American Express-SavingsJames Kendrick, one of the bloggers at jkontherun.com, recently wrote: "Mobile computer users will tell you that the number one need they have is for sufficient battery power." There are a few ways laptop computer users can get more battery power for their computers:
- Buy a larger battery designed specifically for your computer. When buying many, if not most, laptop computers, you should have a choice of batteries. Higher-capacity batteries are physically bigger, cost more, and may very well protrude either vertically or horizontally.
- If you find you need more power for a laptop computer you already own, you can buy a second battery. One downside to this approach is that the computer has to be powered off to switch batteries. Then too, there are safety concerns when carrying around an internal battery.
- Yet another option involves an external battery pack that plugs into the same port on the laptop that the AC power cord does.
If you are interested in buying an internal battery, either to have as a spare when traveling or simply to replace a dying one, then check out "Cheap laptop batteries: Good deal or risky business?" by Brian Nadel of Computerworld. As Nadel explains it:
"There are two basic types of notebook batteries: the brand-name batteries that the manufacturer sells and the aftermarket batteries that are available from third-party resellers -- often for a significantly lower price ... We all want to save money, but not if it puts our notebooks at risk. Buying an aftermarket battery often goes against the advice of laptop manufacturers, and in some cases can even void the warranty. Is it worth it to save a few bucks?"
He tested three replacement batteries for a MacBook Pro and another three for a ThinkPad R50. His conclusion? "The aftermarket replacements proved to be just as good and reliable as the originals." That said, there is a big difference in aftermarket batteries; the article offers buying tips.
One issue with having two batteries is that only one can be charging at a time. But, every problem is a marketing opportunity, and a recent posting at Liliputing describes chargers you can buy for an Asus Eee PC that let you externally charge an internal battery.
In "External battery packs can power that notebook for hours", Kendrick discusses his experiences. In brief, external batteries offer a lot of power but at a price. As for power, he says they "can power most laptops for 8-10 hours." As for price, the two companies he mentions offer models priced at $200 and $300. Not cheap, but as Kendrick says, when you need them you really need them.
See a summary of all my Defensive Computing postings.
The new MacBook Air laptop has one killer feature, the non-removable battery. Killer as in deal-killer. As in why would anybody use a laptop that has to be shipped back to the vendor to replace the battery? It boggles the mind. Here's why.
Have any sensitive files on your computer? Files you'd rather other people not see. Many of us do. Do you like the idea of your sensitive files sitting in a package on a UPS truck? Or being in the hands of a company Apple sub-contracted repairs to? Of course not.
Remembering to remove all the sensitive files from a MacBook Air before mailing it is only the first problem. Problem two is not making a mistake and missing a couple files.
Speaking of a UPS truck, laptop computers are fragile. And, computers disappear during shipping. Defensively speaking, I'd make a disk image backup of the hard disk before mailing back a MacBook Air.
(Credit:
Malabooboo)
What if your perfectly working MacBook Air gets damaged on its way to Apple? According to the company:
"Service may not be available if your MacBook Air has been damaged due to accident or abuse. Please review Apple's Repair Terms and Conditions for further details."
But suppose all goes well. The MacBook Air gets shipped to Apple for a battery replacement and arrives in perfect condition with all sensitive files removed. You can still get screwed. On their battery replacement FAQ page Apple says:
"Will the data on my MacBook Air be preserved?
Don't rely on it being preserved. Many repairs require Apple to replace or reformat the hard disk, which will result in the loss of your data ... Apple and its AASPs are not responsible for any damage to or loss of any applications, data, or other information stored on your MacBook Air while performing service."
To me this means you not only need a disk image backup before sending a MacBook Air back for a new battery, you also need a backup of the backup.
Apple now charges $129 in the U.S. to replace the battery on the MacBook Air. Who cares? No one needs a battery replaced now. The question is, what will Apple be charging in two years when the first Air users need a replacement? Apple may decide to charge whatever the market will bear, which could well be more than $129. Air owners will have no leverage, they'll have to pay whatever Apple feels like charging in their time of need.
