The Internet and Print Media

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Millions of people are now online, and that number will continue to increase as low cost devices become more readily available. Many of these devices will exist as a wireless technology or even inside an automobile. A constantly open floodgate of information will be available for those who would desire such as thing. Caught in the flood are the newspapers, which once stood unopposed as the primary source of information - with the exception of television. However, newspapers are more portable and tend to provide much more detailed information than television. Internet news sources do have the capacity to fulfill both of those requirements, and are the most potent threat to tradition. Subscriptions to the Philadelphia Inquirer have plummeted by the thousands in the past year. Apparently as a result, even the papers themselves can now be found online.

Online news ventures such as MSNBC, ABCNews, and CNN aggressively pursue a wider user base. Major Internet providers and software companies often provide free content in an attempt to become the dominant portal to the Internet. Attempts were made to charge for online content (Slate Magazine and its subscription fiasco), but these have ultimately been unsuccessful. Users have a wide variety of ultra competitive news sources to choose from all for the price of Internet connectivity. Literally thousands of editorials, comics, and interactive news applications are available. Users may even be notified when the topic of their choice becomes available – all for nothing. Financial news is almost real time, and there is no need to flip through pages filled with thousands of symbols that the reader could care less about. A whole wealth of information can be easily searched, navigated and updated on a continuous basis.

The advent of portable electronic devices, Xerox’s electronic paper, and more recently IBM’s flexible transistor, allow for a freedom to bring the Internet anywhere. Just as a paper can be rolled up and carried away. Large corporations such as Microsoft and 3Com are working to make them less elitist and as universal as paper is today. The potential for such devices to provide real time commerce and advertising revenues assures their longevity and future availability. Judging by the influence of the Internet and electronic media in the 2000 Presidential Election it also will be utilized for political purposes. Candidates can establish grassroots networks, and their message can reach a far larger audience without the need of support from the political establishment. This may be especially helpful in nations where the media has been strictly regulated and monitored by a dominating government. New uses for the Internet will be found as our lives and the world continues to grow and change.

Today’s busy lifestyle may prove incompatible with printed words. Work hours and productivity continue to increase, as time to sit down and read decreases. A noticeable change in newspapers and magazines can be seen in the form of larger headlines and quick summary paragraphs. On demand, customized news may be more in touch with the busy lifestyle so many of us lead. Concern for the environment also contributes to the lack of desire to unnecessarily waste trees and other resources. Although producing and powering electronics is not as innocent and environmentally friendly as it may seem. Papers are nationally recollected and recycled. Even still it takes energy to accomplish that. Life is full of advantages and disadvantages.

Newspapers happen to have plenty of advantages. Now that this comparison has segued into newspapers it would make sense to discuss how they have good "old-fashioned" appeal. A simple argument is that many people also simply remain resistant to change. Imagine a P.E.D (Portable Electronic Device) hanging on the wall at a bar rather than a newspaper clipping. Now, imagine that the featured article disappearing when the battery such as IBM 08K8193 Battery, IBM 08K8192 Battery, IBM 92P1101 Battery, IBM 92P1089 Battery, IBM 92P1087 Battery, IBM 08K8196 Battery, IBM 92P1102 Battery, IBM 92P1077 Battery, IBM 92P1073 Battery, IBM 08K8199 Battery runs out. Such a thing would be absolutely ridiculous in the mind of any sane person. For those of us like to read while using the lavatory there is also a simple, yet effective argument. No one would take kindly to handling someone else’s PED after they failed to wash their hands upon returning from those facilities. Throwing a PED out into a wastebasket like one would discard a paper is also difficult to imagine.

