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General discussion

My tablet's battery stopped taking a charge, have computers become that expendable?

May 1, 2015 9:59AM PDT
Question:

My tablet's battery stopped taking a charge, have computers become that expendable?


I'm a bit frustrated and I think full disclosure is needed at the point of purchase regarding the device battery replacement policy/capability. My ASUS SLATE eee121's battery stopped taking a charge after 4 years, which is when I discovered it has to be returned to an ASUS service center for replacement. My wife tells me her Apple iPad is the same. What's going on? Have computers become that expendable? Is this on purpose so that companies can make a buck or is it the nature of batteries themselves? Are there best practices I should be doing to extend the life of these types of batteries? My fingers are crossed over what I get back from Asus and when.

Thanks for your help.

--Submitted by Chris H.

Discussion is locked

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Batteries die
May 1, 2015 11:37AM PDT

Lots of devices, especially smart phones do not have user replaceable batteries. Batteries will not last forever. Some fail early on and will be under warranty. Some fail early, but after the warranty expires. The manufacturers do not want the batteries to fail, but some will despite their wishes.
Battery technology is improving every year, but failures will still occur. It would be nice if the batteries came in standard sizes and were user replaceable, but lithium-ion batteries are made to custom sizes to fit into all the available space to allow maximum run time.

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iWatch will suffer a similar fate
May 8, 2015 12:26PM PDT

This issue is my main concern about buying a so-called "Smart Watch." If I spend a $100 on a cheap knock off slate and the battery fails in a year, shame on me. But what if I spend $400 or more? 4 years out of the Asus is pretty good IMO. A replacement will probably be even less. But back to the watches. How long will the battery last? And what if it does exceed my expectations. Will iPhone 7S or iPhone 8 even be compatible with iWatch 1. Who knows. But yes, I think that all Consumer Electronics are Expendable.

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Save the tablet for use when plugged in only
May 8, 2015 3:05PM PDT

Yes all batteries eventually die, maybe tablet batteries faster than most.

But I use my laptops nearly always at home or when on the road or at work. So this means that I don't have to use battery power only. In fact I use the devices mainly plugged into the wall socket. This conserves battery power for when I really need it.

My advice is to keep your tablet and use it in a fixed location as if it was a tower computer.
Yes, that's not what you bought it for, but you can probably find some specific uses for it.
At the very least it can be a backup device for data storage.

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Battery Sizes
May 8, 2015 7:49PM PDT

Hi Mike, your comment is true on different sizes BUT it's just a game they play to extort more money from you either letting you think your device needs to be updated because the battery no longer functions or they want your money for their high service charges to replace the battery. The charges can be so high to make you go out and buy a new device and now you are left with a device that just used up so much energy to make and if not recycled it just got more expensive. To make the plastic takes OIL its not just car that use oil most everything made takes oil that's used in the product or to run the machines to make the product which is wasteful.

That excuse on battery sizes is a hoax. Example you go buy a wireless telephone, all those batteries are all different sizes RITE? How is it you can find them in most stores to replace? Just open the back up take out the old and replace with the new. Yes they could very easily have batteries available to replace them on your own, hell if you know where to look you can buy the batteries for your unit do it yourself. Plus there are repair company's out on every city that replace these mystical batteries that are in all different sizes and shapes at a much cheaper price.... Lets not forget Logitech they claim on a lot of their devices it is non serviceable so once the battery is gone you throw away the item and piss more of your hard working money away.

It's just a big scam

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Have computers become that expendable
May 1, 2015 12:08PM PDT

Well cheap computers are like toasters..not worth a repair as the technical,cost,out weigh the value. On the other hand the iPad battery is very likely not failed. I suggest turning it on with the charger connected and then getting at least a little charge on it and then disconnect the charger and let it rundown and let it discharge for a day amd then connect the charger and try to do a full charge and then do this once again running it down..I,suspect you kept it plugged in too much and the battery is not taking a charge or the system is seeing it as charged. As well I would do an iOS reset in settings on it before doing the deep discharge.

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Memory effect
May 8, 2015 11:00PM PDT

I don't think lithium-ion batteries suffer from that memory effect you describe.

