Archive for the ‘battery’ Category

 
02 06/11

HP’s Massive Battery Recall: What You Need to Know

Hewlett-Packard has recalled about 162,000 lithium-ion batteries used in its HP and Compaq laptop computers. The announcement, made late last week by HP and the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC), adds additional battery packs to a recall program announced just a week earlier.

Here’s a brief FAQ:

What’s wrong with the laptop batteries?

The recalled lithium-ion packs can overheat and rupture. They pose fire and burn hazards to consumers.

Have people been hurt?

Yes. Since May 2010, HP has received 40 additional reports of laptop batteries that overheated and ruptured. These incidents resulted in 7 burn injuries, one smoke inhalation injury, and 36 cases of property damage.

Which laptops are affected?

Certain battery packs shipped worldwide in HP laptops manufactured between July 2007 and May 2008. HP earlier recalled 54,000 defective batteries in May 2010, and 70,000 in May 2009. Just five percent of HP laptops included in the recall program contain defective batteries.

The CPSC site has a chart that lists all laptop model numbers and battery bar codes associated with the recall to date.

My laptop is on the list. What should I do?

Remove the battery from your computer and contact HP. The company’s validation process at its Notebook PC Battery Pack Replacement Program website will help you determine if your product is affected.

I checked my battery during one of HP’s earlier recalls, and it wasn’t on the list. Everything’s OK, right?

Not necessarily. Even if your battery wasn’t included in previous announcements, HP urges you to check again.

Looks like I have a defective battery. What’s HP going to do about it?

It’ll provide a free replacement battery pack.

I want to contact HP about this recall. How can I reach them?

Go to the HP Battery Replacement Program website at www.hp.com/support/BatteryReplacement or phone 888-202-4320 between 7 a.m. and 7 p.m. CT Monday through Friday.

Can I use my laptop without a battery?

Yes. Once you’ve removed the defective pack, use the AC adapter to power your laptop until a replacement battery arrives.

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23 03/11

New 3D Battery May Charge Phones in Seconds

Paul Braun and his group of experts with the University of Illinois have designed and formulated a 3D battery that might make it feasible to recharge cellphones in seconds as well as a laptop inside minutes.

The identical nanostructure could also be utilized to cost defibrillators, necessary in surgeries, without having loss of time amongst pulses.

Apart from the convenience of quick-charging mobiles, laptops along with other customer electronics, this nanostructure might help manufacture batteries that will shop a good deal of power, release it quickly and recharge swiftly hence, assisting innovation in electrical cars, health-related devices, lasers and military apps.

“This program that we’ve got offers you capacitor-like electrical power with battery-like vitality,” explained Braun, professor of materials science and engineering at Illinois.

Lithium-ion (Li-ion) or nickel metal hydride (NiMH) rechargeable batteries in use presently have problems with problems like:
1. Important overall performance degradation once they are quickly charged or discharged.
2. Substantial volume required to retailer sufficient cost for standard usage.

This new nanostructure can solve both these concerns resulting in not just a rapidly charge but batteries that very last significantly lengthier and get up considerably much less space by wrapping a thin film into 3D framework hence, attaining both large lively volume (large capability) and significant current.

Braun’s group has demonstrated battery electrodes that can charge or discharge in a number of seconds, 10 to one hundred times more quickly than present era bulk electrodes and nevertheless, can complete commonly in present gadgets.

Braun is particularly optimistic for your batteries’ possible in electric automobiles, which would slash charging time from 50 percent a day to a couple of minutes.

If this engineering does turn out to be commercially viable to become adopted for business gadgets, it could usher inside a new era of ultra slim units not only for use by standard public but also for products used by the military and medical fraternity.

One particular probable use that involves my brain is being able to use superior gear in ambulances to ensure that they could be of a lot more use from the subject decreasing threat of death by an enormous margin.

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07 02/11

How to maintain and handle a car battery

No battery can previous forever. Having said that, appropriate upkeep can provide it an prolonged life.