Much of the information available on the Internet is worth what is in any given wastebasket. Literally anyone can publish his or her thoughts and opinions online. In fact, hackers often replace the opinions of others with their own. Recent attacks by hackers on high profile Websites (Yahoo, eBay) put into question the viability of any information posted online. The rush to get a scoop in the highly competitive Internet marketplace is also a danger to accuracy and quality research. When something is published on paper it had better be accurate, but on the Internet it can be retracted almost instantaneously with the hope that no one archived it or with a brief message of the revision hidden away on a dark corner of the site. Newspapers generally have provided a proven and reliable source of information. This remains a distinct advantage of newspapers.

Best Buy launches collectively customized 'Blue Label' laptops

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How would you describe your 'ideal laptop'? Starting with new Toshiba and HP models, Best Buy is now offering an exclusive line of CE products -- based on people's answers to questions like these -- under its new 'Blue Label" program.

Retail giant Best Buy has rolled out new Toshiba and HP laptops as the first results of Blue Label, a new effort to work with computer vendors on building products that directly reflect consumers' wishes.

Geared to second- and third-time laptop buyers, the two new notebooks were created in response to the answers people gave when asked to describe their "ideal laptop."

Under questioning by Best Buy, consumers said they wanted a machine with longer life of the battery such as IBM 08K8193 Battery, IBM 08K8192 Battery, IBM 92P1101 Battery, IBM 92P1089 Battery, IBM 92P1087 Battery, IBM 08K8196 Battery, IBM 92P1102 Battery, IBM 92P1077 Battery, IBM 92P1073 Battery, IBM 08K8199 Battery, a thin and lightweight design, a better screen size, an illuminated keyboard, and improved warranty support.

The first two notebooks in Best Buy's Blue Label series -- the HP Pavilion dv3510nr and Toshiba Satellite E-105-S1402 -- are each outfitted with backlit keypads and exterior designs. Each is less than 1.5 inches thick, weighing in at under five pounds.

More precisely, at 4.6 pounds, the Pavilion is less than 1.4-inches thick. Equipped with a 13.3-inch LED screen, it provides up to four hours of battery life from a single charge.

The Satellite is a little heavier, at 4.9 pounds. But the Satellite has a longer battery life of 5.5 hours, and a bigger screen size of 14.1-inches. The Satellite is thinner, too, at 1.2-inches.

Each laptop is priced at $1,199. By purchasing either one, you get a two-year warranty at no additional charge, along with 30 days of free support from Best Buy's Geek Squad. The laptops were expected in be available in Best Buy stores this week.

As a retailer, Best Buy's program can't be directly equated with the old individual build-to-order model pioneered by Dell and Gateway for desktop PCs. In a more collective sense, though, Best Buy's customers have helped the retailer and the two computer makers create a specification for the production of custom laptops. This level of customer focus is something which Circuit City -- the closest rival in an increasingly Best Buy-dominated field -- is still struggling hard to reach.

During a conference call with financial analysts last month, Circuit City Executive VP and CFO Bruce H. Besanko said that his company will now put more emphasis on "improving the customer experience," in the wake of a $162.7 million loss for the second fiscal quarter (according to a transcript from Seeking Alpha).

Furthermore, the fact that the Blue Label products will be sold exclusively by Best Buy should give the giant yet another competitive advantage in fending off Circuit City and other smaller retailers. In a statement, Best Buy said it will expand Blue Label beyond laptops to other product categories in the future, while continuing to "incorporate customer feedback into the design process."

Wearable computer maker chooses Crusoe

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A Minnesota-based wearable computer maker announced Thursday that it is working with Transmeta to put the low-power Crusoe chip in its latest offerings.

Wearable computer-maker Via chose the Crusoe chip because it offers low power and low heat requirements, while still offering the processing power to run applications that mobile workers might use, Via President Ed McConaghay said in a statement. The Crusoe chip has more readily been seen in laptops from Sony, NEC, Fujitsu, and Hitachi. In recent weeks, IBM and Compaq have decided to cancel plans for laptops that would have used the Crusoe chip.

During the first quarter of 2001, Via will begin offering its wearable computers, which will come with 700MHz Crusoe processors and run Microsoft's Windows 2000 operating system, Via spokeswoman Nancy Crowe said.

