| In the third millennium the laptop has become number 1 device extensively used by students, businessmen, travellers etc. Since it is portable, it can be taken aboard an airplane to watch business presentations or send/receive e-mails from co-workers or business partners. Still, the laptops cannot work day and night. Every now and again its battery needs to be re-charged. Barely has anyone thought most the first laptop batteries and their power.
In fact, the history of laptop batteries is an exciting one. They have already come along way, but they still have a long way to go to perfection. When we think about laptop batteries, many of us think about the rechargeable ones that we use now. Nevertheless, a few decades ago AA batteries were widely used in laptops. It took a number of AA batteries to run a laptop. Besides, it could not run for long. Some laptop users remember the heavy-weight lead acid based batteries. Neither lasted they long, nor were they light.
Since then the manufacture of laptop batteries has altered. Lead acid based batteries were replaced by lighter nickel cadmium batteries (NiCd). Nevertheless, these batteries were not used long, as nickel metal hydride batteries (known as NiMH) were introduced. They lasted a lot longer and were lighter. Their drawback was that they possessed the so-called memory defect. If the battery had not discharged to the full, it remembered it and its output was lower.
A tremendous step towards progress in laptop batteries production was taken when lithium ion batteries (LiON) entered the market. These batteries are light-weight and do not produce any memory defect. They are deployed in technically advanced models.
Although LiON batteries run non-stop for several hours, they require to be re-charged. Since more and more people purchase laptops annually, the demand for longer lasting batteries is rapidly growing. There will surely be innovations until batteries that never die are invented. Regardless of the purpose you power on your portable PC for, you know that you need a battery with a long life. You have to know that you can rely on the battery when you need your laptop most of all. |
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