Items tagged with Batteries
by
Ray Willington - Fri, Apr 23, 2010
Earth Day was this week, and it seems that it was a much bigger deal in 2010 than in year's past. Maybe it had something to do with those tons of gallons of oil spilling off of the Gulf of Mexico (we're sure the Earth loved that), or maybe this is just what happens when everyone gets on the...
Read more...
by
Shawn Oliver - Thu, Nov 12, 2009
Let's face it: just about any gizmo worth using these days has a USB connector, and more often than not, it's actually charged over USB as well. But also, battery life has sunk in recent years as devices are made to be slimmer and hold...
Read more...
by
Shawn Oliver - Thu, Aug 13, 2009
Around here, there seems to be a never-ending debate surrounding batteries. You can't live with 'em, and you certainly can't live without 'em. Whether we're discussing just how disingenuous most battery life figures seem on modern day...
Read more...
by
Shawn Oliver - Mon, Jul 06, 2009
Batteries seem to be a growing topic of discussion here at HotHardare. From netbooks with increasingly large cells to debates over the legitimacy of notebook battery life figures, it's safe to say that longevity away from the plug is an important matter for true PC enthusiasts. To that end, we...
Read more...
by
Michael Santo - Fri, Oct 31, 2008
It's been about two years since millions of Sony notebook batteries across many different OEM lines were recalled, due to overheating --- and fire problems. We assume you haven't forgotten about that, because here we are again. Here's hoping this isn't the beginning of another long list of recalls involving Sony batteries. At any rate, the...
Read more...
by
Michael Santo - Wed, May 07, 2008
All those of you who are using generic, and in particular, high-capacity batteries with your Eee should watch out. It seems you might have an explosive combination. Second- and third-tier battery makers in China have begun to manufacture batteries designed to be used with the Eee PC. Some vendors are offering batteries with capacities...
Read more...
by
Gregory Sullivan - Mon, May 05, 2008
There was a fire in LG Chem's plant in South Korea in March of this year. "So what?" you might ask. Well, that plant makes lithium-ion batteries, and that's helping to limit the supply of laptop computers. "I think maybe the battery shortage may hurt every brand," said J.T. Wang...
Read more...
by
Gregory Sullivan - Mon, Dec 31, 2007
If you've been stashing extra lithium batteries in your luggage when flying, the Transportation Department would like a word with you. Wary of short circuits that could cause a fire, they're limiting the amount you can transport, and specifying the type of packaging required for the...
Read more...
by
Gregory Sullivan - Thu, Dec 20, 2007
Some very clever people at Stanford University have devised away to modify lithium-ion batteries with silicon nanowires to expand the capacity of the batteries and allow them to deliver electricity for ten times as long as they currently do before recharging. "It's not a small improvement,"...
Read more...
by
Chad Weirick - Tue, Jul 03, 2007
Despite competitors having talking points about how the iPhone battery isn't replaceable, that's not entirely the case. It's true that the user isn't able to buy a battery and swap it out on the road as they can with many existing phones, but Apple can do it for you, for a fee of $85.95 plus...
Read more...
by
Gregory Sullivan - Wed, Jun 20, 2007
Computer maker Gateway has voluntarily recalled about 14,000 lithium-ion battery packs, sold as primary or spare power supplies for some of their laptop computers, because they pose an overheating and fire hazard. The Irvine, Calif., computer maker said the affected battery packs were shipped as the primary or spare battery pack...
Read more...
by
Gregory Sullivan - Sat, Mar 24, 2007
Scientists at Waseda University in Japan have come up with a nifty battery. It's made from polymers, it's only 200 nanometers thick, and it's flexible. Peter Skabara, an expert in electroactive materials at the University of Strathclyde, UK, praised the high stability and fabrication...
Read more...
by
David Altavilla - Sun, Jan 28, 2007
This one definitely borders on the freaky side for sure. Viruses used to build electronic structures? Hello? Maybe we can all just skip the flu shots this year and head on over to MIT for a crash course in electrophysics? In some sort of sick and twisted way, that runny nose...
Read more...
by
Stacy Doss - Mon, Nov 06, 2006
With all of the recent Sony battery problems, this just might be a step in the right direction. Battery technology is slow to advance, Lithium Ion having only quadrupled since its introduction 15 years ago. The new battery seems to have...
Read more...
by
Sandy Drew - Tue, Oct 17, 2006
Another day, another Sony battery recall. Sony today announced that it would be recalling up to 300,000 of their Vaio laptop batteries under intense industry pressure. Sony initially stated it would not be recalling its batteries, however, it appears that is not the case. Sony...
Read more...
by
Sandy Drew - Sat, Oct 14, 2006
Sharp has announced that it is recalling 28,000 Sony Lithium-Ion laptop batteries that could be prone to overheating and subsequent fire. Sharp has stated that the affected batteries are from 7 different models. Fujitsu has also expanded their recall to include 51,000 more...
Read more...
by
Sandy Drew - Fri, Oct 06, 2006
And the hits just keep on coming for Sony. Hitachi has announced that they will be recalling 16,000 Sony made lithium-ion batteries. Hitachi has joined an increasing list of computer manufactures over the past two months who have recalled batteries. Apple, Dell, Fujitsu...
Read more...
by
Marco Chiappetta - Thu, Aug 31, 2006
While you can't draw any conclusions based on a single, isolated instance like this, it is still interesting to see what happened to the underside of a Maxtor hard drive that seemed to have spontaneously combusted. We're talking charbroiled here folks. Actually, now that I look really close, it looks like something...
Read more...
by
Matt Beauvais - Thu, Aug 24, 2006
Apple has recalled 1.8 million lithium-ion notebook batteries after reports of nine different devices overheating, causing injury to two people. The batteries were sold with the Apple iBook G4 and PowerBook G4 through October 2003, to August 2006. This will be the second major notebook...
Read more...
by
Matt Beauvais - Tue, Aug 15, 2006
Later today, Dell is expected to announce a recall of around 4.1 Million notebook batteries. Brands included in the recall are certain Inspiron, Latitude, Precision mobile workstations, and XPS units. The Sony manufactured batteries were made between April 2004 and July 18 2006. ...
Read more...
by
Matt Beauvais - Tue, Mar 07, 2006
After years of use, you may notice you're laptop's battery doesn't last nearly as long as it used to, even when fully charged. No, you're not going crazy, you could just be a victim of the "memory effect". What is this horrible, battery destroying effect? Hardware Secrets will explain, and also provide some tips on how to prevent...
Read more...
by
Matt Beauvais - Sun, Dec 18, 2005
If you own a Dell, you've got another fire hazard to worry about. As The Inquirer reports, Dell has recalled 22,000 batteries from various Dell units, including the Latitude, Inspiron, and Precision series of notebooks. Potentially affected batteries were sold with the following models of Dell notebook computers or separately as secondary...
Read more...