Laptop batteries

[colinB]

Anyone know where to get a genuine battery for a laptop. I nee one for my samsung notebook but i an only find copies.

[Stratmangler]

This place any good? http://www.laptopshop.co.uk/cheap-samsung-laptop-batteries-br1.htm

[colinB]

Thanks but they dont have my model.

[dave2010]

Anyone know where to get a genuine battery for a laptop. I nee one for my samsung notebook but i an only find copies.How old is your laptop? In my experience after a few years original manufacturers give up making/supplying batteries. If it's under 5 years old you're in with a chance, otherwise you'll probably have to look to third party suppliers, or even look for good used ones on eBay or elsewhere. Eventually laptops die, and unless you're really fond of them, it's time to move on and send them to the tip or a museum!

[colinB]

2 Years. a I would like another, one with an optical out but i keep getting distracted by the tablet market. i like the idea of throwing music to the hifi using a touch screen remote. But im currently enjoying using the samsung with a HRT streamer through the usb.

[goraman]

There after market but I have had good luck with AGPTEK after market batterys.
I get mine from novapcs on ebay.
There cheap and I have used them in 2 laptops and they last years and you can even get extended life times in 9+ cell options.
Would this work?
http://www.ebay.com/itm/9-Cell-Battery-Samsung-NC10-10-2-Mini-Notebook-ND10-NC20-N110-AA-PB6NC6W-/140609064736?pt=Laptop_Batteries&hash=item20bcf40f20#ht_1875wt_1344

[Canetoad]

My personal favourite is to stomp up and down on them in heavy boots till they dissintegrate, but that's just me. :)

[MartinT]

Very hard to get originals for many models. We use laptopshop a lot and the batteries seem fine.

[bobbasrah]

Have you considered stripping down the existing battery casing to replace the cells? Fiddly dismantling job, but inside they are usually a bank of standard available units....
The casing can be reaassembled and plastic welded afterward or glued.

[nat8808]

How old is your laptop? In my experience after a few years original manufacturers give up making/supplying batteries. If it's under 5 years old you're in with a chance, otherwise you'll probably have to look to third party suppliers, or even look for good used ones on eBay or elsewhere. Eventually laptops die, and unless you're really fond of them, it's time to move on and send them to the tip or a museum!

That's daft.. the world isn't an infinate resource for starters. Secondly did you used to throw portable radios or torches away once the batteries died ? No, you changed batteries. How the consumer society has changed people!

It's odd because if you know batteries are single use, you expect and are happy to change them. When batteries are multiple use, when they finally die and stop responding to charging the whole item gets replaced.. Almost as if the average human mind can't cope yet some people managed to get us to the moon and back.

And laptops rarely die.... hard drives die, granted, the heatsinks get covered in dust so they have to work overtime to keep cool (who would throw something away just because of dust?), screens get smashed through carelessness perhaps, screen inverters do go but can be replaced for about £6 (as I just replaced on my recent recycling revival). That's about it.

[goraman]

That's daft.. the world isn't an infinate resource for starters. Secondly did you used to throw portable radios or torches away once the batteries died ? No, you changed batteries. How the consumer society has changed people!

It's odd because if you know batteries are single use, you expect and are happy to change them. When batteries are multiple use, when they finally die and stop responding to charging the whole item gets replaced.. Almost as if the average human mind can't cope yet some people managed to get us to the moon and back.

And laptops rarely die.... hard drives die, granted, the heatsinks get covered in dust so they have to work overtime to keep cool (who would throw something away just because of dust?), screens get smashed through carelessness perhaps, screen inverters do go but can be replaced for about £6 (as I just replaced on my recent recycling revival). That's about it.
Most laptops die with in 5 years or sooner if they are used daily as the tin solder inside the chips fail. A good laptop is good for 3 years a Think pad is good for 5 to 6 years due to mil spec boards.

[nat8808]

Most laptops die with in 5 years or sooner if they are used daily as the tin solder inside the chips fail. A good laptop is good for 3 years a Think pad is good for 5 to 6 years due to mil spec boards.

Really?

My everyday (pretty much leave it on all day every day) Sony Vaio is going strong from around 2006 with no signs of problems (ok, SMART warns me that the HD may fail soon - HDs are the first thing to fail in my experience).

I also have these which I've found in the recycling and either passed to friends or still have - all are going strong:

2 x Dell Inspiron 510m - from 2004. Have now merged both into one machine as the case of the better spec one was mangled by the owner to get to the HD drive. Now in everyday use.

Sony Vaio from 2004 going strong and in everyday use by my mother..

Apple Powerbook G4 from 2006 going strong after rebuilding into another case (owner mangled it to get the HD out).

Toshiba S3000 X4 from 2003 still going strong but not in everyday use (just too slow for today's internet).

Dell Inspiron from 1999 (old work PC) still working after probably 7 years everyday use and then occasional use.

Toshiba Satalite Pro from 1996 still works after 5 or 6 years continual use and then occasional use (now actually never used..).

- I can only go on my personal experience but I have NEVER had a laptop die, ever! I've had to recover hard drives, this month was the first time I've replaced a screen inverter board, I've replaced my GF's iBook screen (still going strong from 2003) because it was dropped.

In 1996 no-one died, in 1997 no-one died, in 1998 no-one died.. I mean I could go on.. yeah? In 1999 no-one died...

In 2011 some ONE died - the case donor for the G4 above but that was because I put the wrong screw in the wrong place and made a small hole in the motherboard ( :doh: )

I may have laboured this point.... :)

[nat8808]

People should read Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintainance..