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Some Things Can Help
May 1, 2015 12:15PM PDT

First, find out exactly what kind of rechargeable batteries that you have. Lithium? Alkaline? etc.? You may want to do some research on your own as many of these have different requirements. For example, some last longer if you drain the battery out completely before charging again. Others, this makes no difference. Plugging the device into the charger and leaving it in day-in and day-out is usually not good. It subjects the device and the battery to thermal stress (heat) that is not good for the battery. The same way, leaving the device in the car or near your sun visors may not be a good thing. Always know the recommended temperature range for your device. I have a hands-free speakerphone that I keep on the floor of the car when not in use as I messed it up by leaving it constantly in the sun/hot part of the car. Also, keep an eye on your device. If you notice swelling, that may be the battery has expanded out at the device may need replacing due to a "safety issue".

Another Possibility or Two.

The way the tablets and newer "smart" phones are engineered, you really cannot pull the battery and change it unless you take the unit apart. The argument is that they need to do several things with the battery pack. First, the need to make the unit thin and light. (Consumer demand.) Second to render the unit obsolete so they can sell you a new $800 unit. (Stockholder demand for profit.) Third, and for the paranoid, the Government does not want you pulling the battery pack so they can track and activate your phone any time they want to spy on you and track you. (Or terrorists.) (Your phone is never really totally off.)

So with that stacked against you, yes, we really have reached the era of disposable computer/phone/PDA units. By the way, as a consumer and Electronics Tech, I can't even buy new parts, nor can I get schematics for these units. They won't sell them to me, or you.

Note: This post was edited by its original author to combine addendum post with original on 05/08/2015 at 3:06 PM PT

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No user servicable parts
May 1, 2015 12:55PM PDT

The way the tablets and newer "smart" phones are engineered, you really cannot pull the battery and change it unless you take the unit apart. The argument is that they need to do several things with the battery pack. First, the need to make the unit thin and light. (Consumer demand.) Second to render the unit obsolete so they can sell you a new $800 unit. (Stockholder demand for profit.) Third, and for the paranoid, the Government does not want you pulling the battery pack so they can track and activate your phone any time they want to spy on you and track you. (Or terrorists.) (Your phone is never really totally off.)

So with that stacked against you, yes, we really have reached the era of disposable computer/phone/PDA units. By the way, as a consumer and Electronics Tech, I can't even buy new parts, nor can I get schematics for these units. They won't sell them to me, or you.

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Not all devices are difficult to replace battery.
May 8, 2015 12:17PM PDT

You are correct in regards to all Apple devices but not necessarily other brands. I have stayed away from apple because of their use of proprietary components. My samsung phones battery just died and it cost me all of
$8.50 for a replacement battery with the same output and took me about 30 seconds to replace.The same applies to my laptop battery which simply pops off. A huge part of Apples profits is from making their customers purchase Apple cables, batteries and nearly all accessories for their products.

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How Did You Replace the Battery?
May 9, 2015 12:19PM PDT

Was the device one that had a replaceable battery? Or was it one of the new devices where you would have had to remove screws and maybe do some soldering? On your Samsung phone, the battery should be replaceable. Unless it is the S6 which, like the Apple, doesn't come with a replaceable battery. The OP is talking about devices that don't have replaceable batteries.

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One more reason why batteries are not user replaceable
May 8, 2015 7:53PM PDT

Apart from the reasons you have quite rightly suggested, there is also a design intent.
This is that Tablets, Phablets and Smartphones are ultra-portable and therefore get more than their fair share of knocks and bumps.
Providing a replaceable battery compartment means that the springy contacts to the battery are not soldered to the battery terminals and eventually become loose fitting.
I have seen more than one instance where the local roadside repairers have wedged a bit of rolled up paper between the battery and the cradle to push the battery more towards the contact. Cry

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Not really?
May 8, 2015 10:04PM PDT

Having had many portable devices with removable batteries the contact problem easily resolved by extending the spring or positive contact,the last device that failed was a personnel dab/fm radio that took two AAA batteries failed after 6 years because the earphone connector only outputted one channel.

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Full disclosure? Did you ask?
May 1, 2015 2:08PM PDT

In my experience, 4 years is outstanding for a Li-ion battery. Most are half capacity at best after about 2 years use. Overcharging will make it less. It's up to consumers to ask about things like accessories, battery replacement, software upgrades, memory expansion. Nothing should be assumed. Many tablets, some phones and pretty much all Apple sub-laptop devices require sending to the manufacturer repair depot for battery replacement. All the tablets and phones I have ever bought, I made sure I could replace the battery myself.