Each automobile has its battery placed beneath the hood and is also simple to spot. Most vehicle batteries are huge with both rectangular or square shaped bins linked with two cables. These cables need to be kept clear and corrosion cost-free. When you spot modest crystals or white powder on them, clear them up right away which has a wire brush.

When managing a battery, be really careful and use appropriate covering and garments, gloves and goggles. A torchlight must be made use of as opposed to a match when operating in the vicinity of the battery.

Swap off all probable electrical appliances. Your car or truck battery is likely to supply gases that are remarkably explosive.

The way you start and cease the car engine or the climatic alterations also play an essential aspect to determine the life span in the vehicle battery.

When your motor vehicle engine includes a starting up predicament, your could want leap starting up. Attach jumper cables to a doing work battery and then for your car?¡¥s battery.

The positive cable must be attached towards the favourable terminal with the “dead” battery and then on the optimistic terminal of your operating auto battery.

The negative cable need to be attached for the damaging terminal of your operating car battery as well as other stop to a metallic part of your automobile engine. Now you can commence your car engine with the assistance with the functioning battery.

Let the engine idle to get a while previous to switching around the headlights.

After you have done all this, you could start off your car with all the aid of your respective dead battery and get rid of all cables in reverse buy.

Be certain the clamps don’t touch one another when removing them.

Source: http://www.batterylaptops.co.uk

04 02/11

MiLi Powerspring iPhone 4 external battery review

The MiLi Powerspring four is usually a relatively robust battery(laptop battery) circumstance for the iPhone 4. The scenario homes a 1600mAh electrical power provide, which need to
properly double the iPhone’s battery lifestyle up to 360 hrs of standby time and across the six hour mark for calls and world wide web on 3G, or ten.6 hrs of video playback.

The Electrical power Spring is created from challenging plastic and features a break-open best that permits you to neatly slide the iPhone in and seat it to the jack at the bottom. Once the ‘lid’ is closed the case fits the iPhone 4 fairly snugly.

Regardless of becoming solid plastic and housing a battery, the Powerspring isn’t also cumbersome. It does not increase the iPhone’s proportions very much more than our regular rubber and plastic case, and also at only 66 grams it is not just a heavyweight bit of kit.

Electrical power management is handled inside of a somewhat interesting way. There is a button on the side of the circumstance which when pressed lights up a LED display.

You’ll find four lights in this show along with the selection that lights up when the button is pressed tells you the amount of further charge the Powerspring has left. One particular LED signifies 25 per cent or less, two LEDs for 25-50 per cent, and so on. This really is significant simply because when plugged as part of your iPhone will not show the more battery existence, it just reveals the amount of energy is left from the phone’s internal battery.

Charging the MiLi Power Spring requires all-around 3 to 4 hrs
in accordance to the manufacturer’s guidelines and makes use of a conventional micro USB plug so that you can charge from mains electrical power or a personal computer. While in testing, we uncovered the producer declare to be moderately correct.

The iPhone 4 Powerspring arrives in both black or white variants but for each there’s a selection of internal panel colours to select from, which looks a little odd cosidering this is certainly the component which the iPhone will cover up when in use. The black version can possess the within green, blue, grey or black, although the white model can have orange, grey, green or white, need to you choose some colour.

Functionally-speaking, the Powerspring does its work of holding the phone’s power boosted extremely properly and as described formerly it does not bulk the mobile phone out an excessive amount of in the practice. Although the situation feels moderately well-made it could possibly be ill-advised to depend on it like a protective cover – ought to an accident occur it likely will not maintain up quite very well, but then which is not what it is made for.

Total we uncovered the situation to be very useful because it does double your iPhone’s battery lifestyle, meaning you aren’t tied to wall charging pretty so much with the time. The only real criticism is that any inspirational appears it might have had from the color alternatives are largely misplaced while you truly set a phone into it.