The full-function PC is about the size of two card decks laid end-to-end and is worn on a belt around the waist, she said. The unit has a 6.4GB hard drive and 64MB of RAM. It weighs about 3 pounds with its batteries included such as IBM ThinkPad T40 Battery, IBM ThinkPad T41 Battery, IBM ThinkPad T42 Battery, IBM ThinkPad T43 Battery, IBM ThinkPad R50 Battery, IBM ThinkPad R51 Battery, IBM FRU 08K8193 Battery, IBM 92P1060 Battery, IBM 08K8214 Battery, IBM 08K8195 Battery.

The base model will start at $2,000 and go up to $5,000 with applications and peripherals added on. The wearable PC is designed to work with Via's new SVGA (Super VGA) indoor readable display or its indoor/outdoor display. Pricing on the displays was not immediately available.

Input into the Via wearable computer can be done by voice or from a touchscreen display. The units are designed to handle bumps and bruises of everyday use, including withstanding a 4-foot drop, according to Crowe.

Northwest Airlines is using the current generation of Via's wearable computers for customer check-ins and non-routine aircraft maintenance, Crowe said. Via's current wearable computers, such as the Via 2 Wearable PC, use 166MHz Cyrix processors.

"Our computers are currently being used for customer service management, supply-based management, inspection, quality control, or maintenance. For the most part, it is a type of tool that most consumers would not see, except for like how Northwest is using it for its gate agents."

Early versions of the Crusoe-based wearable computers are already being used by the U.S. Military Police in field tests at Fort Polk, Louisiana. The program is financed by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA).

The computers being tested don't look much different from a regular backpack, said Henry Girolamo, program manager of the U.S. Army Soldier Systems center in Natick, Mass. The Via computers being tested by the Army weigh less than 1 pound not including the battery, use a 600MHz Crusoe chip, and can be controlled by voice or the click of a mouse on a officer's belt, he said.

About 20 military police officers recently tested the wearable computers in Louisiana, Girolamo said. Officers ran the computers through a serious of drills to test streaming video, face recognition, speech recognition, mapping settings, and conferences and voice translation. The soldiers saw the video display of the computer on a VGA screen embedded in their glasses or a clip-on display.

"It has all the same look and feel of looking at a 13-inch monitor," Girolamo said of the 800-by-600 VGA display, developed by MicroOptical in Westwood, Mass.

Burnsville, Minn.-based Via, which has approximately 65 employees, will have its wearable computers on display at fall Comdex in the Lernout & Hauspie Speech Products booth.

IBM unveils environmentally friendly ThinkPad

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IBM Japan unveiled a new ThinkPad notebook computer that can automatically shift its power source from an AC adapter to a stored battery, the company announced Tuesday.

The ThinkPad R31 includes a peak-shift-control program that allows electricity to be used evenly throughout on-peak and off-peak times. Usually when a PC is connected to an AC adaptor, it always uses power from the adaptor. With the ThinkPad R31, users can set a time for the computer to switch its power source to an internal battery such as IBM ThinkPad T40 Battery, IBM ThinkPad T41 Battery, IBM ThinkPad T42 Battery, IBM ThinkPad T43 Battery, IBM ThinkPad R50 Battery, IBM ThinkPad R51 Battery, IBM FRU 08K8193 Battery, IBM 92P1060 Battery, IBM 08K8214 Battery, IBM 08K8195 Battery, which has been recharged during off-peak hours, says Yuko Takeuchi, a spokesperson for IBM Japan.

The Think Pad R31 is the first result of a project that IBM Japan started last March with Kansai Electric Power, Tokyo Electric Power, Sanyo Electric, and Matsushita Battery Industrial.

The purpose of the project was to decrease the volume of electricity used for PCs in offices at peak time, an IBM Japan statement says.

