All about laptop batteries: Updated

By Asher Moses, CNET.com.au & Brian Nadel, CNET.com on 26 June 2006

Batteries versus fuel cells
The traditional battery's days may be numbered. Thanks to recent advances in fuel-cell technology, your next notebook (or maybe the one after that) could run for days on a single charge. These next-generation batteries, which contain chemicals such as methanol stored in small tanks, certainly aren't your average power source. More like tiny chemical plants, different types of fuel cells are currently used in space shuttles, experimental eco-friendly cars and small power plants. NEC is developing a fuel cell for a notebook that could provide a mind-boggling 40 hours of battery life.

NEC is developing a fuel-cell notebook. This is a prototype and we're unsure if or when it will hit the market.

So how does a fuel cell work? "The fuel cell is based on the reverse principle of water electrolysis ... [Fuel cells] work by having hydrogen and oxygen react to generate electricity", said Yoshimi Kubo, senior research manager overseeing NEC's project to create a fuel cell-powered notebook (prototype pictured above).

Methanol, or methyl alcohol, is NEC's fuel of choice, and Kubo has created a prototype notebook that can run for five hours on about a pint of 10 percent fuel. When the tank is dry, forget about a power cable, because the fuel cell wants more methanol. Just pour in a small bottle of fuel, and it's ready to go. Rather than carrying a bagful of batteries on a long flight, all you'd need is a bottle of methanol -- but be careful: methanol is a poison.

For now, packaging is the biggest obstacle that fuel cells face. "Currently, the fuel cell cannot fit into a standard battery location", Kubo said. "It will need further development in order to fit into a notebook, and miniaturisation is a challenge we're facing". According to Kubo, NEC is attacking this problem from three directions: upping the concentration of methanol; using a low-power processor; and increasing the tank size.

Fuel-cell-powered handheld
By contrast, Hitachi is thinking smaller. Along with Tokai, a Japanese maker of cigarette lighters, Hitachi is working on a fuel cell-powered handheld. About the size of a AA battery, the fuel cell contains 57g of 20 percent methanol fuel, and it powers a handheld computer for 6 to 8 hours. Before its planned launch (which was originally slated for 2005 but has since been pushed back), the companies will try to boost runtime by using 30 percent methanol fuel, making a 12-hour handheld a distinct possibility.

All this adds up to big business over the next decade, according to Daniel Benjamin, a marketing analyst at Allied Business Intelligence, based in Oyster Bay, New York. "Fuel cells will provide a clean source of energy, but cost and technical issues will pose significant barriers". Despite this, he says that by 2011 there could be 200 million fuel cells of all sizes and capacities sold, powering everything from MP3 players to notebooks.

By then, we may be able to kiss our batteries goodbye, along with the eternal search for a power outlet to charge them -- although finding fuel may create another problem.

Topics: laptop, turion, battery performance, battery power, lithium ion, fuel-cell, centrino, battery, notebook, core duo

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Comments (15)

  • Doraemon Collection commented on 19/08/2009 13:29 Report abuse

    Actually, many factors affect the amount of time that a Laptop Battery can deliver power before it must be recharged. How to extend APPLE 661-2998 Laptop Battery life? Here are some more tips to improve your APPLE 661-2998 Laptop Battery slife:
    If you do not use your Laptop for extended periods of time (a week or more), remove the APPLE 661-2998 Laptop Battery pack from the Laptop.
    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.
    Make sure to plug your Laptop charger adapter into a UPS and not directly into a power outlet or surge protector.
    If you have a nickel-metal hydride battery, completely drain and recharge the battery once a month to maximize its capacity to hold a charge.
    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.
    For laptops that work as Desktop Replacement, the battery should be re-installed every 3-4 weeks and allowed to fully discharge.
    Leaving a battery in a Laptop while using an electrical outlet for long periods of time will keep the battery in a constant state of charging up and that will reduce the life cycle of the battery.
    http://www.laptopbatteryshop.com.au

  • lulu commented on 27/04/2009 16:58 Report abuse

    I would suggest the solution as using external laptop battery. I bought one

    from eBattery.com.au. ENB001 is one the best solution had even seen in my

    life. Pretty well designed battery with digital gauge and build-in usb port

    for $246. It works for me and may work for you too. Whenever have chance have

    a look at

    http://www.ebattery.com.au/outsource/outproduct.php/78+178+Universal%20External%20Li-Ion%20Laptop%20Battery+Universal%20External%20Li-Ion%20Laptop%20Battery.htm.

  • BatteryCharger commented on 06/03/2009 19:35 Report abuse

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    Laptops tend to lose their charm quickly when you%u2019re constantly

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    1. Defrag regularly
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    6. Run off a hard drive rather than CD/DVD
    7. Keep the battery contacts clean
    8. Take care of your battery
    9. Hibernate not standby
    10. Keep operating temperature down
    11. Set up and optimize your power options
    12. Don%u2019t multitask
    13. Go easy on the PC demands
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  • chandan commented on 23/01/2009 17:44 Report abuse

    it is very good

  • nick commented on 04/01/2009 20:53 Report abuse

    there are many laptop batteries there http://www.batteriesstore.co.uk

  • laptopbattery commented on 27/12/2008 01:28 Report abuse

    Welcome to online laptop battery store, we offer high quality laptop batteries: Sony laptop battery, TOSHIBA laptop battery, Dell laptop battery, Acer laptop battery, Compaq laptop battery, HP laptop battery ... ... ...
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  • duh! duh! commented on 15/04/2008 21:57 Report abuse

    The title was "all about batteries". Obviously, it will define all about batteries duh!

  • 1powershop commented on 07/04/2008 16:30 Report abuse

    NiCad, NiMH and Li-ion are all fundamentally different from one another and cannot be substituted unless the device has been pre-configured from the factory to accept more than one type of rechargeable battery. The difference between them stems from the fact that each type requires a different charging pattern to be properly recharged. Therefore, the portable device's charger must be properly configured to handle a given type of
    <a href="http://www.my-batteries.net/laptop-battery.htm>Laptop battery </a>

  • lory commented on 15/10/2007 11:36 Report abuse

    The Sony <a href="http://www.batteryfast.com">laptop batteries</a> cells are known to be defective.
    Lenovo will not gurantee us that we have cells that are not defective. In fact they have confirmed that our Lenovo battery packs have the same battery cells that are know to be contaminated. I am very upset that Lenovo is not doing a similar recall of the known contaminated cells!

  • tanch commented on 11/08/2007 02:24 Report abuse

    How to prolong the lifetime of battery?
    1)Reason:
    a.Charger or electro circuit can't be fit for the battery.
    b.Overcharge and overdischarge, etc.
    c.Battery can't comply with the charging requirement
    2)Solution:
    a.Use the original charger.
    b.Charge the battery after it automatically powers off , then full charge the battery.
    c.Avoid erroneous usage of battery, such as heavy pressure, short circuit, fall off and so on.
    more info:
    http://www.battery-store.org

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