Faulty Laptop

captaindaniel

I bought my HP laptop from BT Shop in November 2007. Now 17 months later I am having problems charging it- sometimes when I plug it in it will not charge and even when it indicates that it is plugged in the laptop will just die without warning. I know that it is out of warranty but am I unreasonable in thinking that it should last more than 17 months without these sort of problems? I have emailed BT shop tonight about the problem and will let you know their responce but am just wondering whether anyone else has dealt either with BT Shop or in general getting a laptop fixed outside of the warranty period and what the result of it was?

dacouch

Do you use the lap top with the battery in it while its plugged into the mains a lot?

captaindaniel

Yes... when I first got it I used to have it run off battery more but the battery life is now less than an hour on decent settings so tend to leave it plugged in.

Mierot

Hmmm... Sounds like it could be a combination of a run-down battery and a bad connection to the charger, or it could be turning itself off because it's overheating. Laptop batteries don't seem to last that long, so you probably just need a new one, if you want to be able to use it without it being on charge. Putting a laptop on top of ring binder seems to help the overheating a bit (at least with mine), but as to why it's overheating, I don't know. You aren't running the latest photoshop, MSN messenger and iTunes at the same time are you?

I have no idea about customer support, but they may just tell you the same as I did. Oh well, good luck!

dacouch

If you leave your battery in your lap top in all the time while you are plugged into the mains ruins the battery. I'm surprised it lasted as long.

Does the lap top work with the battery taken out and its plugges into the mains

You may have a new battery will fix it (Don't leave it in the lap top all the time when its plugged in though)

JeffUK_2

Don't listen to the naysayers!

I'm work in IT, we have 100s of HP laptops at our place, that are used as standard desktop PCs during the day (plugged into the mains, with the batteries in, no idea where people get the idea that this is dangerous from!) and used on the batteries at evenings and weekends, and on international trips. so we would have heard if the had dodgy batteries!

Almost all of them are more that 17 months old, and I remember one or two that have failed in the way you describe. Personally, this falls outside my expectation of reasonable quality; so I'd push for a refund. (we get business-class warranties and support, so no idea how this will go!)

captaindaniel

Thank you and I can't find anything in my manual which says not to leave the laptop plugged in whilst having the battery in. I have tried plugging it in without the battery and it won't even stay on long enough to load up so am thinking the problem is more likely to be with the charger or connector.

dacouch

JeffUK wrote: »

Don't listen to the naysayers!

I'm work in IT, we have 100s of HP laptops at our place, that are used as standard desktop PCs during the day (plugged into the mains, with the batteries in, no idea where people get the idea that this is dangerous from!) and used on the batteries at evenings and weekends, and on international trips. so we would have heard if the had dodgy batteries!

Almost all of them are more that 17 months old, and I remember one or two that have failed in the way you describe. Personally, this falls outside my expectation of reasonable quality; so I'd push for a refund. (we get business-class warranties and support, so no idea how this will go!)

Have a read of these links and then make your mind up, there is plenty more information on this on the internet or post the original post in the "Techie" forum and see what they say.

I only found out about this after my Toshiba battery went from lasting 60 minutes from new to 5mins after 10 months of using it with the power cable plugged in with the battery in. I have followed the advice on my new laptop which is a HP and the battery life has hardly decreased

http://www.batteryuniversity.com/parttwo-34.htm


http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?p=18783131&highlight=laptop+battery#post18783131

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=1498121&highlight=laptop+battery

http://www.computing.net/answers/windows-xp/laptop-battery-problems/162787.html

http://www.aztex.biz/tag/common-laptop-battery-problems/

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=1500981&highlight=laptop+battery

JeffUK_2

HP Sell docking-stations for laptops that only work when they're powered on and on the mains. Therefore, using laptops whilst they're on the mains is clearly something the manufacturer expect someone to do, i.e. it's normal use.

A laptop should not become unusable after 17 months of normal use!

Art_2

On my HP laptop there is no problem with leaving the battery plugged into the charger at all times. They say in the instructions this is OK to do. Once the battery is fully charged it simply cuts out until it needs charging again.

Regards,
Art.

dacouch

Thats weird as this is what my HP Laptop says about preserving your battery in the HP Help section of the laptop. It clearly says remove the battery from the lap top when on AC power to avoid short discharge cycles on your battery

How to Extend the Life of Your Battery

The storage capacity of the battery will degrade over time based upon usage of your notebook PC. This degradation is normal for all rechargeable batteries and is not specific to notebook PCs or HP products. If you run your notebook PC on battery power often, requiring one or more recharges per day, the battery will degrade faster and require replacement sooner than a battery that is used occasionally. Temperature and humidity also impact battery storage capacity. Store the battery and notebook in a cool, dry place.
Under normal operating conditions, a battery should perform well for over a year, but it will retain less charge each time it is recharged. HP Battery Check will provide a status of your battery and notify you when it needs to be replaced.

[URL="mshelp://"][IMG]mshelp://Help/?id=Microsoft.Windows.Resources.ExpandArrow[/IMG] Tips for maximizing battery life:[/URL]

• Lower the brightness on the display.
• Use the Power saver Power Plan.
• Purchase another battery to limit the number of re-charges on one battery.
• Remove the battery from the notebook PC when it is not being used.
• Store your Notebook PC in a cool dry location.
• Do not charge the battery for more than 8 hours.
• Remove the battery from the notebook PC when using AC power to avoid short charge and discharge cycles.

Note

• When storing a battery for a long period of time, it should be stored in a cool dry location with approximately a 50% charge on the battery. A battery stored with little charge remaining may discharge completely and not be capable of being charged again.

See Also

• [URL="mshelp://OEM/?id=hp.npc.lpPowerAndBatteryLearningCenter"]HP Power and Battery Learning Center[/URL]
• [URL="mshelp://OEM/?id=hp.npc.HPBatteryCheckFAQ"]HP Battery Check: frequently asked questions[/URL]

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[URL="shortcut:%25systemroot%25%5CHelp%5COEM%5Cscripts%5ClaunchFeedback.jse%20mshelp://OEM/?id=hp.npc.HowToExtendTheLifeOfYourBattery%201.0"][IMG]mshelp://help/?id=Microsoft.Windows.Resources.ShellExecuteTopicIcon[/IMG][IMG]mshelp://OEM/?id=hp.npc.hpInventSmall[/IMG] Send feedback to HP[/URL]