Power Protection

During the summer in Japan, many offices turn on air conditioners in the afternoon, causing dramatic increases in electricity consumption. Power companies have been looking for ways to avoid these peaks, according to the statement. Using stored battery power in the office during the day can ease electricity costs and protect the environment, the company says.

From July to September last year, IBM Japan, KEPCO, and TEPCO conducted a trial using the peak-shift-control program on their PCs. The trial showed that by charging the PC battery at night when demand is low and then using that stored power during the day, they were able to decrease carbon dioxide production by 4 percent to 16 percent, according to the statement.

IBM Japan also calculated that if the 1200 notebook PCs in its Tokyo headquarters were equipped with the peak-shift-control program, it could save $1,511 a year, the statement says.

Sanyo Electric and Matsushita Battery have been researching the effects on a battery of being repeatedly discharged and recharged, and will keep working on a longer-lasting battery, the statement says. Currently, the ThinkPad R31 can be used for 2.3 hours by a recharged battery, and once the battery runs out it automatically starts recharging again, Takeuchi says.

Coming to the United States?

Of 12 ThinkPad R31 models unveiled, the C5J and 48J include the peak-shift-control program. Both include a Celeron 1.06-GHz processor, 128MB of SDRAM, and a 20GB hard drive, and are equipped with an ethernet interface. In Japan, the C5J with Windows XP operation system will be rolled out on February 15 at $1,350, and the 48J with Windows 2000 will be rolled out on March 8 at the same price, the statement says.

The new R series models are already out in the U.S., Takeuchi says.

The company will distribute the software program to C5J and 48J customers for free, but it is available only in Japan, Takeuchi says.

This Dell is a solid midsize laptop

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As middle-of-the-road as a laptop gets, Dell's Inspiron 1525 is an excellent go-to choice for basic computing, especially if you take the time to configure a system to your needs via Dell's online configurator.

This $649 fixed-configuration version, called the Inspiron 1525-121B, has a low-end 1.86GHz Intel Core 2 Duo T2390 CPU, and is cheaper than the $729 T5750 version we reviewed, but it also knocks the RAM down to 2GB from 3GB, and the hard drive down to 160GB from 250GB.

The system trades some performance for the price cut, and may strain under a heavy collegiate workload of writing papers and encoding MP3s, but its battery life is actually better--on par with the 14-inch Dell Inspiron 1420.

When you add the 1525's touch-sensitive media control buttons and an HDMI output, you get a not wholly unreasonable package at the lower end of the price scale.

If your planned course of study will not include running demanding graphics or scientific applications, the Inspiron 1525-121B should get you from initiation to graduation. If you can spend a bit more, the Gateway P-6836 offers better performance for only $150 more.

Dell has managed to shave a little bulk off its previous 15-inch Inspiron model, and this version is even thinner than 14-inch Inspiron 1420, although its bigger footprint is not as well suited for lugging around campus all day.

The keyboard is the same full-size model found on Dell's other Inspiron laptops, and it feels solid and responsive. Above the keyboard sits a row of media control buttons, which you won't find on the Sony VAIO NR430, a brand more commonly associated with multimedia endeavors than a jack-of-all-trades Inspiron.

The media controls are of the touch-sensitive variety we're partial to, and the Inspiron 1525 has helped make these the industry default, even for budget-minded laptops. This version lacks the 2.0-megapixel Webcam found on the $729 configuration of the 1525.

The 15.4-inch wide-screen LCD offers a 1280x800-pixel native resolution, which is standard for budget-minded mainstream systems, but on a screen this big, text and icons can look a bit big and unwieldy -- we generally prefer 1,440x900-pixel resolutions on screens of this size -- that's an option on the configurable version available on the Dell Web site.

There are plenty of USB jacks for all your accessories and even FireWire, which we're seeing less frequently, but no Bluetooth. Adding an HDMI jack is a nice high-end touch, even if you never use it.