At around £50 it really is not the cheapest accessory you may obtain in your iPhone nonetheless it undoubtedly does its job perfectly along with the substantial electrical power supply boost is extremely practical to have. Should you demand your iPhone to previous lengthier for no matter what purpose, it is really worth every single penny.

Source: http://www.batterylaptops.co.uk

21 01/11

5 things to know about electric vehicle batteries

The buzz out of Bloom Energy today about the latest strategy for its fuel cell energy servers (it will offer them “as a service”) underscores the importance of storage technology when it comes to green energy approaches. It resonated especially loudly with me since I just spent an hour on Wednesday afternoon listening in on briefing about electric vehicle battery technology, held by the Electric Drive Transportation Association. (The link I’ve provided will lead to an audio recording of that call.)

What, you may ask, do electric vehicle batteries have to do with energy storage? Well, pretty much everything when it comes to whether these cars will succeed or fail.

The focus of the call on Wednesday was on advances in lithium-ion electric vehicle battery technology, which isn’t a surprise based on the participating companies: A123 Systems, which makes the battery of choice for the Volvo C30 Electric and the CityCar, and Johnson Controls Power Solutions, which just started shipping batteries to Azure Dynamics, which is the technology company providing the drive technology for the Ford Transit Connect Electric Vehicles.

For perspective: Bloom Energy uses solid oxide in its fuel cells. Some of the other companies that are popping up in the energy storage space, such as International Battery, are focusing on lithium-ion; others, such as Maxwell Technologies, are hanging their hat on ultracapacitor technology.

Here are my key takeaways from the call:
1. The company car factor. Fleet adoption will be critical in the adoption of electric vehicles, according to Mark Wagner, vice president of government relations for Johnson Controls. That’s because economies of scale are needed to help spur cost reductions and continued improvements in battery technology.

2. Forget the heat and AC? One thing that very few people have talked about (to me at least) is how much energy vehicle climate control — heat for the stupid weather we are having in the Northeast right now and AC for the stupid humid summer we are likely to have. Andrew Chu, who is the vice president of marketing and communications for A123, notes that the heating system in a car can eat up to 6 kilowatts per hour, which will absolutely take away from your “capacity for mobility.” Blankets anyone?

3. Don’t forget safety. Where the battery sits in your car might be a consideration for performance and safety. A123, for example, thinks the best place for a battery is in the center of the car, away from the crumple zones.

4. Who will “buy” batteries? This one is particularly interested and there are a couple of dynamics involved. First off, they will degrade over time. So, while you might have 100 miles of range to start, you might have 70 miles over time. Will that be enough or will consumers need to replace batteries every few years, much as they might with the ones currently used to kickstart your combustion engine. It is anyone’s guess. Meanwhile, what happens to the old batteries. The executive on the call believes they will be reused. But who will take them back and where will they wind up and who will “own” them, given the environmental considerations of disposing of batteries? Charles Gassenheimer, chairman and CEO of Ener1, another company on the briefing, says used electric vehicle batteries might conceivably wind up as energy storage for the grid, which he contends is in sore need of storage technology. “Electricity is consumed as it is created. If you have any way of storing this on a large scale, you add a lot of robustness to the system,” he says.

5. Leave your impatience at the door. Electric vehicle owners who need instant gratification — aka, a fast charge for your vehicle in minutes rather than hours — will do so at the expense of battery life. So, those who expect the charging experience to mimic the fueling experience you get at your local gas station will be in for a rude awakening.

Source: http://www.batterylaptops.co.uk

15 01/11

Half the population have never recycled a battery

Half the population have by no means recycled a household battery, with numerous saying they just don’t know where to take them, according to the European Recycling Platfrom (ERP).

Around 40% of batteries are sold at Christmas – that’s about 10 per individual. It’s not surprising then that the beginning of a new year is when hundreds of tonnes of employed batteries could be making their approach to landfill.