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Something We Found Out Though
May 2, 2015 3:36AM PDT

If your battery expands and pushes out on your phone/device, you should bring it into the Apple Store (if it is an Apple) even if the device appears to be working. First, make sure you back it up so you can restore the device if you get a new one. If the issue with the battery is a "safety issue", they will replace your device for free. Then you can go home and run a restore. YMMV, but this was what we ran into.

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Caveat emptor
May 1, 2015 2:26PM PDT

Hi Chris

Before I begin take a look at the CNET article on battery technology in the link that follows. It's rather long but provides some interesting insight not only on battery life extension but also how manufacturers are trying to squeeze more performance on a single charge and what it takes to make that happen. Unfortunately, the final takeaway is that battery technology (advancement) at least for tech products have come as far as it can go given the current materials available at a reasonable price point. Here's the link:

http://www.cnet.com/news/why-batteries-arent-getting-better/

Your question does not have a one-size -fits-all answer. Back in the day the battery contained in a laptop (before tablets) was just as much about cosmetics as it was about providing a power source. The laptop battery was huge and heavy and was part of the laptop base. Although removable it left a gaping hole in the laptop bottom. In some instances the battery added stability, as it may have been a corner support.

As consumers demanded lighter more portable laptops the battery technology improved and the form factor shrunk which also made it lighter. However the battery was still part of the laptop base. The side load battery compartment was the final evolutionary step before the battery ceased to be part of the laptop cosmetics.

Consumers continued to demand that their laptops be lighter but not to the point that the materials used in the casing was just a cheap plastic that creaked and bent with the slightest pressure. Enter the concealed battery under a removable panel or removable base plate. The caveat being that the battery itself was still somewhat bulky but to a lesser degree because the casing no longer had to be as rigid and could be made of a much lighter and thinner design with a ribbon pin connector.

Fast forward to the tablets and laptops of today. In order to make them as light as possible the entire product has to be as thin as possible and that includes the battery. Devices that are serviceable by the consumer (i.e. battery replacement) cannot achieve the level of thinness that makes them the product that everyone wants. To achieve that level of thinness and weight reduction manufacturers restrict the replacement of the battery by the consumer to make the connectors as thin as possible. In some designs the connection to the battery as a power source is a soldering that eliminates a physical connector in the conventional sense. Still there are warnings on some products that prohibitive the removable of the battery accept by an authorized service center for safety reasons as direct exposure to the battery could be a health risk or result injury.

I saved this final comment for last, as it only serves to perpetuate the idea that manufacturers care less about the consumer and more about profit and ROI.

There's the manufacturing practice of built-in obsolescence (although, no manufacturer would readily admit to it). The thought is that by the time the battery in your device ceases to take a charge (especially in tablets) the technology will have advanced so far that you'll want to buy the latest and greatest...or as one manufacturer puts it "The next big thing".

As far as full disclosure about your Asus....In the US a retailer (online or brick n' mortar) is under no obligation to discuss how to repair your product or replace the battery...unless you ask. Most often they will offer to sell you an extended warranty to cover any type of failure. Most will also cover the battery.

You can download your Asus eee121 manual that speaks to battery care at the link below.

http://www.asus.com/Tablets_Mobile/Eee_Slate_EP121/HelpDesk_Manual/

FYI, when buy a product that has no visible signs of opening the case (i.e. screws) it's a 99.9% sure bet that any service performed on the unit will have to be done by an authorized service center including battery replacement. Such is the case with your Asus and your wife's iPad.

I hope this information helps and I wish you success in getting your devices back into working order.


Note: Caveat emptor - "Let the Buyer Beware"

Together Everyone Achieves More (TEAM)

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Most everything has become disposable
May 1, 2015 9:34PM PDT

Actually 4 years for a rechargeable battery is pretty good, especially if you use the device every day. In this industry, 3 to 4 years is the expected life of any of these products which is probably why you typically do not see Extended Warranties available for much more than 3 years. It is pretty well known that after 3 years, batteries start to fail, hard drives have a high likelihood of crashing and the technology is pretty much obsolete. Everything is getting to be disposable. Just 10 years ago, I had 4 printer repair shops within a 20 minute drive of me and they have all gone out of business. The only remaining Printer repair shops specialize in high end Office printers only. Just try to get someone to fix your home inkjet printer?

