I've been trying to find a battery calibration mode for my notebook computer and I finally found it.
In the past my notebook PCs always had an area in the BIOS for battery calibration and testing. The one I have now does not.
So, what does the manufacturer have to say about calibrating the battery in my notebook?
Step 1: Fully charge battery.
Step 2: Turn off all power saving features.
Step 3: Leave computer on battery power until it runs out of juice.
Step 4: Plug it in and recharge the battery completely.
Um... Yeah... My computer manufacturer wants you to just run the computer out of juice to calibrate the battery. I don't know what to say. I'm used to calibration routines that allow me to watch the battery charge and discharge while telling me the amount of juice the cells can hold. The laptop I gave my daughter had a very nice system that would tell you exactly how many mah of juice the thing would hold. This one does not even tell me that! Yeah, I got what I paid for.
Comments
Lion batteries have no memory effect. It is better to partially charge them versus a full charge.
My understanding is that these periodic calibration tests have more to do with the laptop recognizing how the battery is doing so it can give you an accurate assessment as to how much power remains in the battery at any given time.
My ideal laptop battery controller would actually refuse to re-charge your battery until it drops below 50%, so I can run it plugged in most of the time, and do some activities on battery without causing a lot of extra charge cycles. I would also want a button to press to trigger a charge, so when I know I am going to be out and about for a long time I push the button to trigger a full charge without waiting for the 50% mark. Of course they will never do this, it is way to confusing for most users.
Also, so people know, we tried to get James on the show to talk about batteries, but he denied us.
I would unplug it once it completes charging and then run it on battery but then I would also want to have a spare battery with a full charge in it in case I have to go somewhere. I would be very pissed if I got up to go somewhere and my battery was under 50% charge. Why can't they build in a software setting where you can tell the computer not to charge the battery (even if plugged in) unless it hits a certain threshold?
As usual, the behavior of the battery is programmed based on the best interests of the marketing folk, not the best interest of the battery chemistry.