Archive for October 2011
How Do I Replace the Battery For Laptop Or Notebook?
If the charge in your laptop battery is dying out noticeably faster, you may need to replace it. Battery performance is affected by many factors like the environment, age and frequency of utilization.
Every battery has a certain number of charge cycles specified by the manufacturer and indicates the number of times you can charge it – this figure is around 400 – 1200 for a standard Lithium-ion laptop battery. Once this limit is crossed, the performance begins to deteriorate.
Depending on the devices available in the laptop and their usage, the battery might be able to power it for 2-3 hours before it needs to be recharged. Normal lifetime is in the range of 1.5 – 2 years. If you use the laptop continuously and recharge the battery several times a day; it may need to be replaced well before the time frame specified by the manufacturer.
These steps must be followed for battery replacement:
1. Buy a New Battery – Make sure you purchase a replacement that is compatible with your laptop.
2. Unpack the New Battery – Remove all packaging material and keep have the new battery ready to be popped in immediately.
3. Undock Laptop – If your laptop is connected to a docking device, you need to unlock it before attempting to replace the battery.
4. Turn Off Laptop – You may not want to lose any files you are working on or risk corruption of software, so it may be better to turn off the laptop.
5. Unplug AC Power/Internet Connection – It is a good practice to disconnect your laptop from the AC outlet, Internet and Telephone before replacing the battery.
6. Flip the Laptop Over – Most laptops have the battery release mechanism on the underside of the laptop. If you are not sure where you should look you can refer to the documentation of the laptop or have Technical support guide you.
7. Unlock and Remove Old Battery – Laptop batteries usually use a two-step locking mechanism, first there are latches that need to be released and then a sliding motion has to be performed to release it completely. Your documentation can be invaluable in this.
8. Position New Battery – Follow the reverse process for fixing the new battery. First slide and then latch the new battery. If the latches get stuck, you may need to adjust the positioning.
9. Charge Battery – Bring laptop to usual position; replace all the cables that you disconnected earlier, including the AC power. Charge your battery for the duration specified by the manufacturer before using it.
Gateway NV5331u 15.6-Inch Laptop Review
Specifications: The Gateway NV5331u is currently (at the time of writing) one of the most popular 15.6-inch laptops in the market. This is probably due to its great set of specs, nice design and reasonable price tag. This model comes with an AMD Turion Ultra M600 dual-core processor (2.4Ghz). Then there is the 15.6-inch HD display, ATI Radeon HD 4200 graphics card, and a set of stereo speakers (with Dolby Sound technologies). Some of the other standard features include the 8X DVD drive, multi-gesture track pad, 4 USB ports and a HDMI port.
Design: Although Gateway is famous for their budget-friendly laptop models, their desktops and laptops look anything but cheap. Gateway has a great design team and almost every piece of machine rolled out from them has a very professional and sleek look. The Gateway NV5331u sports a classical and curvy design. It measures at 3.97 x 16.6 x 12.4 inches in dimensions and weighs 5.84 pounds.
Features & Performance: The Gateway NV5331u is generally a great mid-range laptop model that is great for entertainment of work purposes. The HD graphic card will be perfect for anyone who often watches a lot of movies and HD videos on their laptop. The 4GB of RAM and the new i3 processor also lets you perform a variety of heavy tasks flawlessly. This model is powered by a 6-cell battery that can last up to 2 hours and 40 minutes on one full charge. At the moment, the Gateway NV5331u 15.6-inch laptop is retailing for just around $699 per unit, which is a great price for this set of specs.