Apple is probably the worst offender of having a disposable mentality. All of their products are designed around looks and never for ease of repair or the ability to upgrade. Just walk into an Apple store and see if they will upgrade the memory in your iPhone or iPad, or install a larger drive in your MacBook Air? Unfortunately, other manufacturers seem to have decided that if Apple can get away with it, they can too. Don't get me wrong, Apple makes some fabulous products and probably has some of the most durable products out there. Their laptop and iPad batteries far outlast most other manufacturers but they still are not designed to be user replaceable and the bottom line is they want you to purchase the latest, greatest model rather than repair or upgrade the one that you already own.

Personally, it really irritates me that the average user cannot replace the battery in their mega $$$ phone or tablet. You should be able to add Cellular service to your iPad or Table at a later time and when you drop it and break the screen you should be able to snap in a new one with relative ease.

I can only think that at some point, someone or some company will decide to take a different approach and there will be some real competition. I would dump my iPhone in a heartbeat, if someone came out with a comparable phone with a user replaceable battery, upgradable memory and other replaceable parts like the screen. How thin does my phone really need to be? I would give up a few millimeters any day to get a replaceable battery or even a longer battery life.

I can only guess that people will only put up with this for only so long... I am really getting tired of spending a small fortune every year to keep up with the latest technology. I remember, back many years ago, when I would purchase the latest version of every software that I used, every year. In those days, software manufacturers would give you a real nice discount if you were a current user and simply upgrading. And the latest version had many fabulous new features that really made the upgrade seem worthwhile. Over time, I started changing the way that I upgraded and decided that I did not need the latest version every year but could go 2 years before upgrading and then 3 years and now I am pretty much at 4 years between upgrades. How much can you add to a program like Microsoft Word to make it worthwhile to spend another $300 every time a new version of Office comes out? Most people do not use more than about 10% of the features anyway and would be perfectly happy with Word 97 if it would still run on Windows 8 or 10? I guess the new subscription based software concept will change all this? Now we will be paying monthly for the rest of our lives for features and upgrades that we never use or really need.

Intuit has figured it all out, if you use online banking with Quicken it just stops working after 3 years forcing you to purchase the latest version. How would you like that if your Tablet simply turned off after 3 or 4 years? Well, maybe that would be a little drastic? How about just the WiFi automatically stopped working after 3 or 4 years?

Good luck on the Asus Tablet Chris H, I do like and have many of their products and still use one of their earlier Netbooks all the time. It does not hold a charge for as long as it once did but it does have a user replaceable battery.

To prolong the life of the battery. I have read a lot on the subject of rechargeable batteries over the years and batteries are getting better but really have not kept up with the pace of electronics in general. Use, storage, Discharge Cycles, temperature and recharging rate all affect the overall battery life as well as the quality and type of battery that you have. Most Laptops, Cell Phones and Tablets now use Lithium Ion batteries which do not have react the same as the old NiCad batteries of yesteryear where we were always told to exercise the batteries by deep discharging them and recharging them several times per month. Lithium Ion batteries do not need deep cycling and this may actually shorten their life.

Here is a great resource for battery information and what affects the life of Lithium Ion Batteries.

http://batteryuniversity.com/learn/article/how_to_prolong_lithium_based_batteries


Dana
Wayland Computer

p.s. Great to have you back Lee


Note: This post was edited by its original author to combine second post with this one here. on 05/08/2015 at 2:53 PM PT

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Thanks Dana, it's good to be back!
May 8, 2015 7:55AM PDT

BTW I went ahead and combined your second post to your original one. Hope you don't mind.

Cheers!
-Lee

Note: This post was edited by its original author on 05/08/2015 at 2:55 PM PT

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?? Your next phone???
May 8, 2015 11:51AM PDT
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Dana: Good to have you back too
May 8, 2015 9:47PM PDT

Dana furnishes some of the best advice and insight in posts. Keep adding to this board, Dana!

Any yes, Lee, it is good to have you in the moderator's chair again. Without you, the discussion goes 'off' topic. Thanks!

