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Li-Ion Battery Technology is a fascinating science! How to care for your Laptop Batteries
 
NB: It is possible that when you first put the new battery into your laptop it will show it is fully charged almost straight away, but it doesn't power the laptop for very long. This does not mean the battery is faulty, simply take out and reinsert the battery, fully charge it once again and this should solve the problem. It may take some time for certain laptops to recognize new batteries.
The general recommendation is to fully charge and discharge your new battery two to four times to allow it to reach its maximum rated capacity.
  • If you are not going to use the battery for some time (perhaps a month or more), remove it from your laptop in a partially charged (ideally 40%) state, and store it in a cool dry place away from sources of heat and light.
  • Never over discharge or short a Lithium Ion Battery. All Lithium’s contain a circuit board for making sure the battery is never over Discharged but if you store the battery at 0% for a prolonged period the cells can become irreversibly damaged.
  • Avoid excessive heat. Do not expose the battery to high heat or freezing temperatures. Do not leave your battery in your car in the summer. Hot batteries discharge very quickly, and cold ones can't create as much power.
  • New Batteries Need to be cycled a few times at least. Fully charge new battery packs before use. New pack needs to be fully charged and discharged (cycled) a few times before it can condition to full capacity.
  • Don't leave the Battery in a constant state of charging up that will reduce the life cycle of the battery. If you work with it plugged into the mains better to store it see above.

How to the Best Run time from your Laptop Batteries
 
  • Turn off Wi-Fi and Bluetooth - Most laptops have shortcut keys to instantly disable wireless networking.
  • Disconnect all external device like PC Card modems, Firewire, USB devices and optical drives. Use the notebook touchpad instead of an external mouse.
  • Avoid Using the Optical Drive if Possible. If you need a CD make an image then use the Hard Drive to play it. Burn Music CDs to MP3 Format.
  • Increase the amount of Ram in the Laptop. For Windows XP you should have at least 512MB of ram. If the Laptop is using the HDD for virtual RAM it will affect battery life.

More about Lithium Ion Batteries
 
Battery research is focusing heavily on lithium chemistries, so much so that one could presume that all portable devices will be powered with lithium-ion batteries in the future. In many ways, lithium-ion is superior to nickel and lead-based chemistries and the applications for lithium-ion batteries are growing as a result.

However, the conference I (Daniel Garty LBNZ company Director) attended in Shanghai 2004 I distinctly remember hearing the opposite. That Speaker stated in his opinion that Lithium Ion Technology had infact reached the limits of its current capacity. Most agree that for all practical purposes Lithium Ion Technology will be used for portable devices for the foreseeable future with a general consensus that we have reached a Capacity Threshold or Plateau.

At LaptopBattery NZ we are constantly researching and keeping up with the Lithium Ion technology to try to provide customers with the Best possible batteries for their Laptops.

For more information on the possibilities check this article out! Toshiba's New Rechargeable Lithium-Ion Battery Recharges in Only One Minute. Or have a look at Wikipedias New Technology for Lithium-Ion.

Being a reseller in the field of Batteries is not the easiest one succeed in. Whilst most VAR (Value Added Resellers) will tell you that their Batteries are superior to others, the Truth of the Matter is the quality is totally determined by Manufacturer and Original Cell Supplier. VARs are generally interested in blowing a smoke screen to make customers think somehow they are manufacturers and can supply you with the Best Batteries around. Sorry not True.
Whilst there are Hundreds of Battery Manufacturers worldwide. There are only really a few worth while knowing about.

1. Portapower is the single largest third party Laptop Battery Manufacturer in the world. Some estimates put their market share as high as 50%. Their OEM clients include Dell, Toshiba, HP. Their Prices are very expensive but the quality is excellent and they have the complete range. They use most Panasonic Cells in their Products.
2. Roofer Batteries is arguably in the second largest in China at least. Backed by a Chinese Billionaire the are quickly becoming a major Player in the Battery Market. The Quality is Excellent. Pricing is completive. Mostly they use Korean made LG cells.

We Buy most of our batteries from these two sources. For Digital Camera and Camcorder Batteries we only buy from Portapower as, the cost price of these Batteries is less than the price of having to deal with a return. For Laptop Batteries we have Four Suppliers to maintain the perfect balance of Price and Performance. If you have any specific queries about just what battery we are supplying you with just flick us an email and we'll be happy to help.

For a basic overview on what a Lithium Ion Battery is check here view the Wikipedia article here.

For those of you who are deeply fascinated by Batteries check out this Website. http://www.batteryuniversity.com/index.htm of Particular relevance is the following article. How to prolong lithium-based batteries (BU34)

Battery Monitoring Software
 
For further Analysis of your battery, use the link provided to download Passmark's BatteryMon (this is the same software used in many Factories in China to test Batteries)
Battery Monitor
Feel free to email us screen shots of your battery performance! :-)

REFERENCES
1. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lithium_ion_battery
1. http://www.batteryuniversity.com/parttwo-34.htm
2. http://www.toshiba.co.jp/about/press/2005_03/pr2901.htm
3. http://www.meritline.com/faq-laptop-battery.html#5
4. http://labnol.blogspot.com/2006/03/10-tips-to-make-your-laptop-battery.html
5. http://www.electronics-lab.com/articles/Li_Ion_reconstruct/index.html
6. http://is.med.ohio-state.edu/policies/battery.htm