Monday, June 30, 2008

Laptop Batteries and Laptop Battery Care

by: Angela Oliver

Laptop Batteries are essential for keeping a laptop running properly. In many cases, businesses, whether personal or corporate, depend on laptops for business dealings day to day. There are a number of ways to properly care and maintain a laptops main power source, the battery. Battery construction of laptop batteries is very different from other traditional electronic device batteries. A brief overview of the construction of laptop batteries will help provide insight into factors that affect the life and care of laptop batteries.

Laptop batteries are constructed with a number of crucial components to regulate charge and power supply to the laptop. A thermistor measures the charge of the battery and regulates how much charge the laptop sends to the battery. When the battery is fully charged, the thermistor tells the laptop to stop charging. Safety fuses and breakers in the laptop battery also help prevent overcharging and aid in overall functionality of the laptop battery. So there is an essential communication that must occur between the components of the laptop battery and the laptop itself to ensure proper function of both the computer and the power supply.

Laptop batteries are becoming more advanced that other types of batteries. In the past they were constructed of NiCd or NiMH which provided less power and did not recharge well. Lithium polymer batteries are the newest revelation in battery technology and they are leaps and bounds beyond old metal batteries. They provide the right amount of power and charge in a fraction of the time of metal batteries. The advantages of lithium batteries make new laptop batteries more practical. Lithium batteries therefore help improve the life of laptop batteries and also make them a more valuable battery for the money.

There are a number of precautions to take to ensure safe and practical function of the laptop battery. Some laptop batteries can become overheated from charging which can create a fire hazard. It is important to place the laptop battery in a location that is free of flammable objects such as paper or furnishings. In general, it is good to avoid extreme temperatures for proper optimal function of a laptop battery. Battery life of a laptop battery depends greatly on how the laptop is used. A laptop battery will not last very long without being charged. A useful method to extend battery life is to close as many unnecessary programs as possible. By closing programs that will not be needed will save useful battery life.

These are just a few pieces of information about laptop batteries that will help the user understand how to care for laptop batteries and how to manage laptop battery life. There is much more information about laptop batteries, including battery construction, battery charging and much more.