Laptop battery life

Carrera74

I wonder if you can help? I have a Compaq Presario CQ61 and when I started it up earlier it says that the battery needs replacing. I bought it new about 12 months ago. Is it normal for a battery to last this short time? My daughters lap top is 3 years old (another model) but her battery is fine. Not sure if this is normal or a fault with this machine?

KillerWatt

The battery on our eldest boys laptop (HP) went the same way, I suspect because he ran it on the mains all the time.
His replacement battery (genuine HP) gets power cycled at least once a week, and so far all appears to be well.

fwor

KillerWatt wrote: »

I suspect because he ran it on the mains all the time.

You may well be right there - but it does vary from make to make. When on the mains, my Compaq only charges the battery if it needs charging. As it's mostly used on the mains, the "battery charge" light is almost never on. It's around 5 years old with original battery, and it still has good capacity.

To the OP: there's very little you can do about it, as batteries are considered by most manufacturers as "consumables", and have only short warranties.

If the battery is a LiIon or LiPol, the best thing to prolong the life of the next one is to keep it cool and avoid fully discharging it too often. For those types of battery, there is nothing to be gained by fully discharging it regularly - it just shortens the battery life.

And as KillerWatt says, if the charging circuit in the laptop charges it all the time it's plugged into the mains, it may be worth removing the battery - though of course you are then more vulnerable to power cuts!

Hammyman

Carrera74 wrote: »

I wonder if you can help? I have a Compaq Presario CQ61 and when I started it up earlier it says that the battery needs replacing. I bought it new about 12 months ago. Is it normal for a battery to last this short time? My daughters lap top is 3 years old (another model) but her battery is fine. Not sure if this is normal or a fault with this machine?

Yes it is common for consumer grade laptop batteries to die within 12 months. Usually its because they spend most of their time being run off the mains and the battery is never cycled (run down until almost flat/flat then recharged).

Fwors advice on battery care is 100% spot on.