However, if someone cancels because they fear they might be delayed, it is less clear cut over who has to pay to recover costs.
Kelly Neale, 46, a teacher, is due to travel to Lille on Wednesday with her husband Peter and his mother, who is in her 80s.
They do not want to put Mr Neale’s mother under unnecessary discomfort by travelling if there is such a high risk of delay.
But having already spent £781 on three nights’ accommodation in Lille, they do not know whether they will get their money back if they voluntarily elect not to go.
Mrs Neale, from Amersham in Buckinghamshire, said: “Eurostar has not said anything about the hotel packages booked through the Eurostar website.
“I have been ringing and ringing but they said due to the volume of calls they couldn’t take my call – it is a shambles.”
Other alternatives for getting across the Channel include taking a ferry or catching a flight.
Attempts at the former were hampered over the weekend by the closure of the Port of Calais, but ferry services were restored by yesterday (sun) afternoon.
Many people stranded in France have opted for flights back to the UK, but face expensive bills to get home.
John Wright, celebrating his 50th birthday with his partner in Paris, was supposed to return home on Saturday, but eventually paid for an easyJet flight back to Bristol on Sunday night.
Flights were still operating at London Heathrow and Gatwick yesterday, but there were delays at Manchester, Bristol, Belfast and Inverness airports.
Airlines were warning that due to the time of year, it could prove very difficult to find last minute flights.
'Thousands of Eurostar passengers face another day of being stranded after the company announced services would be cancelled for at least another day as further snow is forecast to fall in northern France'
After thousands of passengers were left stranded when the company cancelled all services over the weekend, Eurostar said trains would not be operating at all on Monday, leaving the travel plans of many in chaos.
It did not say when services would resume, after its chief executive, Richard Brown, admitted he did not know when trains would be running again.
After a weekend of confusion, passengers were told they the company would "cover the cost of out-of-pocket expenses" for anyone who had been "unable to travel over the last few days".
With five days until Christmas, it is a peak time for travel on Eurostar, with 20,000 people due to cross back and forth underneath the Channel each day.
Engineers from both Eurostar and Eurotunnel spent the weekend investigating the rolling stock and the track to work out why five trains broke down on Friday night.
A Eurostar spokesman said screens and shields fitted to the trains to stop snow getting into the electrics had failed and needed to be improved after the “acute” wintry conditions in northern France caused snow to build up underneath the trains.
"We have already started making the modifications and to ensure that these new protection measures work effectively we are conducting a further series of test runs (on Monday).
"Our priority is ensuring that when we resume services we provide our customers with a robust and reliable operation.
"We sincerely regret having to take this decision and we understand how frustrated and disappointed travellers will be, particularly those who have been waiting to travel for the last two days."
More than 2,000 passengers were trapped for up to 16 hours, many without food, water or light.
The company "strongly advised" passengers whose travel was considered "non-essential" to change their booking to a later date or claim a refund on their tickets.
When the trains entered the tunnel – which at 77 Fahrenheit (25C) is significantly warmer than outside – the melted snow and condensation worked its way into the electrics and caused a fault.
Three trains operated to try and clear the backlog on Saturday also struggled with the extremes in temperatures.
Richard Brown, chief executive of Eurostar, was unable to give assurance over when trains would run.
“I can’t guarantee our service will be working because we have suspended the service again until we get to the bottom of what happened on Friday night,” he said.
“We will not start services again until we are sure we can get them through safely.”
He conceded that trying to clear the backlog of passengers trying to use Eurostar was likely to last over the festive period.
“When we resume service it's going to be very busy, we're not going to be able to carry everyone who's booked during this week.
“We will give a full refund, of course, to anybody who decides not to travel, until the service is returned fully to normal and we have carried the backlog of passengers, so certainly up until Christmas.”
While Eurostar insisted the incident was unprecedented, it appeared to shift the blame for the poor handling of the stranded passengers onto Eurotunnel.
Scores of passengers told how they were left for hours without being told what was happening.
Mr Brown said Eurostar could not communicate with its trains while they were inside the tunnel.
“It is actually Eurotunnel who are the tunnel operator, who are in charge of everything in the tunnel – of the infrastructure in the tunnel, who arrange the evacuation
“They are the operators of the infrastructure. All of the communications systems are through Eurotunnel.”
