Attention UK laptop users...

[nefarious]

I'm only passing this info on in case it is useful to anyone, and I have in no way checked out the validity of it, but...

According to an electrician that was doing a load of safety tests on laptops at work, the main reason so many laptop batteries die before their time is because the laptop power supplies are fitted with 15amp fuses. The guy at work was saying that laptops only need 3 amp fuses if there is no earth, or 5 amp fuses if there is an earth - anything higher wastes batteries in no time. I'm no electrician so I wouldn't know for sure, but it sounds feasible (if not well sly) that some companies might supply higher amp fuses so customers are forced to buy a replacement battery...who knows, but i figured I'd share the info with the masses just in case it's useful.

[staticcast]

He's probably right in that laptop chargers aren't gonna be sucking 15 amps, but changing the fuse won't make a difference to how long your batteries last. Either a fuse passes all the current required of it, or it blows (permanently). That's the point of a fuse. If a laptop charger is putting too much current through your batteries, it's a badly designed charger, but it's not something you can fix by changing the fuse.

[tripaddict]

laptops are shit

[frizzwah]

laptops are shit

this!
as soon as mine fully dies i'm building a pc.
battery is that knackered on mine it may as well be a desktop.

[hakka]

Me too, my batteries die within 10 minutes of unplugging it, rather shit!

[frizzwah]

Me too, my batteries die within 10 minutes of unplugging it, rather shit!

that was me 2 months ago.
now power is essential, the second i unplug it, it dies

[silentk]

Me too, my batteries die within 10 minutes of unplugging it, rather shit!

that was me 2 months ago.
now power is essential, the second i unplug it, it dies

Mines getting that way, although to be fair i have had it for about 2 and a half years now i think :s

I get a nice big "Your battery needs to be replaced" balloon pop up every time i switch it on!

[tavravlavish]

my macbook battery is done, after about a year and a half. I don't think I treated it right, once it started getting bad I checked out all the things I should have been doing for my battery, wish they would have put a big ass sticker on my macbook saying how to make sure my battery has a healthy life. I fucking hate how disposable all this shit is, why can't they just build shit to last instead of thinking about their next payday those bastards!