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My Galaxy Tab S battery better last!
May 9, 2015 11:14AM PDT

I bought this high end tablet last Dec 2014 and I remember telling mgr at Office Depot I was worried about the battery life. He said if it fails within 3 yrs bring it back and will replace or give me newest and best Samsung tablet.....yea, right. I wrote his name down, but he probably wont be working there in 3 yrs. I will be hostile if this battery fails in the near future. I paid $475....so the blasted device better last a long time. If mfgs think this is a throw away tablet they need a check up from the neck up.

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Reply to Dana: "Most everything has become disposable."
May 10, 2015 5:55AM PDT

Dana: Great reply! Too bad it wasn't positioned at the top. It's weird that you mentioned Word 97 not working on Windows 8--'cause it does! I recently bought a new Toshiba running Win 8.1. I had read that Win 8 did not have restrictions on running older programs and peripherals. I am no longer a spring chicken, and have been happy with my MS Office 2000--which was obtained by purchasing MS Office 97 that came with a promise of delivering MS Office 2000 to me when it was released. Since I was using 2000 on my old computer, I figured I could run 97 on the new one since I was no longer using 97 on any other computer. I held my breath as I attempted to install it--and, wonder of wonders, IT DID INSTALL and is useable! Next, I am going to hook up my HP Photosmart 1315 (that it was necessary to abandon and replace with a newer printer when I purchased my "now old" computer) to the new 8.1 OS and see if I can begin printing photos with it again. I cringe to think of the thousands of dollars I have spent over the last years having to buy new peripherals and programs each time I purchased a new computer! I recently found a receipt for a laptop, from many years ago--$2,500 on sale!--and it didn't have enough memory space to upgrade it to make it useable for the new programs that came later. --And it is a telling point that the computer makers PURPOSELY engineered those new computers to make buyers have to purchase new equipment and programs! SHAME ON THEM!

suziesunshine

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Caution with older software and hardware
May 10, 2015 10:45PM PDT

I would never have even attempted nor thought of installing Office 97 on Window 8.1 but if it is working that is great, however you do run a very high likelihood of running into issues later. I am guessing that you will have problems if you ever try to uninstall it or upgrade to a newer version of Office and I don't think you will get Outlook or Access to work correctly, if you need them. I Have not tried this myself, but I am guessing that the Office 2007 Compatibility Pack to be able to read the newer .DOCX file will not install either.
In the end, it is difficult enough to get everything to play nicely together on a computer and installing older software and hardware that is not technically supported just adds to the probability of having problems. If you have fairly simple needs, you may be ok and things may work just fine.
The other issue is that if something does go wrong, you will not be able to get technical support or will probably not be able to even find much help online regarding your issues.

Dana

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I Agree With Your Thoughts
May 11, 2015 9:28AM PDT

You never know if some really old version of software will work or not until you try. Itt is just that , sometimes, it "seems" to work but, in reality, it doesn't work partially. Of course, the word doc format in Office 97 may not support the modern DOCX format and the "compatibility pack" may or may not provide complete transparency. I don't even know if there is a pack that goes with Office 97 without doing research. As you pointed out, there could be support issues. I don't know if Office 97 is still supported on ANY platform as of now. It is a case of "try it and see if it works out" but I know there are issues with Microsoft Exchange where you can't use versions of Outlook with certain versions of Exchange. For example, Exchange 2003 will not work with Outlook 2013 (tried that and it won't work). I imagine there will be reverse restrictions as well.

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This is the nature of batteries
May 1, 2015 11:25PM PDT

Batteries have a limited lifespan. I really hate this trend toward embedding batteries into products like smartphones and tablets beyond the reach of the end user. These are, or at least should be, "Durable Goods," and by making it impossible to replace the battery when it malfunctions or wears out turns them into disposable items.

Furthermore, there are occasions when an essential part of the O/S that is kept alive even when the system is turned off malfunctions and causes the device to go haywire. This can be fixed by removing and replacing the battery, but now that avenue of repair is unavailable to the end user.

I really hate it. It is the elevation of form at the expense of function, which is never a good idea.

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I would sacrifice a little in size in order to do my own fix
May 9, 2015 6:28AM PDT

I will continue to use my laptop and will use my S5 for as long as I can in order to change out memory cards,
batteries etc. I started with mobile phones when they weighed two pounds and cost a $1.00 a minute so I have no problems with a larger phone and as regards to my laptop, I like to actually compute with graphic images which I cannot do with a pad. I'm past 70 and very good with tech but like to do my own repairs so for now no pads and no smartphones that I cannot change memory or batteries. We are such a throw away society that it's embarrasing to a country that supposedly cares about the enviroment.