Although he said he was not trying to blame Eurotunnel, Mr Brown said: “We will be having a very, very thorough and at times pretty rigorous review – together with Eurotunnel – as to where the standard procedure didn’t work.”
Eurostar said it had made emergency arrangements for 500 of its "most vulnerable" passengers – elderly and children – caught up in the chaos to travel to Dover and onto France by ferry.
It added that said no arrangements had been made to transport Britons stuck in France.
Ferry operator P&O said it was helping passengers affected by the cancellation of Eurostar services by laying on a fleet of coaches to get them across the Channel and on to Paris or Brussels.
"Passengers who haven't been able to use Eurostar have been coming to Dover under their own steam by domestic rail services," spokesman Chris Laming said: .
"To avoid them having to spend a night at terminals in either Calais or Dover, we're putting on these coaches to enable them to get across the Channel and get on with what they want to do.
"At one point we had 500 Eurostar passengers at Dover and at Calais. We've spoken to Eurostar about this arrangement and they've agreed to pick up the tab and we'll certainly send them the bill."
With Eurostar in disarray, Eurotunnel continued to operate its car service – Le Shuttle – as normal.
Spokesman John Keefe said one service had broken down for an hour on Friday night but the problem was unrelated to Eurostar.
He said services had been disrupted by the bad weather on both sides of the Channel and motorists struggling to reach the trains, but were running a normal service.
Asked about the engineering problem of Eurostar, he said: “They are completely different trains.
“Our trains run around a loop from Folkestone to Calais, they run in a different way.”
Between 5,000 and 6,000 cars were expected to use Le Shuttle yesterday and passengers were advised to give themselves extra time because of the bad weather.
‘For good old-fashioned charm, look no farther than the west coast of Barbados, says Justine Picardie’
Cocktail hour at the Coral Reef Club and the guests have gathered, as is traditional, for a weekly drinks party at the owner's house in the grounds of the hotel. They have left an English winter behind them, but the storm clouds of recession are global and you might expect some indication of that, even here, among the moneyed classes who return every year to the glittering western shore of Barbados, otherwise known as the PlatinumCoast. However, the talk is of golf, the weather, of grandchildren and grouse shooting – the genteel conversations that have been had at the Coral Reef Club for more than 50 years, ever since Cynthia and Budge O'Hara first arrived as a young couple, to run the hotel for its English owner, an ex-naval officer.
There is much about Barbados that has changed since its day as a British colony, but as the gin and tonics clink, you can still see why the island became known as Little England, or Bimshire (the origins of which are obscure). Unlike other Caribbean isles, fought over by a variety of invaders, Barbados was under uninterrupted British control from the first landing of sailors in 1625 until the coming of independence in 1966. There seems to be an even greater concentration of cricket pitches and polo fields here than in the Home Counties, and the place names, like the architecture, are testament to its colonial past (Chancery Lane, Clapham, Hastings, Scarborough). In 1700, a visiting French priest described the prosperous capital, Bridgetown, as "handsome and large, with straight, long streets… the houses are well built in the English taste, with many glazed windows, and magnificently furnished; in a word, it has an air of neatness, politeness and opulence which one does not find in other islands and which it would be difficult to meet with elsewhere."
Opulence has continued to be a hallmark of the west coast, although wealth is now generated by tourism, rather than the sugar plantations. If a rather particular form of Britishness prevails, this is due in part to the influence of two men, Sir Edward Cunard and Ronald Tree, who stamped their identities on Barbados just after the Second World War.
Tree was a Conservative MP who had served in Churchill's War Cabinet, Cunard a scion of the shipping line, with a splendid house overlooking the ocean called GlitterBay. Tree was sufficiently beguiled by the place after visiting Cunard in January 1946 that he bought a nearby plot of land and built his own house, HeronBay, in 1947. His architect, Sir Jeffrey Jellico, designed a magnificent coral stone Palladian villa, modelled on the Villa Maser in Italy, and Tree's friends flocked to stay; and with such a degree of enthusiasm that in 1961 Tree opened a hotel, Sandy Lane, just along the beach, on a former sugar estate. The smart set alighted there, and migrated into the palatial villas that replaced former fisherman's shacks (a number of them designed by Oliver Messel, Lord Snowdon's uncle). Mick Jagger rubbed shoulders with Princess Margaret, and Claudette Colbert came every winter to her Georgian plantation house, Bellerive, along with her friend Frank Sinatra and the socialite swans, Babe Paley and Slim Keith.
