Although often underestimated, the laptop battery is one of the most important notebook components. It is the battery that provides it with the greatest advantage over the desktop computer – mobility.
What Are The Different Types Of Laptop Batteries?
Laptop batteries are divided into several types.
First, the batteries could be:
- External
- Built-in
Second, longevity is divided into:
- Standard
- Extended – they have more capacity than the standard ones. When this capacity comes from extra cells the batteries are physically bigger than the standard ones..
5 Things We Need to Know
If you are looking for a new laptop battery, you need to consider the following:
Compatibility
Most laptop batteries are made for more than one model. There are also laptops that run on more than one battery. It’s confusing, isn’t it?
For this reason, we advise you to search for your new battery by product number, which is most often written in the upper left corner of the old battery.
If the battery product number matches, check the battery voltage. If it’s the same, then this is your battery.
Since the voltage is variable, you should know that batteries that run at 10.8V are compatible with those at 11.1V. Similarly, 14.4V are compatible with 14.8V.
Capacity
Battery capacity is measured in Milliamp hours (mAh) or watt hours (Wh). This indicator gives us information on how long the battery can last.
As already mentioned, there are standard and extended batteries. Extended can give you more time on a single charge.
If you work from home and have access to a charger at all times, a standard battery will work well for you.
However, if you travel often and have to work on the go, we recommend you to buy an extended laptop battery.
Materials
Laptop batteries these days are mainly Lithium-ion (Li-Ion) or Lithium polymer (Li-Po). They have an anode, a cathode and an electrolyte. The difference between Li-ion and Li-Po batteries lies in the electrolyte. In Lithium-ion batteries electrolyte is in the form of a liquid, and in the Lithium polymer batteries it is a gel or a dry substance.
There are also Nickel cadmium (NiCad) batteries and Nickel Metal Hydride (NiMH), but they are no longer used for laptops because they are heavier, less durable and have “memory effect”, which means that they must always be charged from 0 to 100%.
Brand
You can choose an original laptop battery or a replacement.
The advantages of the original battery over the replacement are that the manufacturers guarantee a longer life.
As a disadvantage we can say the price in the first place – if your laptop is an older model is not worth it.
In addition, some of the original batteries were manufactured years ago. In this case, you can observe a decrease in maximum capacity.
Service
Like any other technology, laptop batteries have a service life – this is the time when they will work optimally.
Battery life is measured in cycles – a certain number of discharges and charges. Most batteries last between 2 and 5 years or 500 and 1000 full cycles (drop to 0% and charge to 100%).
Exactly how long your battery will last is up to you. If you take proper care of it and do not allow it to discharge completely (up to 0%), it will last longer.
Note that after the battery has made 200 cycles, a drop of about 60% in maximum capacity can be observed.
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