to check remaining laptop battery life?
You can check your computer remaining battery life by clicking your battery icon or accessing the Power Options section within your computer control panel. Your laptop battery life depends on the power capacity of your laptop battery and the amount of energy your computer draws.
Is it normal for a battery to produce heat while it is being used and while charging?
Yes. It is normal for notebook batteries to produce heat when they are being charged and also when you are running on battery power. As energy is transferred within your battery cells, heat is a natural byproduct.