Some complain that the post-war glamour of the PlatinumCoast has gone forever, to be replaced by something more ostentatious, yet less beguiling. And inevitably, there have been changes, even in Little England. HeronBay is now owned by the Bamford family, who allowed Tony Blair to avail himself of its beachside facilities when he came on holiday to Cliff Richard's villa. Sandy Lane was taken over and rebuilt by an Irish investment syndicate – the same super-rich racing fraternity that has colonised the island with as much alacrity as the first British plantation owners. A new Four Seasons is rising on a vast construction site, south along the coast, while Simon Cowell has introduced the latest breed of British celebrity, filming episodes of The X Factor in his lavish villa. traval you need:http://www.e-batteries.com.au/
Yet in the midst of all the comings and goings, the Coral Reef Club still remains, like a quietly dignified dowager overlooking the hysterical antics of overexcited debutantes. Not that the dowager is in any sense dowdy; if anything, its graceful luxury has increased with the passing decades, with the refurbished sea-view suites among the loveliest you'll find anywhere in the Caribbean (the decorously dark mahogany furniture offset by pristine white linen and crisp cotton prints). The O'Haras bought the hotel from the original owner, and their three children – Patrick, Mark and Karen – have all joined the family business, along with their partners.
A second hotel, The Sandpiper, established by the O'Haras in 1970, has thrived; and despite her husband's death in 1995, Cynthia continues to preside over the Coral Reef Club's weekly cocktail party, and much else besides. Many of the guests speak of her as if she were a favourite member of their family; and indeed, there are some at the cocktail party who have been coming here every winter for the last three or four decades, bringing their children and then their grandchildren in the Christmas and New Year holidays.
Mrs O'Hara is the soul of discretion, but it is no secret that the writers Simon Gray and Harold Pinter were regulars at the Coral Reef Club (Gray worked at his typewriter on the terrace, overlooking the waves); and Agatha Christie was so inspired that she used the hotel as a setting for A Caribbean Mystery, published in 1964.
Miss Marple's holiday was interrupted by the mysterious death of Major Palgrave; naturally, she solved the crime, in an intriguing diversion from her holiday in paradise. Nowadays, guests are more likely to be distracted by a visit to the spa than anything more sinister. This opened less than a year ago, but the coral stone building already looks very much part of the hotel's 12 acres of tropical gardens, surrounded by frangipani and bougainvillea. With interiors by the British designer Helen Green, opening onto a peaceful open-air courtyard, it is the very opposite of a dark basement city spa: bathed in sunlight, but cooled by sea breezes, with shade beneath white awnings and cabanas beside a waterfall and hydrotherapy pool.
Unlike other, more corporate branded hotel spas, the Coral Reef Club has managed to keep a sense of individuality, using top-of-the-range Natura Bisse products alongside local blends of traditional ingredients. The air is filled with the scent of lemongrass – a natural mosquito repellent, as well as a healing essential oil – and you can have a fresh ginger scrub or a ginger tea, or both. There are facials, pummelling massages and soothing skin treatments, all of them administered by expert Barbadian therapists.
Such are the attractions of the Coral Reef Club that there are guests who get no farther than the immaculate sands of its beach, where gentle waves lap the shore, and the razzmatazz of other west coast resorts seem even more distant than the cruise ships that glide along the horizon.
There is more to Barbados than this, of course – the windmills and plantation houses of the interior still stand, evidence of its past, including the era of slavery. It would be a pity to come to the island, and see nothing of its remarkable history, in particular, St Nicholas Abbey. It's one of the last remaining 17th-century houses in the Caribbean, built in 1657, and is now owned by a local architect, Larry Warren, who has restored the Jacobean buildings of this former plantation and the steam engine that grinds sugar cane in its original windmill. On the stairs inside the house stands a grandfather clock that has kept the right time since it was shipped here from London 250 years ago. Outside, there are groves of trees, some of them as old as the house, and ancient garden paths made of bricks brought as ballast by boat when the British first settlers arrived on the island.