Which? batteries expert Hazel Cottrell says: ‘When batteries end up in landfill they leak dangerous chemicals. ERP says that in 2009 only 2% of batteries had been recycled, so it is actually crucial we all recycle extra of them.’

If you are struggling to know how or where to recycle batteries, check out our essential recycling guide for ideas on the best way to recycle much more and better. We’ve also reviewed rechargeable batteries and single-use batteries, and recommend Finest Acquire batteries based on our thorough test results.
Recycling batteries

All shops selling more than 32kg of batteries every year must supply recycling facilities to assist reduce the number of batteries that end up in landfill.

However, our analysis shows that some shops are not usually following the rules, making it harder for you to recycle batteries. A Which? snapshot survey in November 2010 found that none of the four Poundland stores we visited had a battery recycling box. Of the four Lidl stores we visited, three lacked recycling boxes.

Poundland was ‘deeply concerned’ to hear our findings, which it could not explain and promised to investigate fully. Lidl said boxes had been stolen from two stores plus the box inside the third need to have been being emptied. You can read the full outcomes in our news story about battery collection.
Battery recycling targets

The law sets recycling targets at 25% of all batteries sold by 2012 and 45% by 2016.

Nonetheless, of those who don’t recycle batteries 45% said they didn’t know where to recycle them and 29% said they didn’t know it was achievable at all.

Just 2% said the main reason why they had by no means recycled a battery was that they don’t have time and only 8% said that they can’t be bothered.

http://www.batterylaptops.co.uk

12 01/11

Apple’s CES absence doesn’t blunt laptop presence

Even though Apple the business can be a standard no-show at the Consumer Electronics Show, its new MacBook Airs were there in force. And on the PC side of the ledger, plenty of attendees were packing Netbooks, too.

After traversing the acres and acres of show floor space at the Las Vegas Convention Center last week for three days, I noticed a trend among attendees. In the rare pockets of open space where men and women truly discovered space to sit down, I saw the new MacBook Air once more and once more (the wedge design of the new 11.6-inch and 13.3-inch models is pretty simple to spot). That was surprising to me, contemplating the new Airs were only released in October

I would bet that among the tens of thousands of CES attendees this year, the MacBook (including the larger MacBook and MacBook Pro) was near the top as the single most common line of laptops at the show. That’s just a guess, needless to say, but the empirical evidence was pretty strong.

That said, you are able to never discount the ThinkPad line, even so, which is prevalent internationally and has astounding staying power, especially among corporate types, who can still be seen with ThinkPads bearing the IBM branding.

Plus the oft-ridiculed (as in, “it’s too slow!”) Netbook. Any doubts I had about the popularity of Intel Atom-based Netbooks among the CES crowd were quickly laid to rest on Wednesday at the Venetian Hotel (where many meetings and events were held). There were so a lot of persons clutching Netbooks that I had to buttonhole a couple of to discover out what they liked about the ultrasmall laptop. To a individual, they said that it served its purpose: light, uncomplicated to carry around, and adequate performance for what they will need to do.

This trend also carried over to the Convention Center. Netbooks were simple to spot there too. As well as the design was also heavily promoted at the Microsoft, Intel, and Samsung booths. Which raises the question, will the iPad and other tablets definitely cannibalize the Netbook this year? Maybe not as a lot as some analysts believe. Long live the built-in physical keyboard!

http://www.batterylaptops.co.uk

29 12/10

Smartphone Battery Existence 101 Teaches The very best Strategies to Conserve On Energy

Smartphone consumers have already been tooting this horn for months (maybe many years) so It’s really next to nothing groundbreaking to say battery existence is really dumpy. All it takes is a minor net surfing, several apps here and there and your brand-new do-it-all gadget is currently exhausted. Smart cellphone owners have dreamed for a day exactly where there cellphone will very last days on the single charge, and while it might occur, shoppers for now are caught to examining evaluations for the greatest battery lifestyle. But you will find a few surprising approaches you’ll be able to stretch your phones energy earlier than its back again to your plug. All you will need is usually a tiny creativity, along with your mobile phone may possibly just last that long automobile trip.

