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Ahh, the travails of my Hewlett-Packard... *groans* Using my dv2120us with the OEM battery, first problem being that I put it on standby, then into the OEM anti-static bag that shipped in, and that in turn into my bookbag's laptop pocket (the pocket being surprisingly "cloth-y" and the sort I worry of a static incident on), only to find when I open up that the computer went off. :/ Thought that the laptop was cool when I put it in, so I don't see why.

Then booting up took 4% of the battery life and quite some minutes, closed some of the background start-up aps, tried to run what I thought was a lower power game, muted the speakers, turned down the brightness, turned off the wireless... yet, why the bloody hell do I lose over half the battery in a half hour???

This is worrying me, as is how hot the 'vent' areas (rear left corner of PC, vents under the HDD, and I believe under the RAM) can get...

Batteries will crap out eventually, especially if they're left in the unit whilst it's used on mains for a significant length of time. Not really avoidable in any other way than not leaving the battery in if you intend to use the unit on mains for a significant period. (leave it with around 40% charge for best results)

(the pocket being surprisingly "cloth-y" and the sort I worry of a static incident on)

You don't need to worry about static damage to anything other than exposed electronic components.

How old is the battery? I have an HP dv6000 myself, but I rarely use the battery for it since it hardly gets more than 2 1/2 hours of life. It might just be you only need to get a new battery for it.

Vendetta wrote:Batteries will crap out eventually, especially if they're left in the unit whilst it's used on mains for a significant length of time. Not really avoidable in any other way than not leaving the battery in if you intend to use the unit on mains for a significant period. (leave it with around 40% charge for best results)

Wait, so use of laptops plugged in will actually hurt the battery life? Shit, I didn't know that... (I use said laptop not frequently but for hours, and due to the battery, frequently around an outlet.)

As for the fix, that means that if I have a 100% battery and am going to use the power outlet, I should just take out the battery, and if going portable just use 60% of battery life? (Because I've shut down manually on a full battery only to find around 90% battery when I'm back in Windows.)

You don't need to worry about static damage to anything other than exposed electronic components.

'Exposed electronic components' include the ports? They're why I've been using the anti-static (plastic) bag to hold the laptop, although now I'm wondering whether that is responsible for a laptop on standby powering off.

General Zod, the whole getup (I bought the set from CompUSA) is almost five months old.

Edward Yee wrote:'Exposed electronic components' include the ports?

I carry my laptop around in a Targus notebook backpack, but I've never had any issues with open ports. They're generally safe from ESD, since it's just the parts with actual circuit traces and capacitors exposed that you have to worry about.

They're why I've been using the anti-static (plastic) bag to hold the laptop, although now I'm wondering whether that is responsible for a laptop on standby powering off.

The standby will hurt the capacity in the long run more than helping it. I've found that the amount of power consumed from a cold bootup is rather negligible, so unless you use the battery frequently it's probably best to shut down completely each time that you need to leave it unused for more than a few minutes.

I use my dead batteries as a space filler if I plan to leave it plugged in for significant amounts of time.

General Zod wrote:I carry my laptop around in a Targus notebook backpack, but I've never had any issues with open ports. They're generally safe from ESD, since it's just the parts with actual circuit traces and capacitors exposed that you have to worry about.

What's the pocket like? Mine is of the rough material that seems ripe for ESD. :/ (Kinda like wool, or at least it's got tons of loose fibers it seems.)

The standby will hurt the capacity in the long run more than helping it. I've found that the amount of power consumed from a cold bootup is rather negligible, so unless you use the battery frequently it's probably best to shut down completely each time that you need to leave it unused for more than a few minutes.

Ouch! Didn't know that, and admittedly wondering why it exists... but I see/understand re: the battery. I assume hibernating's fine?

Just wondering now re: the battery depletions when shutting down, and if memory/CPU usage (as seen in Task Manager) = battery usage, to explain how I could have nearly 2/3 of the battery spent in less than an hour... (I think around 45 minutes.)

Edward Yee wrote:

General Zod wrote:I carry my laptop around in a Targus notebook backpack, but I've never had any issues with open ports. They're generally safe from ESD, since it's just the parts with actual circuit traces and capacitors exposed that you have to worry about.

What's the pocket like? Mine is of the rough material that seems ripe for ESD. :/ (Kinda like wool, or at least it's got tons of loose fibers it seems.)

It's a synthetic material, I'm not sure what type of material it is offhand but I've never had any issues with static. It's a bit pricey, but the quality is worth it imo. linky

Ouch! Didn't know that, and admittedly wondering why it exists... but I see/understand re: the battery. I assume hibernating's fine?

Just wondering now re: the battery depletions when shutting down, and if memory/CPU usage (as seen in Task Manager) = battery usage, to explain how I could have nearly 2/3 of the battery spent in less than an hour... (I think around 45 minutes.)

Not really sure, like I said though, I pretty much never use the hybernate/standby mode (once on accident), so I'm not really sure how badly it affects the battery, just that it's probably not a good idea to use it frequently. Though upgrading to a high-capacity twelve cell battery will probably help.

Do you leave your wireless card on? That will suck the battery down pretty good in my experience, even if you're not surfing the net. I have far better battery life with the wireless off (it's integrated) than when I leave it on.

I'll also second not knowing that if you leave it plugged in it'll degrade battery performance. D'oh!

General Zod wrote:It's a synthetic material, I'm not sure what type of material it is offhand but I've never had any issues with static. It's a bit pricey, but the quality is worth it imo. linky

Ahh... Had considered these, but it seemed a big much on the budget. I admit, the one that I got was a cheap ($26) school-type roller backpack that happened to have a laptop pocket, didn't look at all purpose-built on the outside.

EDIT: Is it impossible to get a quality bag that does the heat dispersal -- a problem with mine -- and keeping out dust (plaguing both of my laptops) for less than $50?

RogueIce wrote:Do you leave your wireless card on? That will suck the battery down pretty good in my experience, even if you're not surfing the net. I have far better battery life with the wireless off (it's integrated) than when I leave it on.

This was even with the wireless card turned off (courtesy of the physical switch).

I'll also second not knowing that if you leave it plugged in it'll degrade battery performance. D'oh!

Sadly, I don't think most people -- certainly no one at my school that I've seen -- does, and it certainly doesn't seem publicized...

EDIT: Update, using the battery, had 92% battey life before it was done booting, not using that program, just saw the battery life go down 12% in 8 minutes.

So should I just call it a career and get a new regular or hi-cap battery?

Edward Yee wrote:So should I just call it a career and get a new regular or hi-cap battery?

If you use the battery frequently and can afford it, a high-capacity battery might be the way to go. Otherwise a regular one would probably do.

I'll certainly consider that then. (I assume time to dump this one?)

Come to think of it, I wonder if it's safe to "pop" the battery out while the computer's on if it hits 100% and switches to AC?

Edward Yee wrote:I'll certainly consider that then. (I assume time to dump this one?)

Come to think of it, I wonder if it's safe to "pop" the battery out while the computer's on if it hits 100% and switches to AC?

I've done it all the time on my dell and thinkpad.

Edward Yee wrote:Come to think of it, I wonder if it's safe to "pop" the battery out while the computer's on if it hits 100% and switches to AC?

Yes, but if you're removing the battery for a vaguely long term period, it's better to store it at around 40-50%, not full charge or discharged.

Oh, and here's some information about battery maintenance.