The same sense of history – emerging through the fabric of a building and growing out of the ground – is apparent at Fisherpond Great House, at the heart of another former plantation. Built in 1635, it is now the home of John and Rain Chandler, who open to the public for lunch on Sunday (Rain is renowned as one of the best cooks on the island) and by special arrangement at other times. The Chandler family arrived in Barbados in 1638, and John can tell stories about every era of its history – from Sam Lord, the "Regency Rascal" who wrecked boats and kept his wife in a dungeon, to the Thirties, when Noël Coward and Cole Porter arrived with a crowd of Bright Young Things, leaving the Wall Street Crash behind them, and banishing the Great Depression in the light of the Caribbean sun.
Lunch at Fisherpond is served on a long mahogany table, and the talk turns to Anthony Eden's hurricane lamps (bought from Eden's Barbadian retreat, Villa Nova) and to ghosts. Several flit through the house, according to the Chandlers, who talk about them in the same soothing tones as they welcome their living guests. One is a little girl, they say, who drowned in the pond – a gentle spirit, who does nothing more alarming than move glasses on the table. Another is an upright-looking Englishman in a tweed jacket and leather boots, with a handlebar moustache. "He clears his throat just behind me," says John Chandler. As he speaks, the wind blows through the palm trees, knocking the doors and the shutters open, rustling through the fields of sugar cane beyond; and the past is on the wing and in the air, rising up into the high blue sky that seems to go on forever and always.
Pick of the Europe's principal resorts have been able to roll out the white carpet for the first skiers of the season, thanks to heavy snow across the Alps. Canada is also enjoying record conditions. It will be a relief to Britain's beleaguered ski operators, who reported that early-season bookings were at their lowest for a decade. Descent, Ski All America and Indigo Lodges were among companies that failed in the autumn owing to the financial downturn, while others have been forced to cut back on the number of chalets they offer – some of them by as much as 40 per cent.
With purse strings tight, Britain's 1.2 million skiers are booking later and expecting more for their money than ever before. They are trying to save on transport, eating out, equipment and accommodation, but they should be wary of too much compromise over the destination. The key to a fulfilling skiing holiday, after all, is to pick the right resort in the first place. Here, we aim to help you do just that. ---------------------some traval you need
It's easy to understand why a car battery charger is a great tool to have around. Cars, lawn equipment and motorized toys have batteries and may need occasional charging. Outdoor toys and lawn equipment especially need it due to infrequent use. Since some equipment does not have an on board generator it is up to the user to recharge to continue use.
Not everyone knows how easy it is to have their own portable car battery charger. They are actually rather simple to operate and have. You can get one that is basically an on or off operation or a complicated as monitoring and self adjusting charging voltages.
Here are five reasons why it is easy for anyone with a car, truck, or outdoor vehicle to own one:
1. You can take it anywhere
The great thing about these devices is that you really don't need a set space for them. Years ago you set the charger on a shelf or parked its cart in a corner and that's pretty much where it set. The newer units can pretty much be used anywhere you can find an electrical outlet.
2. They can be small and compact
You can find them light and small enough to fit in toolboxes and glove boxes.
Thanks to newer technologies electrical components can be smaller and lighter. Some chargers are as light as a couple of pounds. As long as you have a power source available, usually an ac outlet, you can be charging in minutes.
3. Cheap enough to own
With the same technologies that made these marvels lighter and smaller also means they are cheaper to produce. This has meant manufacturers producing more therefore lower prices. Add in to the mix resources such as Ebay and Amazon and bargains can be found. Chargers can be had for less than $100 and many times less than $50.
4. Extend the life of your battery and save
Newer units such as tenders can keep the battery topped off without boiling out the electrolyte and therefore potentially destroying your battery. One person was able to keep the same battery for his hobby car for over ten years thanks to a specialized charger. How much could this save you over the course of several years?
