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Laptop battery usage question.. please read!

J

JutTG

Member
Ok, what I need to know is, is it possible to charge your laptops battery, and still be using power FROM THE BATTERY at the same time? If yes, does it depend on the laptop, or is it possible for all laptops?

Another question... If I have a battery in the laptop, but then I have the laptop connected to a AC outlet at the same time (currently running off the AC outlet's power), If I unplug it from the AC outlet, will it still run off of the battery's power? Or will it turn off?

I ask the first question because, I plan to have my battery charging at all times in my car, through the cigarette lighter, so if I turn the car off or on, start the engine and what not, the laptop would still run. The second question is because, if I cant do the first option, If I run the laptop off of the power of the cigarette lighter/AC converter, but then turn the car off, and the battery is in, will it still run or shut off?

If ANYONE can answer these 2 questions, I would appreciate it.
 
1) It can't be done that I know of. If you got the laptop on AC power, then that is what it's going to use first and not the battery.

2) It would still be on. Once the laptop senses there is no AC power, it would switch right to the battery.
 
1) Yes you can do that if i understand you correctely. I think you are saying that if you connect the battery to the power can you still have the batteries charging while you use the computer? If that is what you are saying then yes, at least my dell does that. What it does is it takes some of the AC power to change the battery and some to run the laptop.
 
computer89, Yes thats what I mean...

Like, if I have the battery in, and the AC in.. It would charge the battery and run the laptop at the same time.. If all laptops do that, that is GREAT. But, its also good to know, the laptop wont turn off if there is a battery in it and I start the engine. Good news.
 
Yes, - I am on my 4th laptop - and all of them charge the battery if they are plugged into A/C and I am using the computer. It's rather evident - there is always battery loss even when the system is OFF - and when you plug in and turn on - the charge LED shows yellow then turns green when it has reached "full."

Yes - momentary power lapses, even at home, do not interrupt the computer. It instantly switches to battery and keeps on keeping on. In effect, the battery in a laptop is like a UPS.
 
Originally posted by: corky-g
Yes, - I am on my 4th laptop - and all of them charge the battery if they are plugged into A/C and I am using the computer. It's rather evident - there is always battery loss even when the system is OFF - and when you plug in and turn on - the charge LED shows yellow then turns green when it has reached "full."

Yes - momentary power lapses, even at home, do not interrupt the computer. It instantly switches to battery and keeps on keeping on. In effect, the battery in a laptop is like a UPS.
Click to expand...

JutTG, corky-g posted just what I would have said, I've experienced the same results w/ 3 Dell lappys, hope this helps 🙂
 
I agree - laptops almost behave like a UPS w/o the surge protection...

One thing I will say though, is that if you are running the unit from a car charger, although the battery will still charge it does so at a much slower rate than if the machine was running from AC power.

It was an old toshiba notebook that I base the above on - it may be that newer machines (having lower power requirements) may charge just as quickly.

Incidentally - it was slower even if it was connected to an inverter (providing 240v from a car electrical system).

Just my .02

Ph0.

Oh yeah - and it's also common knowledge that even on normal AC power - any laptop charges quicker when you're not using it.
 
PH0ENIX has some good points.

What you want to do should work, but charging from the car will be slower.

Infact, something I noticed with an older laptop (pentium 233, about 4 years old) was when running off the inverter in the car, when I took it out of the car later, and tried to use it, my battery was completely drained, but it had been charged before I used the laptop in the car, and obviously didn't charge while in the car. 🙂

Hopefully you won't have this problem. The laptop still worked fine, even without the battery in it, but a loss in power would have shut the laptop down. Maybe give it a try before you put the whole system together.
 
All good points, guys! Just an added thought or two - a couple of years ago, a Canadian comoany developed a high capacity pad as a long range backup battery for laptops. It looked promising and got good reviews. It was called "Electrofuel." It has disappeared and this says discontinued. Anyone know the story?

Link

Another way is to use the cigarette lighter adapter plug and run directly from the car battery. In this vein, there are solar cell trickle chargers which can keep the car battery up when out in the boonies for extended periods of time with no A/C/ access. That combo can extend the life of a laptop on a camping trip, trail ride, etc.
 
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