There’s no memory effect in Ultrabook batteries so partial charging is OK. It is at these extremes that a lot of the damage is done to laptop batteries. Trying to run a laptop on the last 10% of battery capacity isn’t good, as is charging beyond 80%. However, there are a few key rules that must be followed in order to keep the battery as active as possible.Īvoid extremes. The good news is that with Ultrabooks being some of the most efficient laptops out there, the number of charge cycles needed is less than with other laptops. Tips for preserving battery capacity.Ĭharge cycles and extreme usage kills batteries.
You can see the full charge capacity of 40,022 mWh and the design capacity of 46,472. Here’s the top section of a report from an older Ultrabook. Now open a file explorer and navigate to your home directory.ĭouble click on the battery report file which will open the report in your browser.
Press return and you should see a black windows pop up.) Type the following:
Use it by opening a command line (simply press the ‘Windows’ key on your keyboard to go to the modern Windows 8 UI and type “cmd”. Windows 8 has a built in command line tool called powercfg
How to check battery wear level on Windows 8 The report shown above is for an Acer Aspire V5-122P that is about one month old. I’ve seen HWMonitor lock up laptops before so be careful to save data beforehand. In most cases, HWMonitor will report the design capacity, the current max capacity and the wear rate.
How to check battery wear level on Windows 7ĭownload and install CPUID HWMonitor. If you have the chance, please report your figures (with the age of the device) in the comment below. Check your Ultrabook battery health.īy collecting data from readers here we should be able to get a picture of how long the sealed batteries are lasting. There are ways to improve the life of your battery and you’ll find them below but first, how do you check your battery? Read the next section and let us know your results in the comments below. Unfortunately, unless the manufacturer tells you otherwise, you’re probably getting a standard quality cell. Quality varies though and some high quality cells will last much longer. It’s enough for well over a year of good charge capacity for most people and much more for others as they rarely do a full-to-empty charge cycle. Battery life guidelines.Īll Ultrabook batteries should give you 300 full charge cycles and retain over 75% capacity without the user having to do anything special to preserve battery life. For some, a replacement laptop is the easiest option. Doing it yourself is going to be half the cost but sometimes it’s not easy to find the part or even remove the old battery. Getting a service center to replace a sealed battery is going to cost you 100-150 $/€. For those on the road that’s a brick wall and replacement is needed. Some external slate batteries can be charged standalone too which is what you’ll find on the Sony Vaio Duo 11.īatteries, however, lose their capacity over time and as we all know, old laptops don’t last long without mains power. Some designs use a sealed internal battery and offer an external ‘slate’ battery. A spare battery often weighs less than a mains charger and if you’re only out for a day it makes sense to go that route. There’s also the problem of carrying a spare battery.
The end result is more capacity per weight and that’s good. By using multiple Li-Polymer cells wired and taped together there’s less weight, less cost and often a more flexible way to shape the battery into space left inside the chassis. That casing also increases the size though and in an Ultrabook, that can be a problem. Removable batteries require protective casings and additional electronics that can be expensive. Ultrabooks have sealed in batteries for a number of reasons and the primary reason is to save money. In this article you’ll find out why Ultrabooks have sealed batteries, how to check your battery health, tips for prolonging the life of your battery and some examples of Ultrabooks with removable batteries. On another, that I’ve been using for well over a year, the wear level is just 14%. I’ve got an Ultrabook here that is reporting a warning that the battery needs replacement after just 18 months. There isn’t a manufacturer out there what will tell you how long that sealed-in battery will last and you’ll be lucky to get any idea of replacement cost, or even possibility, before you buy that product.