5. Keep your recreational toys on the ready
Ever had a spur of the moment idea to take the motorcycles out on the first nice spring day? If your battery did nothing but sit during the winter you might not get out as quick as you'd like. Having a charger can keep the battery up and ready to go when you are.
Although you would need a charger more if you own motorcycles, RVs, or other outdoor toys that are used infrequently, even car owners should own one as a precaution. With small size, light weight and low cost there isn't a reason why you shouldn't have one in your garage, closet, toolbox, or glove box. Add the fact that you could even possibly extend the life of your battery adds that much more value to your small investment.
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Anyone who has ever owned a laptop computer knows that it can sometimes take quite a long time for a laptop to charge the battery. One of the ways around this problem is to get your hands on an external laptop battery charger, which can really help to speed up the process, and can be used to charge a second to battery, always a good idea when you are a heavy user of the computer. This article will look at a few considerations that need to be borne in mind when buying this extremely useful laptop accessory.
The first thing to remember is that choosing a charger needs to be done with great care, since at the very least you may end up with a charger which does not charge your battery properly, or could even cause damage to the battery itself, and you could be left with no power at all for your laptop. In the least worst case you could end up with a battery that is only partially charged, which means your notebook might run out of power after just an hour or so of operation, which could cause you a lot of trouble if it happens in an opportune moment....
In the worst case scenario you could end up with a battery charger causing a lot of damage to the battery itself, which means you have to then go out and buy a completely new battery pack, which of course can be very expensive.
One of the most common mistakes is to buy a charger which is not a suitable for the type of battery itself, usually a charger that is too small to take the battery. There are some types which can charge different sizes, but these are usually only supplied by manufacturers to charge the various sizes of battery for their complete laptop range. They are not usually available for different models. It is usually better to find a universal type of charger, possibly with a docking system.
An external battery charger can be a real boon, but, as you can see, you really do need to take a lot of care when you're choosing one because the wrong choice could leave you with practically no battery at all.
Laptops tend to lose their charm quickly when you’re constantly looking for the nearest power outlet to charge up. How do you keep your battery going for as long as possible? Here are 15 easy ways to do so.Hopefully it would be a little help for you!
1. Defrag regularly - The faster your hard drive does its work - less demand you are going to put on the hard drive and your battery. Make your hard drive as efficient as possible by defragging it regularly. (but not while it’s on battery of course!) Mac OSX is better built to handle fragmentation so it may not be very applicable for Apple systems.
2. Dim your screen - Most laptops come with the ability to dim your laptop screen. Some even come with ways to modify CPU and cooling performance. Cut them down to the lowest level you can tolerate to squeeze out some extra battery juice.
3. Cut down on programs running in the background. Itunes, Desktop Search, etc. All these add to the CPU load and cut down battery life. Shut down everything that isn’t crucial when you’re on battery.
4. Cut down external devices - USB devices (including your mouse) & WiFi drain down your laptop battery. Remove or shut them down when not in use. It goes without saying that charging other devices (like your iPod) with your laptop when on battery is a surefire way of quickly wiping out the charge on your laptop battery.
5. Add more RAM - This will allow you to process more with the memory your laptop has, rather than relying on virtual memory. Virtual memory results in hard drive use, and is much less power efficient. Note that adding more RAM will consume more energy, so this is most applicable if you do need to run memory intensive programs which actually require heavy usage of virtual memory.
6. Run off a hard drive rather than CD/DVD - As power consuming as hard drives are, CD and DVD drives are worse. Even having one in the drive can be power consuming. They spin, taking power, even when they?re not actively being used. Wherever possible, try to run on virtual drives using programs like Alcohol 120% rather than optical ones.
7. Keep the battery contacts clean: Clean your battery’s metal contacts every couple of months with a cloth moistened with rubbing alcohol. This keeps the transfer of power from your battery more efficient.
8. Take care of your battery - Exercise the Battery. Do not leave a charged battery dormant for long periods of time. Once charged, you should at least use the battery at least once every two to three weeks. Also, do not let a Li-On battery completely discharge. (Discharing is only for older batteries with memory effects)
9. Hibernate not standby - Although placing a laptop in standby mode saves some power and you can instantly resume where you left off, it doesn’t save anywhere as much power as the hibernate function does. Hibernating a PC will actually save your PC’s state as it is, and completely shut itself down.
