Laptop battery

Tatty_

My new Dell Inspiron has arrived!

I have been told that to get the most out of the battery life, I should charge it for 6-8hrs initially and then let it discharge completely and do this a couple of times. Is this correct??

Also, could you give me your opinions on free wifi. If, for example I used my laptop in McDonalds, could I safely do internet banking?? I keep hearing that people would be able to see everything I’m doing, as the connection is unsecured, but I thought that if my security was up to date and the bank site is secure, this would be ok

Leopard

Leave it on charge for as long as possible, first time - overnight is good.

Performing online banking over an unsecured WiFi connection to the Internet is one of the most foolish things you could possibly do.

And when you get ripped off, your bank will say it's your own fault for being so negligent.

nomoneytoday

For my online banking I use a firewall, non-standard browser, and not windows.

An open wifi connection, on windows, using IE7 is probably the most "insecure" way of online banking...

daveyjp

kdst - for longer battery life when using the laptop use the battery, even if you are in the home. Recharge when it's not being used. If it runs out and need to use it plug it in for an hour or so then unplug it again and continue to use the battery.

Tatty_

Thanks for the replies. I won't do anything important when using free wifi :-)

daveyjp, although i'm a complete novice, I was thinking of taking the battery out when i'm indoors. I thought that this would make it last longer, but it seems you're saying this isn't the case???

Stephen_Webber

with regard to the banking, the connection between you and your bank is encrypted already (look for the padlock symbol in your browser). Using an encrypted wi-fi connection is just super encryption on top of what your browser is doing.

However, I would not connect to an unsecured wireless connection without some form of firewall on my laptop, as anyone could get into your shared files or it could open you up to receiving a virus.