Some people use their computers for a long time. Will Apple still offer to replace the battery in 6 or 7 years?
While the battery is being replaced, you have no laptop computer.
Finally, there is the obvious.
The whole idea of a 3-pound laptop computer is to use it while traveling and this often means computing for hours away from electrical outlets. Many people carry an extra battery. Fellow CNET blogger, Gordon Haff recently wrote that he carries two extra batteries when he travels with his ultra-portable laptop. As a Seinfeld fan, let me put it this way: no spare battery for you, MacBook Air owners.
All in all, the non-replaceable battery seems like a really bad idea.
Update. January 24, 2008. I left out another drawback. There are times when a laptop computer gets so screwed up that the only way to reset it is to remove the battery. No can do with the Air.
Update. January 21, 2008. A fellow CNET blogger, one who refuses to provide his/her name had this to say about the battery in the Air:
Let's face it: Apple's done letting you get a new battery when the stock one won't hold a charge anymore and having you milk your device. Their philosophy is that you should be turning these suckers over every two years or so, partially because that's the rate of significant advancement for components. In two years, it's going to be out of date. You may not like that philosophy, but the Macalope's found it fits his personal buying pattern anyway so no big whoop.
Wow. Talk about drinking the Kool-Aide.
See a summary of all my Defensive Computing postings.
The batteries in laptop computers are expensive (a quick review of prices at Lenovo.com shows they range from $119 to $179), and like any battery, they have a limited lifespan. When it comes time to replace the battery inside your laptop computer, you may be tempted to save a few bucks and buy a replacement from a company other than the one that made the computer.
Don't.
In a widely reported story, someone in Ohio purchased a battery for their ThinkPad laptop from a company called Shentech rather than directly from Lenovo or IBM (in 2005, IBM sold the ThinkPad line of laptops to Lenovo). No doubt they paid less than IBM or Lenovo would have charged. When I checked today, a battery for a T40 ThinkPad that Lenovo sells for $119 is only $65 at Shentech. Was it a bargain? Not at all; the battery caught on fire.
The story made news not because of the fire but because the battery, bearing an IBM logo, was a fake (allegedly). After examining the faulty battery, IBM purchased additional batteries from Shentech, and they too were (allegedly) fakes. Needless to say, IBM is suing Shentech (that they list a Post Office box and no phone number on the Contact Us page of their Web site doesn't inspire confidence).
Unfortunately, the laptop battery igniting in flames was not, in and of itself, newsworthy. After all, last year there were a slew of battery recalls. The big story was Dell recalling 4.2 million batteries made by Sony, but overall approximately 10 million Sony batteries used in machines from Apple, Sony, Lenovo/IBM, Panasonic, Toshiba, Hitachi, Fujitsu, Sharp, and Dell were recalled. In May of 2005 Apple recalled iBooks and PowerBooks with batteries made by LG Chem of South Korea. Lenovo/IBM has also recalled Sanyo batteries. It must be hard to make a safe lithium ion battery.
The lesson here is to only buy replacement batteries from the company that made the computer. Off-brand batteries are more likely to scrimp on safety features.
And, should there be a recall of the battery in your laptop, make it easy for the manufacturer to contact you--register your computer purchase.
Your Battery
If you are curious about the battery in a laptop computer running Windows XP, go to the control panel, open Power Options, click on the Power Meter tab and, finally, click on the battery icon. In the screen shot above, you can see the battery was made by Sanyo.
ThinkPad owners should have a ThinkPad configuration program installed (available from Start -> Programs -> ThinkVantage, at least in Windows XP, I'm not sure about Vista) that shows additional information about the battery. As you can see above, this includes the manufacture date and the first-used date.
The Status Detail tab (see above) also shows, among other data, the current temperature of the battery, which might bear watching every now and then.
If you know of other software that shows important information about the battery in a laptop computer, please leave a comment below.
See a summary of all my Defensive Computing postings.
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