10. Keep operating temperature down - Your laptop operates more efficiently when it’s cooler. Clean out your air vents with a cloth or keyboard cleaner, or refer to some extra tips by LapTopMag.com.
11. Set up and optimize your power options - Go to ‘Power Options’ in your windows control panel and set it up so that power usage is optimized (Select the ‘max battery’ for maximum effect).
12. Don’t multitask - Do one thing at a time when you’re on battery. Rather than working on a spreadsheet, letting your email client run in the background and listening to your latest set of MP3’s, set your mind to one thing only. If you don’t you’ll only drain out your batteries before anything gets completed!
13. Go easy on the PC demands - The more you demand from your PC. Passive activities like email and word processing consume much less power than gaming or playing a DVD. If you’ve got a single battery charge - pick your priorities wisely.
14. Get yourself a more efficient laptop - Laptops are getting more and more efficient in nature to the point where some manufacturers are talking about all day long batteries. Picking up a newer more efficient laptop to replace an aging one is usually a quick fix.
15. Prevent the Memory Effect - If you’re using a very old laptop, you’ll want to prevent the ‘memory effect’ - Keep the battery healthy by fully charging and then fully discharging it at least once every two to three weeks. Exceptions to the rule are Li-Ion batteries (which most laptops have) which do not suffer from the memory effect.
Question from a reader: "How many cells are in the Toshiba Satellite M105-S3041 Laptop Battery? The battery is for a Toshiba Satellite M105-S3041 and its technical ratings are 10.8 volts 8800 mAh, Lithium Ion."
The question from the reader is a great question for it gets to the heart of battery manufacturing and begins to unravel the power of a battery. The answer is simply: 12 cells. But what does the answer mean and how does the number of cells relate to the overall value of a battery? Let’s find out…
18650 is a 3.6V cylindrical Li-Ion cell. 18650 has no memory effect (distinguish between digital memory effect) and longer storage life than NiMH battery cells. 18650 is light weight and has a high energy density. It is in effect perfect for building batteries for laptop and other portable power devices.
The additional technical specifications for the 18650 battery cell include:
Nominal Voltage Average 3.7 V – the concept of nominal voltage is that voltage range exists depending on the number of cells in the battery.
Nominal Capacity - 2200 mAh (above 2200 the stability of lithium based cells is called into question)
Max. Charging Current - 2.4 Amps Max.
Max. Discharging Current - 4.6 Amps max.
Dimensions (DxH) 18.3 mm (Max 18.4) x 64.9 mm (Max 65.1)
Weight 46.5 g (1.64 oz)
Internal Impedance: less or equal to 90 ohms
Cycle Performance is 80% of initial capacity at 300 cycles
Now as stated above the reader asked how many cells were in the Toshiba Satellite M105-S3041 Laptop Battery? The battery is rated at 10.8 volts and a capacity of 8800 mAh.
As I mentioned above the nominal voltage average is 3.7V. Some manufacturers may use 3.6V and some may use 3.7V. In the case of a laptop battery with 10.8V the nominal voltage rating used is 3.6V. Thus if we divide 10.8V by 3.6V we get 3. Thus 3 cells in a series. We also know that the batteries capacity is 8800 mAh. We know the nominal capacity is 2200 mAh. Therefore if we divide 8800 mAh by 2200 mAh then we get 4 in parallel.
Therefore we have 3 cells in series X 4 cells in parallel equals 12 cells in total.
ACER Laptop Battery Articles & Maintenance Tips
Upgrade my ACER Laptop Battery from Ni-MH to Li-ion
Ni-Cd, Ni-MH and Li-ion ACER Laptop Battery are all fundamentally different from one another and cannot be substituted unless the laptop has been pre-configured from the manufacturer to accept more than one type of battery chemistry. Please refer to your manual to find out which rechargeable battery types the laptop device supports or use our ACER Laptop Battery Finder above to find all the compatible Laptop Battery for your device. It will automatically list all of the battery chemistries supported by your specific device. If your device does allow you to upgrade the battery from Ni-MH to Li-ion, you will typically get longer run times.
