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5 minute "battery backup" on notebooks to allow fast main battery switching
April 23, 2007
59 Votes
Status: Archived
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I would like to see Dell notebook computers incorporate a small internal battery that would allow users to quickly swap out their depleted primary battery with a fresh one - without having to power off or hibernate the notebook first. Hibernation sometimes fails on resume (although far less often than Standby), and shutdown/reboot takes too long when you're in the middle of an important meeting. I've been told that Apple MacBooks allow you to swap out batteries without shutting down first.
Another alternative would be to have hot-swappable module device bays that would allow placing a secondary battery in the bay (in place of the optical drive). This is done on the IBM/Lenovo ThinkPad line of notebooks. If the notebook could run off the secondary battery while the primary battery was being swapped, that would be fine, too.
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Apr 29, 2007 Comment Link
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Posted By: hjwasson
I have never had Windows freeze or crash on me ever - as long as the power was off. ;~)" - LOL! Yes, I agree that the OS is highly stable in that power state!"After you hit the ON button, well - anything goes with windows..." - Ain't that the truth! I don't know why Windows (any flavor) is less stable than UNIX based operating systems (OS X & the many, many flavors of Linux - not to say that all of them are super-stable). Granted, the server versions of Windows are more stable - but their uptime is still counted in (hundreds) of days, where Unix based systems can be counted in years.
Apr 29, 2007 Comment Link
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Posted By: reg
Agreed - Delays are bad. I have never had Windows freeze or crash on me ever - as long as the power was off. ;~) After you hit the ON button, well - anything goes with windows...Apr 29, 2007 Comment Link
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Posted By: hjwasson
reg, if you would read the post in detail, you would understand the whole point is to avoid having to Hibernate or find a wall plug! Yes we can do that now, but it's a drag - especially if we're in the middle of a conference or an important meeting. If you're a travelling sales rep, and your battery begins to fail, every moment of delay makes you look like an idiot when you are trying to look your best. Which would you prefer in such a situation - taking 10 seconds to swap out that battery with a spare in your case, or two minutes to hibernate, swap, and boot back up again?What happens if you hit one of those rare times (less than 5%) when hibernation fails? Now you have to reboot, and you've lost everything you've had open, and have to start again. If I were a sales rep, my face would be burning with embarasment....
Apr 29, 2007 Comment Link
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Posted By: reg
Agreed - Good Idea - Good for people who can't read their own battery power indicator on the task bar. It is so easy to Hibernate your machine, swap battery, & awake. Easy to do, always works for me... Or just find a wall plug, and make Notebooks with no battery - most people work inside buildings, batteries are a complete waste of money and harmful to the environment.Apr 26, 2007 Comment Link
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Posted By: thejedimaster
GREAT IDEA! BROTHERS,CAN I GET AN AMEN!?Apr 24, 2007 Comment Link
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Posted By: premcv
OH, I didn't know about the Lenovo. Good technology.Apr 23, 2007 Comment Link
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Posted By: hjwasson
IBM/Lenovo has a multiple battery charger for their ThinkPads:http://www5.pc.ibm.com/us/uscat.nsf/$wwwpartnumlookup/_22P9040?opendocument&sourcesite=webcollage
This web page doesn't like dollar signs in the url - copy & past the whole line into your web browser
It will charge up to two batteries (one at a time, but you can have them both attached). It uses the power adapter from your laptop, so you couldn't use the same adapter to also charge your laptop at the same time. That's where your design concept is an improvement. I'm hoping for a reasonably priced Dell version for us Inspiron users - but it would need different battery connectors, since I've seen at least 3 Inspiron battery fittings.
Apr 23, 2007 Comment Link
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Posted By: jervis961
Yup, already voted on that one. Thanks for the link, sometimes things are hard to find . Wow 16 battery charger, that thing is huge. I like my idea better, and yours by the way.Apr 23, 2007 Comment Link
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Posted By: hjwasson
Sorry jervis! I misunderstood where you were going with your comments! I completely agree with you about the ability to charge the battery off of the power adapter, while you are using your notebook for other things! Dell does have these solutions for the Enterprise business Latitude line of notebooks, but not for their Inspiron lines: http://accessories.us.dell.com/sna/productdetail.aspx?c=us&l=en&s=bsd&cs=04&sku=A0706874This post is a request for a multiple battery charger for the Inspiron line:
http://www.ideastorm.com/article/show/66117/Small_External_Battery_Charger
You may wish to vote for that, as I have! Your battery dock idea is also excellent, in that it would allow you to charge up your notebook as well as the battery in the dock.
Apr 23, 2007 Comment Link
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Posted By: premcv
Stick people! :D1 2 Next