Unlike the Inspiron 1525-122B, this 1525 uses a 1.86GHz Intel Core 2 Duo T2390, which sits at the low end of Intel's' current CPU lineup. The system is no speed demon, we ran into occasional sluggishness while multitasking -- Web surfing, working on office documents, and playing media files -- but it's still adequate for basic academic work.

The system finished first or second on CNET Labs' benchmarks among the five entry-level back-to-school laptops we tested this summer. For an extra $80, however, you can trade up to a faster T5750 CPU, 3GB of RAM and a 250GB hard drive (plus a Webcam) -- which seems like a reasonable set of upgrades for the price, although we saw minimal benefit in this price range from adding that third GB of RAM on our tests.

The Inspiron 1525 ran for 3 hours and 10 minutes on our video playback battery drain test using the included six-cell battery such as Dell 312-0068 Battery, Dell 312-0518 Battery, Dell 312-0625 Battery, Dell 312-3250 Battery, Dell 3149C Battery, Dell 315-0084 Battery, Dell 3R305 Battery, Dell 5081P Battery, Dell 53977 Battery, Dell 6171R Battery, Dell 6T473 Battery, Dell 6Y270 Battery, Dell 75UYF Battery, which is a nice improvement over the more expensive 1525, which lasted only 2 hours and 15 minutes on the same test -- perhaps because of its more powerful CPU. There's a pretty obvious trade-off to consider: slower performance and longer battery life versus faster performance and shorter battery life.

Dell includes an industry-standard, one-year parts-and-labor warranty with the system, and the Dell Web site has a robust collection of support tools, including online chat, a Flash-based question widget, and 24-7 toll-free telephone support.

Retail stores offer a variety of extended warranty plans with your laptop purchase, but they're generally expensive and hard to use, so we do not recommend them.

America Second

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I'm typing this on a Fujitsu laptop, a full-function laptop that takes up less space on my desk than a comic book. With built-in wireless networking I can surf the Web anywhere and everywhere in my house. Finally, I can read Slate in the bathroom! The laptop is so light that I carry it with me wherever I go. Who needs a PDA with a laptop this small? There's only one problem. Fujitsu won't sell you one. Like many of the hottest laptops around, it is sold only in Japan.

There's some good news for the Japanese-at-heart gear-head who demands the best at any price. Americans can get their hands on the Libretto and on a dozen or so other hot laptops at Dynamism.com, a specialty importer that focuses on Japan-only consumer electronics. (Dynamism lent me the Libretto.) They buy the laptops in Japan, install a U.S. version of Windows, and configure them with the correct hardware drivers (sometimes a nontrivial operation—drivers for Japan-only hardware do not always work on U.S. versions of Windows), then send them to you. They'll even install a U.S. keyboard on some models (mine had one), though the normal Japanese keyboard has English characters and works fine. Their not-inconsiderable markup (about 30 percent) covers all taxes, duty, and shipping fees. If required, they'll ship your laptop to Japan and back for warranty work, and they'll even send you driver updates for free.

Dynamism's Libretto starts at $1,999. To get one in Japan you'd pay about $1,500, including tax and duty (plus travel costs). If a 30 percent markup is too much for you, there's always someone selling a Libretto on eBay. But I wouldn't go that route. International auction purchases are even less reliable than domestic ones, the driver issues can be daunting, and based on the prices I saw on some of the units for sale, I strongly doubt they come with legally licensed software.

The Libretto is not for everyone. The 10-inch 1,280-by-600 screen is amazingly bright and clear, but if you find yourself squinting at a normal laptop display this one will give you eyestrain. The keys are tight compared to a standard keyboard, and even tighter if you're used to an ergonomic keyboard. The Transmeta Crusoe microprocessor (comparable to an Intel Pentium III) runs at 800 mhz. This was fast enough, though it sometimes was too slow to display certain intensive video formats. [Note: This article was changed on Aug. 28, 2002, to correct an error of fact. The writer confused the Transmeta Crusoe microprocessor with the Intel mobile Pentium.]