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Ever hear of ABC?
May 1, 2015 11:49PM PDT
https://www.google.com/#q=abc+always+be+charging+battery+rule

But about your questions. Almost all makers use 300 cycle batteries so that means that one might wear out a battery in a year. A worn battery is usually defined as "less than 50 per cent capacity when charged."

So about your model. I used google and seem to see the battery on Amazon.com for about 53 USD.
I also found a Youtube on how to open up this model.

Any decent tech could use these 2 to swap in a fresh battery but consumers seem scared to do such work.

-> There are tomes on the web about laptop, cellular and more battery life and folk upset about the usual 2 years of bliss.
Bob
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You are so right
May 9, 2015 6:31AM PDT

You can find most device batteries on Amazon and ditto for instructions to swap out the battery on Youtube.
If your device is past it's warranty you have nothing to lose by trying to do this yourself.

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You don't always have to return them to change the battery.
May 2, 2015 12:36AM PDT

I have to admit this whole attitude of hiding the battery in a location that is totally inaccessible does seem stupid. And it's not just tablets and smart phones that are doing this, some laptops are coming with non-removable batteries unless you want to get the screwdriver kit out.

I've no idea why they want to prevent this so much - I have an old HP Travel Companion that I bought way back in 2007, this has a battery and a small slider that I just slide to remove and replace. It's really handy when the device fully locks up and is even ignoring all emergency shut down procedures I can just flip the cover off, remove the battery, give it a minute and then just put it all back together again.

I've got a HP Slate 7 which was bought recently - and even though both the Travel Companion and the Slate are made by HP, on the Slate HP have made a major change. To get to the battery on that I need to take out two tiny torx head screws (why torx head and not just standard philips -maybe so you have to go out and buy a torx head screwdriver, or so that only people with a torx head screwdriver can gain access to the insides - using torx head screws used to be a security deterrent to stop people accessing things that they weren't meant to access and fix without the manufacturer doing so, but now most people have access to some kind of torx head screwdriver, or just go to a local DIY store and I'm quite sure you'll find a large selection of them - they normally even come in multi-screw driver packs - so they're no longer that much of a security deterrent, more a "belief" by manufacturers that it makes it a little bit harder to get into).

At the moment I've got a problem with my HP Slate 7 and it's locked up so it needs the battery removing and I need to check if it's receiving any charge - I could do that simply - I've got an amateur radio qualification and know fully how to test a battery for charge, and I've even got a charging unit that will charge any brand of battery regardless, but when I looked at removing the battery I found out there is two torx head screws on the bottom that need to be removed to gain access - looking through my torx head toolkit I found that it needs a T3 and the smallest I've got is a T5 (I could probably get away with a T5 but there is a risk I could strip the head and then I'd be in a worse position than I already am - so next time I'm near the DIY shop I'm going to pop in and get a proper T3 screwdriver)

The funniest battery I came across recently was in my multimeter - it went dead and it had three screws to get to on the back of the case it says "Do not open - No user serviceable parts inside" - what??? yeah crazy - a multimeter is used normally by someone who does have at least a little bit of electrical knowledge - and I'm quite sure a standard 9V battery is "user serviceable" and most people who've checked smoke alarm batteries should have no problem changing one - but for some stupid reason their advice was not to open it and try and change the battery - of course guess what I did - yep you got it - down the £ shop, bought a new 9v battery, disconnected the probes, screws out, removed the old battery and put the new one in and then screws back in and now the multimeter works fine.

