Greetings: Batteries are something very near and dear to me since I am also an amateur radio operator.
Today's laptops still have very poor charging circuits. If you really care about getting the absolute maximum use from your batteries, then I would suggest looking for an external battery charger/maintainer. Charging a battery in a laptop that is already warm (or even hot) is terrible. Quality chargers tap into not just the standing voltage, but also the temperature of the battery, and time. It will stop or slow charging when the batteries temperature rises too high (or too quickly). My old gateway (Solo 1200) battery is still giving me about 1 1/2 hours of use even though it is 4 years old. I usually take it out of the laptop and let it cool after extended use, then, when it and the laptop are both cool to the touch, I plug the battery back in and let it charge. This is a poor person's way of getting the best performance from the battery. I haven't actually looked for such a (external) charger, but I know there are many companies that provide very versatile chargers and generic leads to charge everything from cell phone batteries to my amateur radio batteries. I've been looking around trying to find a good price for batteries, but so far, I haven't been very impressed with the pricing. Anyone have a good lead on the best place to buy batteries without completely draining one's bank account? Wishing you will (73) Jaye _____________________________________________________________ Linux.Net -->Open Source to everyone Powered by Linare Corporation http://www.linare.com/