One small example of what he's trying to say through out the book is of his neighbour and his new BMW motorcycle. When out on the road it breaks down and needs a new part.

M Persig (the author) takes a look at what's wrong and the part is basically a shaped metal part so he takes a tin can and manages to cut a rough shaped part and could fix it there and then.

His friend however can't get past the idea that his motorcycle needs an object called a "Special BMW Motorcycle Part" and what M Persig has, all he can see is, a "Piece of a Tin Can" ... he can't get past those categories instilled in his mind and actually see what, in the real world, these two objects are.. both shaped pieces of metal.

So the friend stays behind, ends his weekend of riding and calls a mechanic to take him and his bike home.

Very much the same way most people think today, a detachment from the reality of life and stuck in an accepted process : Something stoping working in any way = replace the whole thing for something brand new.

Often then people look around for 'evidence' or dogma (e.g. laptops DO need replacing every so and so years because of x, y and z) that support their view that things can't be fixed and must be replaced else they'd have to face some radical re-evaluation of life.. (which might lead them to depressingly conclude that their working life was all a waste of time and effort too.)

[MartinT]

In our experience laptops just naturally become incompatible with new Operating Systems. I still have my beloved HP TC1000 tablet computer dating from 2002 (yes, way before Apple tried to rewrite history) and I've even put a new hard disk in it, upgraded it to 1GB and put Windows 7 on it, but unfortunately there are no touch-screen drivers for it. It works fine from the keyboard.

http://pencomputing.com/images/hp_tc1100_notebook.jpg

We also find that IBM/Lenovo ThinkPads pretty much go on forever.

[nat8808]

That's a cool old PC!

I bought a Sahara Slate PC for cheap to see if I can sort out its problems - a proper tablet with no keyboard, 13" or so. Again pre-dating these cheap me-too iPad things (think this Slate PC would have been around £2000 when released). I guess the iPad (as all Apple now) is about software.

(P.S. Apologies to everyone if my above posts were over the top! Was in one of those late-night, coffee'd up, trying to get things done but getting no-where, constantly distracted by forums moods!)

[Macca]

It's been a long time since I heard anyone reference 'Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintainance' - must re-visit it. :)

[nat8808]

It's been a long time since I heard anyone reference 'Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintainance' - must re-visit it. :)

I'd forgotten about it too until I noticed someone's signature on Vinyl Engine that was apt for hifi (and especially this forum):


"The test of the machine is the satisfaction it gives you. There isn't any other test. If the machine produces tranquility it's right. If it disturbs you it's wrong until either the machine or your mind is changed." Robert M Pirsig

[Macca]

yep that really works :)

[sq225917]

Most electronics with big IC's fail through thermal cycling, the more you leave them on the longer they tend to run, as backed up by manufacturer data. Unless you have a very strange laptop, something teeny tiny, the battery block will simply be made up of 18650 LiFepo battery cells, usually 6, my Dell has the 8 stick version that pokes its bum out the back of the casework. I replaced all of them 2 years ago with new, it was a simple job, pry the battery case open and solder new ones in place. Just make sure they are all fully charged first and all the same brand and hopefully same batch, otherwise they can sometimes fail to charge balance.

(I'm a bit of a battery power geek)

http://www.dealextreme.com/p/soshine-protected-18650-3-7v-2800mah-lithium-batteries-with-case-black-2-battery-pack-28678

[MartinT]

That's good info, Simon - thanks. We often come across students with older laptops and the battery packs can be very hard to source.

[nat8808]

Yes, thanks Simon for that.

I've noticed the cells in Farnell catalogue for example and had had the same thoughts that it could be done yourself but never got down to it - Pretty much all my laptops need to be plugged in or last 20 mins max.

Now, is that the same for Li-ion battery'd power tools? I've been meaning to get hold of a dead Li-ion battery from say a Makita and see if it can be refurbished. Again, when the battery stops charging and the owner sees the price of an official replacement, they end up throwing the whole thing away because they think it's better value to buy a whole bundle of drill plus batteries.. all they probably need to do is replace the internal battery parts for say £30 and some new contacts on the motor (and scrape off the plaster!).

[nat8808]

Most electronics with big IC's fail through thermal cycling, the more you leave them on the longer they tend to run, as backed up by manufacturer data.

This is what I learned when working for a industrial computer company. I guess that's also why NASA are able to keep such old control consoles etc going for seemingly ever - constant temperature control.

It is also my instinct for hifi but then you have to balance it out with the heat effecting the life of the capacitors.. In some equipment though, like my Tandberg 3001 tuner, the ICs are obsolete so I keep it on - I can replace caps any time. Rare DAC chips and control chips should also be treated the same.

I think the Meridian M1s of H Popeck have probably been switched off about 3 or 4 times in their entire lives and never needed repair (maybe a re-cap once). Certainly as a kid I remember being told in no uncertain terms that no equipment of his was ever to be switched off.

[MartinT]

Yes, it's the same reason that I keep my system on except when I'm away on holiday.

[shabby64]

Does "on" mean fully powered up or would "standby" suffice in this context?

[MartinT]

With my system there is no difference since there are no standby settings. However, I would think that standby may preserve life over fully switched off since at least some of the circuits remain powered.

[nat8808]

Often standby in proper hifi is designed to maximise life, save warm-up time etc.

My amp has standby which I think just disconnects the speaker terminals.

One valve pre I have also has standby but I wouldn't leave valve gear on as that will just age the valves.