But most of the time you don't actually have to return the device to the manufacturer to get the battery changed. You can do it yourself and normally it's a simple thing of just locating the screws that are holding the back in place and ensuring you remove them with the right screwdriver. You can normally find a screwdriver that will do this somewhere on the internet and many websites give full guides on how to get to that battery. The iPhones are normally two small screws either side of the docking port, and many other smart phones and tablets have the screws in a similar position. It's just a case of removing the screws from there and then the lid normally just comes off and then you can see the battery clearly. It's just a Li-On battery which with the right part number you can easily find on the internet, in some cases you can even find ones with higher mAh rating - if the mAh rating is higher this doesn't make any difference to the device apart from the battery on a full charge will last longer - a battery with 1000mAh won't last as long as one with 2500mAh (mAh stands for milli Amp hours, the higher the number the longer the battery will take to fully charge, but also the longer the battery will last - also chargers have a similar rating - if you got a 500mAh charger it would take about 2 hours to charge a device with a 1000mAh battery in it (500 x 2 = 1000) where as the 2500mAh battery would take 5 hours to fully charge on the same charger (500 x 5 = 2500) but a 2000mAh charger (sometimes referred to as a 2A charger as 1000mA = 1A) could charge the 1000mAh battery in 30 minutes and the 2500mAh battery in 1 hour 15 minutes.)

Anyway we seem to have diversified - but simply if you look on the internet there should be quite simple instructions to fully to remove that back and change that battery. I even came across a Dell laptop recently that had it's battery behind a screw panel. If you get stuck most of the time you can just take it to any market and there should be a guy there that can do it. It's not complicated at all, just made complicated by the manufacturer to hope that you return it to them for a replacement, the only time it does get complicated is if something else is broken on it too like the charging port or the screen as these are normally either soldered in or glued in place and need the device taking down a lot more than just the back removing.

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Thoughts on sealed batteries
May 8, 2015 11:40AM PDT

torx head screws; why?

Simple answer. Phillips head screws strip out really easy. And it gets even worse when they are tiny.
Torx are much more durable. That is why they are used. Less likely for the head to strip out.

"non removable batteries..why?

simple answer: yes, you CAN build a device with an access panel. However, the WHOLE device has to be designed around it! Take a modern tablet. The battery ( which is a LI-PO not LI-ION on larger devices) can easily be 2/3 the size of the tablet! and LI-PO batterys are not usually designed with a hard case like LI-ON, they are more exposed, and usually soldered. So, if you were to have a cover big enough to access a battery that big, you really have to think about structural integrity.... flex..... clips.... Little different bits that combine to add up in weight, cost, and durability. When you think about the fact that you might go 2 years or longer without replacing the battery, it just does not make sense to go to the work of designing all that. Add the fact that LI-PO's are soldered in.. if you can solder, you can probably take it apart anyways.
Why LI-PO instead of LI-ON? Power density. LI-PO has a lot higher power density for the size.

The internals of our modern devices are packed really really tight. A lot of thought goes into placement. One has to consider the form factor you are shooting for. Heat buildup. Trace size to and placement for frequency control. It is mind boggling what really goes into these devices everyone takes for granted.

Why are they not upgradable?
easy answer: That is just one more PITA thing the designers would have to worry about when designing. The internal components don't come in a standard size, and parts keep getting smaller. There is not an economic reason to do it. Also, a lot of it is propietary tech, and worth a LARGE amount of money. They spend millions on component design. If they made it so you could just pop it out, they run the risk of reverse engineering and the market flooded with cheap clones that are of lower quality. Customer satisfaction will suffer.

Now, that being said, there are a couple of phone/tablet designs out there right now that have the ability of having parts swapped out, and be upgraded. I am not sure when they will hit the market; but you will have the ability of plug and play with the hardware you want for your device... withing reason.

Just some thoughts to think about. It is not an easy request to just make the battery easily removable, and it is not some nefarious plot against consumers. It is the culmination of engineering design to try to give customers what they want. And it really is a miracle of technology that we have them in the first place.

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Thoughts on sealed batteries - reply.
May 8, 2015 2:00PM PDT

Broncoluvr,

You stated:
< ..... It is the culmination of engineering design to try to give customers what they want. ... >

I have followed most of this thread and your statement came up, in various forms, in some posts. When an engineer (been there, done that) makes a such a statement, what they really mean is, "We think our new product will be more 'marketable" if we can offer something the opposition doesn't have. so lets engineer something and pass the selling of to the Marketing Department". The MD then put it to a "focus" group which comes up with the idea that everyone will want it.

Works at first, but when the apparent seen-as-defects rear their ugly heads, then disgruntlement settles in.
As far as I can discover, from the huge amount of complaints on the internet, as well as from friends and colleagues, is that what many, many folk want, as one poster said, is not form over function but the other way round.

My thoughts only.

Regards,

Peter