For example, if your laptop uses a NI-MH battery that is 9.6 Volts, 4000mAh and the new Li-ion laptop battery is 14.4 Volt, 3600mAh, then you will obtain longer run time with the Li-ion battery.
Example.
Li-ion: 14.4 Volts x 3.6 Amperes = 51.84 Watt Hours Ni-MH: 9.6 Volts x 4 Amperes = 38.4 Watt Hours The Li-ion is stronger and has longer run time.
How can I maximize the performance of my ACER Laptop Battery ?
There are several steps you can take to help you get maximum performance from your Laptop Battery:
Prevent the Memory Effect - Keep the Laptop Battery healthy by fully charging and then fully discharging it at least once every two to three weeks. Exceptions to the rule are Li-ion batteries which do not suffer from the memory effect.
Keep the ACER Laptop Battery Clean - It's a good idea to clean dirty battery contacts with a cotton swab and alcohol. This helps maintain a good connection between the battery and the portable device.
Exercise the Battery - Do not leave the battery dormant for long periods of time. We recommend using the battery at least once every two to three weeks. If a Laptop Battery has not been used for a long period of time, perform the new battery break in procedure described above.
Battery Storage - If you don't plan on using the Laptop Battery for a month or more, store it in a clean, dry, cool place away from heat and metal objects. Ni-Cd, Ni-MH and Li-ion batteries will self-discharge during storage; remember to recharge the batteries before use.
What is the run time ofe-batteries's Laptop Battery?
ACER Laptop Battery have two main ratings on them: Volts and Amperes. Because size and weight of Laptop Battery is limited when compared to larger batteries such as car batteries, most companies show their ratings with Volts and Mill amperes. One thousand Mill amperes equals 1 Ampere. When buying a battery, select batteries with the most Mill amperes (or Ah). Batteries are also rated by Watt-Hours, perhaps the simplest rating of all. This is found by multiplying the Volts and the Amperes together. For example:
14.4 Volts, 4000mAh (Note: 4000mAh is equal to 4.0 Amperes).
14.4 x 4.0 = 57.60 Watt-Hours
Watt-Hours signifies the energy needed to power one watt for one hour. This ACER Laptop Battery can power 57.60 watts for one hour. If your laptop runs at 20.50 watts, as an example, this Laptop Battery could power your laptop for 2.8 hours.
Understanding your ACER Laptop Battery Needs
We strive to make you Laptop Battery purchases easy. Since we understand that finding the right batteries for your needs can be overwhelming and confusing at times we developed a Laptop Battery finder tool to help find the right size for the make and model of your equipment. We also offer educational articles and tips to help you conserve your batteries and understand common problems. By us providing education you are able to make the right purchasing decisions as well as provide proper care for all of your electronics.
As far as battery maintenance goes, I'm the worst ever. I can't even begin to count the number of times I've needed to jump on my lap-top, use my cell phone or any other portable electronic device, only to find myself in the unenviable position of having no juice left on the battery. Simply put, I overuse, poorly maintain, and all in all just wear down all of the batteries I need like it's going out of style.
These bad habits usually leave me powerless when I most need power, so I asked around and came out with these 10 simple things you can do to make any battery last longer.
1. Use the lowest brightness settings on screen displays.
This will not work in bright areas like out doors, but sure works well indoors. Cell phones, lap-tops, and even watches have brightness controls that will help stretch the life of any battery.
2. Fully charge and discharge all of your batteries.
Try to avoid "topping off" the battery if there's enough of a charge in there to get by, then remove the battery or unplug from the charger only after it has had a chance to trickle charge at 100%, and your battery will last 2 or 3 years easily.
3. Use programs that take less RAM and keep useless programs closed.
A lot of laptops come with cluttered programs since the day you take them home from the store. Stuff like Yahoo messenger or Firefox with 20 tabs open takes a lot of RAM and eats up batteries super fast.
4. Keeping the volume level on all of your music playing devices is key to a longer battery life.
You'll be amazed at how much life loud music sucks out of your battery. This will also do wonders in preserving your ear-drums as well.
5. To go with #4, also turn down the volume on your cell-phone ringer.
Long ring-tones may sound cool, but hearing your favorite song play every time your phone rings will drain your battery in a hurry.
