Laptop Batteries (In General)

[Reloadron]

Recently Zambini started a thread "New battery is "incorrectly installed" and rather than comment in the thread I thought I would start a new thread. Today's laptop battery is a far cry from the battery of just a few years ago. Sony laptop with a Sony battery, maybe a Dell laptop with a Dell battery and when we need a battery we gasp as in what the hell cost so much? Then we look to places like 'Batteries R Us" as an alternative economical source.

Then comes the theory of how Sony, Dell, (hell pick one) are screwing us. Just like the print cartridge game. This is sort of a half truth.

The problem is why Zambini or (insert name) gets an error and what generates the error. Enter the "Smart Battery". We have smart HDDs, and we have smart Graphics Cards (GPUs), and we have really, really smart motherboards so why not a smart battery?

We love all these really cool (no pun intended) little programs that monitor our CPU and GPU temperatures as well as fan speeds and seldom question where the data comes from or how it actually works. Today's laptops have a cute little graphic display frequently in the taskbar with an image of a battery showing power level. Enter the smart battery!

Beyond a combination of series and parallel cells neatly configured in a plastic case there is more to the battery. Go figure huh? These batteries have a circuit card with a few tiny chips. Commonly called hardware monitoring chips. Their sole function in life is to look at battery voltage and more important battery temperature.

Battery temperature is a key element in battery charging. If temperature runs away bad (read really bad) things can happen. Things like explosion as battery releases gasses or subsequent fire.

Now I don't for a moment believe Dell ever built a monitor in their lives anymore than I believe Sony or Dell actually manufactured a battery in their lives. They contract that stuff out. They have hardware built to their specifications. They pay a manufacturer to meet their specifications to make a product. In the case of a battery they pay the manufacturer to place a hardware monitoring chip in there that their software can read. They base their warranty in part on those specifications.

When the software can't read from the SMBus (System Managment Bus) it will throw an error. That error is among the errors Zambini (and countless others) sees. That is how the error is generated.

Now personally, and just my take on this. I generally buy Canon print cartridges for the Canon printer and HP for the wifes's printer. No big deal as printers are cheap and I could just as easily use generic crap. Matters not really. I however, look at the laptop differently. I don't have an issue with "Batteries R Us" as long as their battery meets or exceeds manufacturer's specifications. Beyond that I will pay an additional $50 + because I can't easily replace the house or contents for $50 and choose not to argue with State Farm because I was stupid.

When purchasing batteries for laptops be sure the generic replacement meets or exceeds manufacturer's specifications.

Just My Take
Ron