I got three-plus hours out of the built-in battery such as Fujitsu FPCBP80 Battery, Fujitsu FPCBP77 Battery, Fujitsu FPCBP68 Battery, Fujitsu FPCBP63 Battery, Fujitsu FPCBP95 Battery, Fujitsu LifeBook C1320 battery, Fujitsu FPCBP115 Battery, Fujitsu LifeBook C1321 battery, Fujitsu FPCBP152 battery, Fujitsu FPCBP130 battery when doing nothing but typing, but hard-disk-intensive operations like watching movies or listening to music drained it much faster. And don't plan on watching movies on the airplane. You'll need to buy a separate DVD drive that plugs into the standard USB interface or PC-card slot—and that probably means a separate power supply and/or battery. Finally, if you hate the "eraserhead" mouse-substitute then you'll hate this one too.

What makes the Libretto so great is that it takes up very little space. At 10.5 inches wide by 6.6 inches deep, it actually sits between the keyboard and monitor of my desktop, allowing me to check mail on one machine while running Photoshop full-screen on the other. On a plane that advantage is magnified because you can use it even when the bozo in front of you has his seatback fully reclined. In fact, I'll go out on a limb and claim that without advances in speech or handwriting recognition, a laptop's footprint can't get substantially smaller than this and still remain usable. You can't get any smaller without shrinking the keyboard to the point where you can't touch-type.

Based on the number of strangers who have come up to me in cafes and left with Dynamism's URL firmly in hand, Americans will pay for small and light when it is done right. And I have seldom seen products done more right than this. I hope Fujitsu changes its mind, because I'm not buying one of these machines if I have to pay the $500 markup. But that's because I'm more American than Japanese.

Keep On Plugging

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First, some good news: Despite your desk-bound ways, you're using a laptop, which is already a greener choice than a desktop. It's not just that you don't have a monitor to plug in—although that's a big part of it. Laptops are typically designed to be more energy-efficient than their desktop counterparts, and all in all, they are estimated to use as much as 80 percent less energy while operating. There's a simple reason why laptops are more efficient: They need to be. Waste energy on a desktop, and you'll get a slightly higher electricity bill. But if your laptop isn't energy-efficient, that means either you'll need a bigger battery (and a heavier machine) or you'll spend half your time hunting for an outlet at your local coffee shop. (Laptops likely require less energy to manufacture, too—although regardless of which machine you use, one of the greenest things you can do is hold off on buying a new computer.)

Getting back to your question, start with the assumption that your computer will operate exactly the same whether or not it's plugged into the wall. In that case, you're probably better off staying plugged in, because energy is lost in the process of charging the battery such as Fujitsu FPCBP80 Battery, Fujitsu FPCBP77 Battery, Fujitsu FPCBP68 Battery, Fujitsu FPCBP63 Battery, Fujitsu FPCBP95 Battery, Fujitsu LifeBook C1320 battery, Fujitsu FPCBP115 Battery, Fujitsu LifeBook C1321 battery, Fujitsu FPCBP152 battery, Fujitsu FPCBP130 battery, storing the electricity, and then powering the computer from the battery. A report (PDF) prepared by the Natural Resources Defense Council five years ago estimated that running a laptop from AC power is about 20 percent more energy-efficient than doing it off a battery. Even if battery charging systems have improved since then, common sense suggests that using AC power requires less energy. (Some laptop users contend that keeping a laptop plugged in damages the life of the battery. If so, this would be a tougher call, since batteries require an awful lot of energy to manufacture, and there's an environmental cost to recycling a spent one. Different manufacturers give slightly different answers: Lenovo and Dell told the Lantern your battery should be fine if your computer stays plugged in; HP says you should remove the battery if you are running on AC power for weeks at a time; and Apple suggests you should unplug and run off the battery every once in a while. Check your manual, but the Lantern thinks you should be OK using AC power most of the time.)