6. Turn off your Bluetooth whenever you're not using it.
This can be an easy one to forget about if you're often switching between using a Bluetooth, and the phone's ear piece. Most people use their Bluetooth way too much anyhow, so cutting back on it's use will lengthen the life of your battery.
7. I've always heard that when you get a new laptop, or anything with a rechargeable battery for that matter, you should charge it over night.
Pull that bad boy out of the box and give it a nice, long, healthy charge. Even if it says full, leave it in and charging for a while.
8. When I was little I would always find batteries in my grandmother's fridge.
I always wondered why, turns out she was onto something. If you have extra batteries for your phone, laptop, or anything else, go ahead and store those in the refrigerator. Just make sure not to freeze them.
9. Programs that are run from a CD or DVD can be copied to and run from the hard drive, which typically consumes less power than an optical drive.
If you have music and movies you know know you'll be playing numerous times, just rip them onto your hard drive and you'll be styled!
10. Lastly, just using basic common sense will help extend the life of all of your batteries.
If you're not using it, turn it off! If you don't need it, get rid of it! This is probably the most practical and applicable way to get the most out of all of your batteries.
Your owner's manual should have the brand and model on the front cover. If you don't have your owner's manual then almost every laptop has a manufacturer's label on the bottom of the computer. This label should have the brand and model number on it.
Once you have the Brand and model of your laptop, use the Search Wizard to select your Brand and Model. Once this is done it will display the compatible Battery and AC Adapter under the Product column.
Here are some models from the major brand laptops:
COMPAQ: Armada, Business Notebook, Evo, OmiBook, Pavillion, Presario
If all else fails, turn on your computer and follow these instructions:
Go to your desktop.
Click 'Start' on the bottom left of the screen.
Mouse over 'Programs' > 'Accessories' > 'System Tools'
Click on 'System Information'.
Your computer's manufacturer, model, etc. will be listed on the following page.
Selecting the correct AC Adapter -
Before purchasing an AC Adapter you need to make sure make the AC Adapter will give you the correct voltage and suitable current output.
To find out the voltage & current, turn your laptop over and look for a label, sticker or writing which shows the voltage and current, it should look something like the examples below. The voltage figure will have a "V" after the number i.e 19V and the current will have a "A" or "mA". i.e 3.15A. You can also find these shown on your original AC adapter if you have it. The Voltage must be within 10% of your original AC Adapters Voltage. The Amps may be higher but they cannot by lower.
If you are purchasing a universal AC Adapter or Car Charger you will need to work out the Watts of your original AC Adapter and select the universal AC Adapter or Car Charger with the same Watts or next highest Wattage. You can work out the Wattage by multiplying the Voltage by the Amps i.e 20V X 3A = 60 Watts. There is no 60 Watt AC Adapter so you will need to select the next step up which is the 70 Watt AC Adapter.
PLEASE NOTE: If the wattage requirement for your laptop is lower than the 60W or 90W output of the adapter, it will not damage your laptop, your laptop will only take the amount of power it requires. I.E. If your laptop needs 45W, then either the 60W or 90W will work OK. If your laptop needs 80W then you will need the 90W one as the 75W one will not be powerful enough. If in doubt please email us on our contacts page.
Once you have selected you Brand and Model from the Search Wizard it will display the compatible AC Adapters under the product column. Once you have clicked on the battery you will be redirected to the page displaying alllt he information about the AC Adapter. Click on the photo of the AC Adapter to enlarge the image and view the tip dimensions to ensure they are similar to your original AC Adapters tip dimensions.
Selecting the correct Battery -
Batteries have two main ratings on them: Volts and Amps. Because laptop batteries do not carry a very large amount of power when compared to larger batteries such as car batteries, most companies show their ratings with Volts and Milliamps. One thousand Milliamperes equals 1 Ampere. When buying a battery, always go for the battery with the most Milliamperes (or mAh).
Once you have selected you Brand and Model from the Search Wizard it will display the compatible batteries under the product column. Once you have clicked on the battery you will be redirected to the page displaying alllt he informationa about the battery. Ensure the battery is the same shape as your original and most importantly the Voltage is within 10% of you original batteries specified Voltage.
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