Notebook Battery Guide

[Micall5]

Ok, so this might be a stupid and anal question, but is there such a thing as a battery shell replacement or something that would cover the battery area when it does not have a battery in it? Not to get anything in to ruin or cover the connections? Would it matter?
thanks

[btam2]

If my laptop is off and I have the a/c adpter plugged in, will it be alright to have the battery in there too even though the laptop is off?

[nullptr]

Did you buy a generic battery? That could be the problem as some seem to fail to work altogether.

Chrisyano - Not sure what you mean by generic battery but I bought one from batteries.com that was supposed to be compatible with the Omnibook 500
This is the one I bought: http://www.batteries.com/productprof...p?appid=299736

As I said, before trying with brand new battery, the original battery had suddenly stopped working the same way (though it was old and maybe not holding any charge anymore). The point is, I'm wondering if it could be a problem in the laptop itself not able to draw power from the battery (such as some sort of circuit damage) or do you think it is most likely a battery problem. In either case, any ideas on how do I troubleshoot and what can I do?
Thanks much!

[chrisyano]

Ok, so this might be a stupid and anal question, but is there such a thing as a battery shell replacement or something that would cover the battery area when it does not have a battery in it? Not to get anything in to ruin or cover the connections? Would it matter?
thanks

As far as I know, nothing like that exists. I don't think it's a viable product considering how many different notebook designs there are out there--and most people leave their batteries in all the time anyway.

If my laptop is off and I have the a/c adpter plugged in, will it be alright to have the battery in there too even though the laptop is off?

That is fine. The notebook will stop charging the battery once it is fully charged. It will not charge it again until the battery self-discharges itself to a predetermined level (i.e. 95%). The only drawback is that these "trickle-charges" do use up some of the battery's limited number of charge cycles.

Chrisyano - Not sure what you mean by generic battery but I bought one from batteries.com that was supposed to be compatible with the Omnibook 500
This is the one I bought: http://www.batteries.com/productprof...p?appid=299736

As I said, before trying with brand new battery, the original battery had suddenly stopped working the same way (though it was old and maybe not holding any charge anymore). The point is, I'm wondering if it could be a problem in the laptop itself not able to draw power from the battery (such as some sort of circuit damage) or do you think it is most likely a battery problem. In either case, any ideas on how do I troubleshoot and what can I do?
Thanks much!

The battery you bought is a generic (as in non-branded battery), but it is definitely possible that there is an issue with your notebook. I'd recommend a call to the manufacturer's support line for the most effective troubleshooting.

[btam2]

Ok, so this might be a stupid and anal question, but is there such a thing as a battery shell replacement or something that would cover the battery area when it does not have a battery in it? Not to get anything in to ruin or cover the connections? Would it matter?
thanks

Yeah I wish they have somthing for that too, cuz for now I'm at home and I'm always on the A/C plug. and to prevent the battery from losing charge cycles and stuff I take the battery out and it stays out. I'm worred out ruiningthat open space and connectons to... if you find something or think of something, do share please

[esmondlee]

I use my Vaio at my desk with the AC power and battery in. During the day I may move around to other stations and get off AC. I may run the battery down to only 70% before I get back to my desk/AC power. I would leave my desktop oftenn during the course of a day with my laptop and run it down to 80 frequently before going back to my desk forand back on AC.

My question is, should I let it stay on battery and run until 20% before plugging it back to AC at my desktop? Is the frequent top offs during my day killing my battery?

EDIT: Upon booting up my new Vaio on a fully charge battery without AC, it is at around 85% upon enterint Vista. Is it typical for the battery to lose 15% upon bootup??

Thanks in advance

[chrisyano]

I use my Vaio at my desk with the AC power and battery in. During the day I may move around to other stations and get off AC. I may run the battery down to only 70% before I get back to my desk/AC power. I would leave my desktop oftenn during the course of a day with my laptop and run it down to 80 frequently before going back to my desk forand back on AC.

My question is, should I let it stay on battery and run until 20% before plugging it back to AC at my desktop? Is the frequent top offs during my day killing my battery?

EDIT: Upon booting up my new Vaio on a fully charge battery without AC, it is at around 85% upon enterint Vista. Is it typical for the battery to lose 15% upon bootup??

Thanks in advance

I wouldn't worry too much about the way you're using/charging your battery. You may want to calibrate every month or so to keep the fuel gauge sharper though.

The run down to 20% is more for users who use their notebooks on battery power regularly, since the closer you get to an empty charge, more long-term capacity is lost than if you were to recharge at a 20% level. It's outlined in more detail in the guide above.

As far as the 85% after bootup in Vista, it could be drivers for Vista are not picking it up completely accurately. I would suspect this is the case particularly if you are still at 99% or 98% in XP after booting. Again, calibrating your battery may help here as well.

[esmondlee]

I wouldn't worry too much about the way you're using/charging your battery. You may want to calibrate every month or so to keep the fuel gauge sharper though.

The run down to 20% is more for users who use their notebooks on battery power regularly, since the closer you get to an empty charge, more long-term capacity is lost than if you were to recharge at a 20% level. It's outlined in more detail in the guide above.

As far as the 85% after bootup in Vista, it could be drivers for Vista are not picking it up completely accurately. I would suspect this is the case particularly if you are still at 99% or 98% in XP after booting. Again, calibrating your battery may help here as well.

Hi Chris,

Thanks for your reply. When you say "calbrate" what does that mean? Does it mean to run it down and recharge? Do you mean using a specific program?

I was concerned with the way I was using the batter/charging because you mentioned "trickle charging". That's why i wonder if i'm at an AC, I should even plug it in and charge the batter at 90%, or just wait to be down to 20% each time before i use the AC.

Thanks again.

[chrisyano]

You want to avoid full discharges on a regular basis. This causes the battery to lose capacity permanently at a faster rate than a series of partial discharges. A single full discharge (to the point of power cutoff) will cause your battery to lose more capacity than a series of discharges to say 20% followed by recharging.

As I mentioned in my last post, I wouldn't worry too much about your usage and it is unnecessary to run your battery down to 20% every time you use the notebook on battery power.

Calibration is covered in the guide in the Care and Maintenance section. It is basically just a discharge to power cutoff followed by a full recharge.

The bottom line is that it is best not to worry about your battery. It's there for your convenience. No matter how you care for it, it will lose life and capacity anyway. So you might as well enjoy the freedom it affords you while it can. If it comes down to it, just buy a replacement whenever it no longer meets your needs.

[mataku]

I have three batteries, one new and two old as a result of the sony recall program. I had a question regarding the power gauge and calibration, since I'm using three different batteries is there any hope in having an accurate power meter? Would a third battery monitor program be better at predicting life?

Further what is the best practice in using these three batteries, using the new one most of the time and only the old ones when I need it (very rare) or to rotate them around?