Showing posts with label battery. Show all posts
I'm free!!
Laptop computers are about mobility, but I've never been able to fully utilize this perk. I've had two laptops in my life, and both had tired, old batteries which means that I've been plugged in the whole time. Especially with this laptop, because the battery had about 20 minutes of life, but miscommunication between the battery and Windows made it so there was no warning when the battery went out. It just WENT. If the plug jiggled out of the jack or if I forgot to plug it in altogether, I would just lose whatever I was working on. Major suckage.
So when I came into a little extra cash, I researched a new laptop. This one weighs eight pounds, and the screen resolution is for watching videos which makes everything tiny, and a few other little quirks. But mostly, I was sick of the power issues from both laptops.
What I found was this: Laptops are expensive, y'all. Sure, I could get an el cheapo from Wal-Mart and compromise on features, but why get one that won't do what I need it to do? And my current one was top of the line when it was made (the original owner was a gamer) so it's still fast and relatively responsive. Yes, it's a behemoth at eight pounds. But it does everything I need, plus I've become attached to it, and I really don't want to have to change all my stuff over. So I spent a hundred bucks on a battery.
The communication issue must have been in the battery itself, because Windows recognized the new battery immediately. Yay, no more unexpected shut downs! No longer will the needle crash into the hard disc surface! Woo! I went unplugged for my evening Web surfing and got about 2 1/2 hours out of it, although I noticed watching videos suck the power fast, maybe 3x as fast. When I ran just Word and email, the power drain decreased to a crawl. I think if I could stay offline I could have a good 4-hr writing session on just the battery.
Although I haven't been off the couch with it yet, just knowing I can be is a good feeling. No I just need a bag that will fit Gigantor.
So when I came into a little extra cash, I researched a new laptop. This one weighs eight pounds, and the screen resolution is for watching videos which makes everything tiny, and a few other little quirks. But mostly, I was sick of the power issues from both laptops.
What I found was this: Laptops are expensive, y'all. Sure, I could get an el cheapo from Wal-Mart and compromise on features, but why get one that won't do what I need it to do? And my current one was top of the line when it was made (the original owner was a gamer) so it's still fast and relatively responsive. Yes, it's a behemoth at eight pounds. But it does everything I need, plus I've become attached to it, and I really don't want to have to change all my stuff over. So I spent a hundred bucks on a battery.
The communication issue must have been in the battery itself, because Windows recognized the new battery immediately. Yay, no more unexpected shut downs! No longer will the needle crash into the hard disc surface! Woo! I went unplugged for my evening Web surfing and got about 2 1/2 hours out of it, although I noticed watching videos suck the power fast, maybe 3x as fast. When I ran just Word and email, the power drain decreased to a crawl. I think if I could stay offline I could have a good 4-hr writing session on just the battery.
Although I haven't been off the couch with it yet, just knowing I can be is a good feeling. No I just need a bag that will fit Gigantor.
Thursday, February 25, 2010
Posted by Sherri Cornelius