For 1, this coming straight out of Client Reviews, retain your cellphone in an open area. Wise phones are continually working difficult to achieve maximum signal from your carrier, and that get the job done gets even tougher if you retailer it below layers. Keeping it in a very desk or compartment could keep it secure, but the further function the cell phone does to manage signal may be a drain.

A similar goes for when you are in a very low-signal natural environment. This happens a good deal at football video games and sporting activities, as significantly as in secluded regions. When your cellphone has a tough time connecting, it tries even more challenging, producing the battery drain faster. In case you know it’s going to become a headache simply to connect, be affected person and surrender for a very few hrs. Turn your mobile phone off, or switch to airplane mode for your short period. You won’t be connecting with individuals anyways. Also, the report continues, functions like Bluetooth, GPS and Wi-Fi are all useful, but are not usually needed. Only turn them on if you use them. They are genuine vitality eaters.

Auto-updating is often a cool feature on phones that make it easy for end users to get up-to-the-minute access to Facebook and also other social media, and preserve their apps operating swiftly. But these auto-updates use power, and are occasionally less necessary. Update objects oneself, and do it much less generally.

Your screen brightness can also get unnecessary battery life. Taking it down a number of notches may be helpful.

26 11/10

14 tips to save your battery

Whether you are a die-hard iPhone/iPod Touch consumer or an iPad owner entirely obsessed together with your refreshed iOS 4.2-powered tablet, there’s 1 factor every person needs ?a a lot more energy! But till you get an external battery pack or perhaps a portable car/travel charger (each of which will be huge around the iOS-obsessed user’s vacation wish lists), then exercising several techniques to save your self some juice can be a excellent thought ?a specifically if you will be out buying or stuck on a bus/train/airplane this season.

If you are tech savvy sufficient to know these ideas, contemplate this a reminder. If you are not, you could need to save this checklist. (Far better but, forward it to your iOS-packing parent/spouse/gf. You will want their devices juiced up and all set for that borrowing when yours dies, do not you?)

Retain your system absent from warmth: Neglect momentary drainage; prolonged publicity to sizzling sun or warmth could injury it completely.

Dim the display screen: Turning down the brightness of the exhibit could make a major big difference to battery lifestyle. It’s possible you’ll need to have loads of brightness in immediate daylight, but within a darker area or airplane cabin, there is no need to have. (Plus, it can annoy the passengers all-around you.)

Examine your phone’s rest settings, and shorten it as substantially as you can: It is a no-brainer. If your system does not ought to be absolutely on each of the time, then let it auto-sleep itself. That way, you will not neglect.

When probable, use Wifi as a substitute of 3G: Wifi is extra vitality effective for our devices than 3G info. Plus, there is no fear about exceeding your info limits.

Restrict e mail checking and/or calendar syncing, or superior nevertheless, set it to handbook: Fixed e mail or calendar checking is usually a vital evil for those who use their devices for do the job. But when you do not, look at shifting your settings. (Ask by yourself this: Do you actually ought to get individuals joke emails as swiftly as you can?)

?Flip off Bluetooth, Area Solutions after you do not need to have it: You understand all individuals cool geo-locating apps, like Foursquare, Mobcast and in many cases the built-in Maps app? They use GPS, and that could seriously dwindle your vitality. You could possibly basically opt for to not run them, but it really is ideal to just flip off Area Solutions when it is not needed. Similar goes for Bluetooth. Just getting that on, even when unused, can nevertheless faucet your reserves.

Shut off Vibrate in games: It really is one particular point to get somewhat shaky shaky after you get a call. It really is a different to get this heading off regularly all through a recreation. Yeah, it really is exciting. But so is added time battling individuals pigs or monsters.

