April 3, 2008
Laptop Battery
Gone are the days when 30 minutes of backup was considered a great backup plan. Laptop batteries have gone a sea change from the time they were introduced in the market. The battery of choice for a laptop are lithium ion batteries which are also commonly used in consumer electronics. They are currently one of the most popular types of battery in laptops, with one of the best energy-to-weight ratios, no memory effect, and a slow loss of charge when not in use. Certain kinds of mistreatment may cause Li-ion batteries to explode. Although originally intended for consumer electronics, lithium-ion batteries are growing in popularity for defense, automotive, and aerospace applications due to their high energy density.
Not many people know but you can also enhance the life of your laptop batteries. For example one should charge batteries more often. However, if they are not used for a long time, they should be brought to a charge level of around 40% - 60%.
Recently in the news was a laptop battery with a 30 year span! Sounds unbelievable right? But it may soon be true. Researchers at the US Air Force Research Laboratory are working on that. Till the time we have that our current laptop batteries save our day.