Still, there's a catch—although it's one you can do something about. Most laptops are set up to use less energy when they aren't plugged in, since battery life is at a premium. As soon as they start receiving AC power, however, they're often set to start running at higher speeds—and thus use more energy. If you've never touched your laptop's power settings before, chances are it uses more energy when it's plugged into the wall.

It doesn't have to. Your laptop should make it easy to change your energy settings so that they're the same whether or not your laptop is plugged in. When you do that, your computer will probably run a little slower, your screen may be a little dimmer, and your machine may go to sleep a little faster when you walk away from your desk. But unless you spend most of your time playing Left 4 Dead, you probably won't mind those changes. (A quick aside: For those wondering whether it makes sense to turn off their computer or leave it on idle, it usually makes sense to shut your machine down if you are going to be away for any extended period of time.)

And there's one more step: Make sure you aren't plugged in when you don't need to be. Even if your computer is asleep—or turned off—it's still sucking in a little bit of energy the entire time it's connected to the power grid. (In fact, a plugged-in power adapter will use a little bit of electricity even if it isn't attached to your computer.) That electricity—the wonkish term for it is "standby power"; the whimsical term is "vampire power"—isn't just an issue for computers. It makes a difference for most appliances—from speakers to microwaves—and when you tally all the electrical devices we own, it can add up to a hefty sum. By some estimates, standby power use is responsible for 5 percent to 10 percent of residential electricity consumption in many countries, and 1 percent of global CO2 emissions (PDF). As you try your best to reduce the energy needed for the gadgets you are using, there's no need to waste electricity on the ones you aren't.

Battery Life Boot Camp

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It’s one of the most-asked questions we get from readers: “How do I get more battery life out of my laptop?” Many complain that their notebook’s battery can no longer hold a charge and that they have to leave their laptops plugged in at all times. We spoke with Kevin Wentzel, technical marketing manager for HP, to get his advice for keeping your laptop’s battery in tip-top shape—and to keep you working (and playing) longer when unplugged.

1 Calibrate It

Calibrate the battery based on its usage. “Under the normal usage, batteries such as Toshiba PA3191U-1BAS Battery, Toshiba PA3166U-1BAS Battery, Toshiba PA3331U-1BAS Battery, Toshiba PA3098U-1BAS Battery, Toshiba PA3084U-1BAS Battery, Toshiba PA3399U-1BAS Battery, Toshiba PA3250U-1BAS Battery, Toshiba PA3356U-1BAS Battery, Toshiba PA3291U-1BAS Battery, Toshiba PA3591U-1BAS Battery should be calibrated once every three months,” Wentzel said. “However, a battery that is rarely discharged fully should be calibrated about once a month.”

To calibrate, turn off all hibernation or suspend modes, then charge the battery until full and unplug your notebook from the wall. Once the battery has completely drained and the laptop has automatically shut off, connect the AC adapter to the notebook again and charge it completely. Turn back on your power management settings, and the calibration will be complete.

Also, avoid battery-conditioning utilities. “They were really more applicable to previous generations of battery technology,” Wentzel said.

2 Don’t Overdo It

Remove your laptop’s battery if it’s going to remain plugged into AC power for more than two weeks straight. It’s unnecessary to plug in while you’re connected to the wall.

3 Dial Down the Brightness

“It seems obvious, but you need to turn down the display brightness while running off of a battery,” Wentzel advised. “I’ve done tests and have seen 15 to 30 minutes of saved battery life between a display at low brightness and at high brightness. Airplanes are usually dim environments, so it’s easy to keep the display brightness low.”

4 Hibernate is Better than Suspend

“The big thing that most people miss is using the display’s Suspend or Hibernate modes that come with their machines. Note that Standby keeps the notebook’s state in memory and uses some power, while Hibernate stores the machine’s state to disk and uses almost no power.”

Laptop Batteries: What Do You Need?

