Universal Laptop Battery?

chrislo · 12-26-2007, 11:00 PM

I own a Toshiba Satellite Laptop and its normal battery doesn't last too long. I was wondering if anyone sells a universal laptop battery that can connect through the power jack on my laptop and power my laptop after the battery runs low? I think APC sells a similar product but I haven't been able to find it.

windowsvista · 12-26-2007, 11:01 PM

how long does it last?

chrislo · 12-26-2007, 11:18 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by windowsvista

how long does it last?

About a hour and a half at best. Just using the wireless card and surfing the web. The laptop only costed me $850 back when I got it in 2005 so I am not shocked they gave me a crappy battery.

windowsvista · 12-27-2007, 08:49 AM

it is not that is good time for surfing the net it is a good battery.

**The_Other_One** · 12-27-2007, 10:12 AM

With some tweaking you could probably extend the battery life a bit. Running at a lower clock speed, less cpu voltage, etc etc... Doing so greatly increased the life of my old Averatec laptop.

As for external batteries, I don't know of any right off, but it wouldn't be too difficult to make something. Every laptop I've used has a DC input, typically around 12-20v. If you found what yours uses then mocked up something, you could probably power it. Though your best bet may be to simply look around for original batteries. Sometimes you can find used ones that still hold a charge.

mrspeaker · 12-27-2007, 10:37 AM

Maybe recalibrate the battery 1st.

My 2year old hp laptop battery was lasting only 20 minutes.It went from 100% to 20% really quick and hibernated.Even though it's set at 3% to hibernate.

Now it lasts about an 1hr30min.Still sucks compared to the 3hrs it used to last but my 12 cell is almost here

Anyway,to recalibrate the battery,1st charge it up to 100%,then remove the power supply and let it die completely,meaning go into power properties and turn off the hibernate and turnoff stuff that it does when the battery gets low,,it has to actually die and turn off by itself..Mine was so out of wack it was at 0% for about 45 minutes..

Then you plug back in the laptop but dont turn it on,,just fully charge it untill the battery charge light goes out..

Done..

If it doesn't work it doesn't work,but it's free so try it.

Also,turning down the screen brightness helps A LOT,and turning off the wi-fi when it's not in use.

windowsvista · 12-27-2007, 11:01 AM

in the bios you should be able to reclabrate it

anothEr · 12-27-2007, 07:42 PM

I've seen the APC universal batteries at Compusa. I don't know if you have one in your city but they're going out of business where I am at. Try finding it online.

windowsvista · 12-27-2007, 07:45 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by windowsvista

in the bios you should be able to reclabrate it

have you?

chrislo · 12-28-2007, 10:20 PM

I have no problem changing setting in the BIOS, but will the changes have negative effects on my laptop? As for the battery I was talking about, I want something that just clips on to the bottom of the laptop and connects to the DC power port. When the standard battery goes dead it switches to that battery. I don't know much about the APC battery so if you have more information on it I would be grateful if you shared it with me. Thanks.

12-26-2007, 11:00 PM	#1 (permalink)
chrislo Silver Member Join Date: Jun 2007 Location: Lords Valley, Pennsylvania, USA Age: 21 Posts: 245	Universal Laptop Battery? I own a Toshiba Satellite Laptop and its normal battery doesn't last too long. I was wondering if anyone sells a universal laptop battery that can connect through the power jack on my laptop and power my laptop after the battery runs low? I think APC sells a similar product but I haven't been able to find it. __________________ Computer Spec's: Dell Dimension XPS Gen 4 Windows XP MCE 2005 SP2 (TV Tuner Card) Intel Pentium 4 CPU 3.46GHz (2 CPUs HyperThreading) 3 GB's of Ram 2 80 GB Hard Drives ATI RADEON X850 Platinum Edition 256 MB SB Audigy 2 ZS Audio One thing PC users can do that Mac users can't do...

12-27-2007, 10:12 AM	#5 (permalink)
The_Other_One Super Moderator Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: Lexington, NC Age: 23 Posts: 12,307	With some tweaking you could probably extend the battery life a bit. Running at a lower clock speed, less cpu voltage, etc etc... Doing so greatly increased the life of my old Averatec laptop. As for external batteries, I don't know of any right off, but it wouldn't be too difficult to make something. Every laptop I've used has a DC input, typically around 12-20v. If you found what yours uses then mocked up something, you could probably power it. Though your best bet may be to simply look around for original batteries. Sometimes you can find used ones that still hold a charge. __________________ Urban De-Development * Athlon X2 4200 \| 2048M RAM \| 160G HD \| 7600GT * C2D T5250 \| 2048M RAM \| 160G HD \| Intel x3100 * G4 1.33GHz \| 512M RAM \| 40G HD \| Radeon 9200

12-28-2007, 10:20 PM	#10 (permalink)
chrislo Silver Member Join Date: Jun 2007 Location: Lords Valley, Pennsylvania, USA Age: 21 Posts: 245	I have no problem changing setting in the BIOS, but will the changes have negative effects on my laptop? As for the battery I was talking about, I want something that just clips on to the bottom of the laptop and connects to the DC power port. When the standard battery goes dead it switches to that battery. I don't know much about the APC battery so if you have more information on it I would be grateful if you shared it with me. Thanks. __________________ Computer Spec's: Dell Dimension XPS Gen 4 Windows XP MCE 2005 SP2 (TV Tuner Card) Intel Pentium 4 CPU 3.46GHz (2 CPUs HyperThreading) 3 GB's of Ram 2 80 GB Hard Drives ATI RADEON X850 Platinum Edition 256 MB SB Audigy 2 ZS Audio One thing PC users can do that Mac users can't do...

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12-26-2007, 11:01 PM	#2 (permalink)
windowsvista banned Join Date: Nov 2007 Location: C:/windows Age: 14 Posts: 592	how long does it last?

12-27-2007, 08:49 AM	#4 (permalink)
windowsvista banned Join Date: Nov 2007 Location: C:/windows Age: 14 Posts: 592	it is not that is good time for surfing the net it is a good battery.

12-27-2007, 10:37 AM	#6 (permalink)
mrspeaker New Member Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: newark,nj Posts: 9	Maybe recalibrate the battery 1st. My 2year old hp laptop battery was lasting only 20 minutes.It went from 100% to 20% really quick and hibernated.Even though it's set at 3% to hibernate. Now it lasts about an 1hr30min.Still sucks compared to the 3hrs it used to last but my 12 cell is almost here Anyway,to recalibrate the battery,1st charge it up to 100%,then remove the power supply and let it die completely,meaning go into power properties and turn off the hibernate and turnoff stuff that it does when the battery gets low,,it has to actually die and turn off by itself..Mine was so out of wack it was at 0% for about 45 minutes.. Then you plug back in the laptop but dont turn it on,,just fully charge it untill the battery charge light goes out.. Done.. If it doesn't work it doesn't work,but it's free so try it. Also,turning down the screen brightness helps A LOT,and turning off the wi-fi when it's not in use.

12-27-2007, 11:01 AM	#7 (permalink)
windowsvista banned Join Date: Nov 2007 Location: C:/windows Age: 14 Posts: 592	in the bios you should be able to reclabrate it

12-27-2007, 07:42 PM	#8 (permalink)
anothEr Silver Member Join Date: Jun 2007 Posts: 145	I've seen the APC universal batteries at Compusa. I don't know if you have one in your city but they're going out of business where I am at. Try finding it online.