Laptop Battery

Laptop Batteries—Getting Lighter but More Powerful

There is a great deal of competition in the electronics industry to satisfy the need of people who require laptop batteries that are powerful enough to last for a full working day, i.e. for 8 hours. When they were first launched, PCs and laptops consumed a lot of energy. A laptop, for instance, uses so much current that it discharges a 4300 mA battery in under 3 hours. The component that draws the largest amount of current in laptops are their LCD screens or, to put it more correctly, their LCD backlights, CCFL or LED. So, to save the battery power, laptops always have Power Save modes as well as battery switchovers.

Li-Ion Batteries

This type of laptop batteries is good but they are quite aging. For instance, at a 100% charge level, a Li-ion laptop battery that is full most of the time at 25 °C or 77 °F will irreversibly lose approximately 20% capacity per year. That means after three years, the battery will be completely out of order. On the other hand, come to think of it, who hangs on to their laptop for more than 4 years? Also, heat is a powerful Li-ion battery enemy. That is why if the laptop is hot all the time, the battery will become hot too and its life will be shortened as well.

Another disadvantage of the Li-ion laptop battery is that they have a relatively poor cycle life. Every time that the battery is charged or recharged, its capacity will go on diminishing. You will notice the loss when a considerable amount of time has passed. You will find it, for example, when 400 recharge cycles, the capacity of the battery will be seriously affected.

Ni-Cd Batteries

The first Ni-Cd battery was created by Waldemar Jungner of Sweden in 1899. These are more difficult to manage than other battery types. But they last longer and can face more charging and discharging cycles. Today, you will find that Li-ion batteries have completely made their exit, mostly in favor of Ni-Cd and NiMH batteries that are more in demand.

Batteries for Netbooks

Batteries for netbooks need to be mentioned as well. These batteries actually have a longer life because of their larger capacity. One of the reasons for that is that the netbook screen is smaller than a modern laptop. Netbooks also require less power for their backlight. Another factor that you must think of is that the netbook doesn’t have DVD drives, which also reduces the power consumption. Netbooks might have SSD (Solid State Drive) which is more power efficient than the traditional HDD.

Today, 4 cells and 6 cells laptop batteries have become popular. the 6 cells batteries have a better capacity. You will also find 9 cells 7800 mAh batteries but they are usually bigger and a part of it always sticks out from the laptop’s casing. The 6 cell batteries are usually of 5200 mAh.

Now, if it is a Li-ion or Ni-Cd battery, it will be almost impossible to repair it. These contain chemical components and since their chemistry is already changed, there is nothing much you can do about them.

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