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Simple as it may sound, batteries are the biggest differentiator between laptops and desktops. Unplug a desktop from the wall, and it shuts down; do the same with a notebook, and it might last a day (or so HP and Dell claim with their 24- and 19-hour batteries such as Toshiba PA3191U-1BAS Battery, Toshiba PA3166U-1BAS Battery, Toshiba PA3331U-1BAS Battery, Toshiba PA3098U-1BAS Battery, Toshiba PA3084U-1BAS Battery, Toshiba PA3399U-1BAS Battery, Toshiba PA3250U-1BAS Battery, Toshiba PA3356U-1BAS Battery, Toshiba PA3291U-1BAS Battery, Toshiba PA3591U-1BAS Battery, respectively). Or, more realistically, anywhere from 90 minutes to 9 hours.

Regardless of capacity, all new notebook batteries are made up of lithium-ion cells and are rechargeable via A/C adapters. While some manufacturers make it more difficult than others to remove the battery, most make it simple to pop them in and out. This opens up the possibility for mobile professionals to tote a spare battery (sold separately). However, you are better off getting one battery that lasts a long time than lugging a spare; extra batteries are bulky, and you need to shut down your computer before inserting them.

In choosing or configuring a notebook, you may be presented with different battery sizes and capacities. We can help you decide which one is right for you. H

How Much Battery Life Do You Need?

If you plan to use your notebook away from your desk, you will want a bare minimum of three hours of endurance (with four to five hours being preferable), because even when carrying a notebook around the home or office, being chained to an outlet is extremely inconvenient. If you use your notebook in public places (coffee shops, outdoors, planes, etc), you want a minimum of four and a half hours of endurance (with six or more hours preferred).

Measuring Battery Capacity

While battery capacity is the most important factor affecting battery life, you can’t tell just from the battery specs how long a notebook will last. Some notebooks are more power efficient than others and, even with the same notebook, users themselves can have a big impact on battery life based on the power settings they use and the tasks they perform. For example, a quad-core gaming notebook may get less than two hours of endurance out of high-capacity battery, while a netbook with a lower-capacity battery can last more than nine hours.

At LAPTOP, we test notebook battery life by running a custom script that surfs the Web continuously via Wi-Fi. See our "How We Test" section for more details.

However, it’s clear that the more wattage a battery provides (usually measured in either milliamps or killowatt hours), the better. Most vendors do not advertise the amount of wattage a battery provides, but rather the number of cells inside the battery. And more cells almost always equals more juice.

Choosing the Right Number of Cells

While there are batteries with two, four, or eight cells, most come in three-, six-, or nine-cell packs. If long battery life is important to you, always choose the the largest number of cells available. Whatever you do, don’t settle for a three-cell battery; notebooks and netbooks with three-cell batteries tend to get less than three hours of battery life. Batteries larger than six cells—often referred to as "extended batteries"—may add some extra bulk to your notebook, sticking out the back and adding a few tenths of a pound to the weight. However, if you need long endurance, this extra weight is worth it.

Secondary Batteries

Many business notebooks also provide the option to purchase a secondary battery, which kicks in when the main battery runs out of power. Secondary batteries typically slide into the optical drive bay (replacing the optical drive), or attach to the bottom as a battery slice. These secondary batteries add to the cost and sometimes the weight, and slices in particular can make a notebook less comfortable on your lap. However, they can add anywhere from two to six hours of endurance.

Long-Life/Prismatic Batteries

Over time, a typical notebook battery tends to lose its ability to retain a charge. After a year of use, the typical battery has lost 15 percent of capacity, and it quickly declines from there. A handful of new batteries, such as HP’s Enviro batteries (made by battery manufacturer Boston Power), use oval-shaped prismatic cells to maintain their ability to hold a charge over time. The Enviro batteries, for example, are guaranteed to last at least three years. While this new kind of battery is a rare option, it is definitely preferable when available.