Discharge your battery absolutely the moment within a though: Topping off your system is high-quality many of the time, nonetheless it helps your battery keep in peak conditon to utilize it up sometimes after which recharge it absolutely. Do it the moment every week as well as the moment a month, but be certain you do it. That alone will enable optimize its overall performance.

Swap to Airplane Mode when you do not need to have Online or calls (3G iPad/iPhone): If your system can not come across a sign, it can nevertheless regularly look for one particular. And that ends in a tremendous drain.

Doublecheck the music’s not on: You’d be astonished how generally I things my iPhone in my pocket, only to find later the mic/audio handle on my earbud acquired tapped and music continues to be enjoying for hrs. Or I pay attention to Pandora when a call arrives in, end the call and shove the system in my pocket, not recognizing that Pandora has resumed. (And Pandora, Slacker, the iPod app ?a all of them proceed to play even once the system is asleep.) I possibly ought to doublecheck the music is off – or quit sticking my system in my pocket.

Return to your homescreen when finished with an app: There is a principle that Safari, Maps as well as other geo-location or Internet-reliant apps proceed to talk if it really is nevertheless onscreen once the system is set to rest. To become trustworthy, I’m unsure if it really is real, but when you do not would like to get any possibilities, it’s possible you’ll would like to return to your homescreen earlier than placing the system on standby.

23 11/10

New cell phone designs aim to save battery life

More cell phones have a lot more characteristics and capabilities than ever — but usually the tradeoff is shorter battery existence. This can be specifically correct of smartphones. I understand several, several users of all kinds of smartphones, and it is uncommon that they get a full day of use out of a full charge.

So it is been fascinating to look at how cellphone producers happen to be adapting the style of handsets to extend battery existence. A couple of especially intriguing current examples come from Samsung.

Most smartphones characteristic vibrant, crisp, full touchscreen displays — which search actually good, and carry out quite properly, but call for a whole lot of energy. It would seem like overkill, from a usability and power viewpoint, to possess to flip in your smartphone’s complete display screen just to test the time or see in case you have any new messages.

That is why the Samsung Continuum — the newest addition on the Galaxy S sequence of Android phones — capabilities a smaller, committed, customizable “ticker exhibit.”

In accordance to YallStore’s examine in the Continuum, this ticker is actually a “customizable one.8-inch Super AMOLED committed secondary ticker exhibit that gives shortcuts and media playback controls, at the same time as alerts, RSS feeds and notifications. If you’d like to light up the ticker, you simply need to have contact the bottom sides in the cell phone with all the enable of Grip sensor.

“Both in the two displays are at 480×96 resolution. Samsung Continuum cellphone would be the initially cell phone having a committed ticker exhibit. Plus the secondary exhibit is just an additional display screen for additional usability and also to maximize multitasks in the machine.”

So when you generally just would like to test anything easily, you may configure your ticker exhibit to exhibit just that articles, without the need of getting to activate your full display screen. Laptop computer Mag reviews that you will discover benefits and drawbacks to this style and design tactic. Undoubtedly it will do the job superior for some cellular customers than other individuals.

And for element cell phone customers, the brand new Samsung Zeal cell phone delivers ample messaging and social media capabilities by a secondary management exhibit that employs low-power e-ink technological innovation (the exact same technological innovation behind Kindle’s e-reader display screen).

Mainly, the keypad dynamically alterations based on what features you happen to be working with around the cell phone. E-ink is nearly by far the most energy-efficient exhibit technological innovation readily available.

The Zeal can be a dual-hinge flip cell phone, so that you can very easily use the keypad and most important exhibit in both portrait or landscape mode.

Yes, the two of these style and design approaches may well appear somewhat weird — however they must the two enable phones run lengthier on the battery cost. Until you will discover vital enhancements in battery technological innovation at a realistic selling price, cellphone makers are heading to get to acquire additional resourceful regarding the marriage amongst kind and features so as to satisfy shopper expectations.