How to turn on a laptop without a battery. Laptops without batteries - a new platform or a marketing ploy? If the laptop runs without a battery

Can you use a laptop without a battery?

    You can turn on the laptop without a battery. If your battery ordered to live for a long time, and there is not enough money for a new one, then throw away unnecessary old trash and connect without it and work or play for your health.

    I often do this, my battery is already useless, and I use my laptop, in principle, as a desktop computer more often. So I take out the battery and the laptop works from the network. If you suddenly need to move, you can insert the battery into place. This method is better than working from the mains with an inserted battery, since it can quickly fail from such operation.

    Previously, they made laptops that did not work without a battery. Now such models are not produced, and therefore each laptop can be plugged into the network without using a battery. I will say even more: it is desirable to do this, because. this way you will reduce the wear and tear of the laptop battery.

    Oddly enough, but this way a laptop is not only possible, but also desirable to use. It will work without problems from the network, even if there is no battery. This procedure will be useful, because it will save your battery and it should theoretically last longer.

    For several years I have been using a laptop almost all the time at home and it is constantly powered - now small problems with the battery have begun (it sometimes does not accumulate charge - that is, I cannot use the laptop as a laptop, if I turn it off from the outlet, it immediately turns off, like computer). Therefore, I think it’s worth either pulling out the battery altogether, or charging the laptop to 100%, and then turning it off and when it runs out, reconnect the power.

    Of course, you can use without battery. I will say more: if you remove the battery while the laptop is on and the network is connected, this will not affect the operation of your computer in any way. Many even recommend removing the battery if the network is on and it is charged, they say the battery will then last longer.

    It is not forbidden to remove the battery from the laptop when connected to the mains, the laptop will continue to work without it, and in addition, the battery lasts longer in this case, especially if the laptop is used for a long period of time.

    Of course, some do just that, they want to save the battery this way. It reminds me of a TV remote control in cellophane, but they know better! Simply, if the power is lost, then, as on a regular computer (if there is no uninterruptible power supply), everything will jump off.

    Can. The power supply usually pulls the power consumption with a margin. An uninterruptible power supply can be used in case of power outages. But. not necessarily. Just. The battery solves a lot of problems with poor-quality electricity in the network.

    Most laptop models allow you to work with a missing/non-working battery. Actually, I only heard that there are laptops that are powered in such a way that if there is no battery in the circuit, the computer will not turn on.

    For home users who constantly use a laptop as a desktop computer, this is a good chance to extend battery life. You remove it from the case, connect the charger and work, and the battery is resting. Otherwise, without a discharge cycle, its life will not be long.

    I recently bought myself a simple Lenovo ideapad 100 laptop. The manual says in black and white that it is recommended to remove the battery when using the laptop for a long time from the mains. True, I do not know how to remove it from the laptop, but this is the second question.

    Here is the answer to this question: without a battery, the laptop will work from the network and you can use it.


Is it possible to use a laptop without a battery on mains power?

To understand the reasons why a laptop battery does not need any kind of exercise at all, let's dive into history a bit. Until recently, portable devices were powered by nickel cadmium (NiCd) and nickel metal hydride (Ni-MH) batteries. Now such batteries are not used in laptops due to a number of shortcomings: they take a very long time to charge, when charging, and sometimes even when used, they heat up quite a lot, have a relatively small resource of charge-discharge cycles, and are environmentally unsafe.

Achilles' heel of any nickel batteries, crossing out all the advantages, there was and remains the so-called "Memory Effect", which is just on everyone's lips. The memory effect occurs when the battery is charged before it is completely discharged.

A bit of physics: In the electrochemical system of a nickel battery, when the battery is not completely discharged, an “extra” double electric layer appears, which, as it were, “tear off” a piece of its capacity equal to the underdischarge value and its voltage decreases by 0.1 Volt. This "biting" is called memory effect. If each time you slightly underdischarge a nickel battery, start charging it - each time its capacity decreases.

Primitive cheap chargers, understood this drop in voltage as a discharge of the battery and reported that the battery was "bad". In reality, however, there was no reduction in energy consumption, and a good charger could provide full use of the capacity of the nickel battery. However, in most cases, the charger forced the user to perform more and more charge cycles. And this led to the fact that the user, with his own hands, with the best of intentions, quickly "killed" the battery.

Oddly enough, one or more cycles of deep discharge and subsequent full charge of the nickel battery(People call it battery training) could almost completely restore its original capacity.

That's where it came from myth that on a new laptop, you must first perform a full charge-discharge of the battery several times, and only then start using it. But believe me, these are all speculations of people who trust the information received from the words and did not delve into the essence of the issue properly! The fact is that in modern portable devices, be it a laptop, netbook, tablet or even a smartphone, Li-ion(Li-ion) batteries, and the operating conditions of these batteries are almost completely opposite to nickel ones. Therefore, lithium batteries are not only unnecessary, but even harmful to train!

Lithium batteries are absolutely devoid of such a disadvantage as the “memory effect”, in principle they can be charged and discharged at any time, and this is their main advantage, for which engineers have fought for decades. But lithium batteries have other disadvantages. Lithium batteries should not be completely discharged, and even more so should never be stored in a discharged state. In addition, a lithium-ion battery is afraid of frost, its capacity drops noticeably after use or storage at sub-zero temperatures.

The ideal conditions for short-term storage of a lithium-ion battery is 40% charge. It's okay if you keep the battery fully charged, but just keep in mind one more little nuance that few sellers, and even techies, know about - this is the aging effect of the lithium battery. Why do you think laptop manufacturers don't give warranties longer than two years? The answer lies in the battery. Even if new lithium battery fully charge and store the laptop without using it (so that it allegedly does not wear out) - it getting old, and after a couple of years due to aging effect it will lose two-thirds of its original capacity, and this process is unfortunately irreversible. I do not argue that there are exceptions in nature. I met laptops that held an hour of charging even after 7 years of use. But this, as they say, as someone is lucky. It all depends on the quality of a particular battery instance, and, unfortunately, this process cannot be controlled in any way. Conclusion - a lithium battery for the most part loses its capacity, regardless of whether you use it or not.

And the fact that some say: "Remove the battery and it will not wear out" - this is the second myth dispelled in this article. Do not remove the laptop battery, on the contrary, the laptop battery works as an uninterruptible power supply. And in case of power outages, which is still not uncommon, it will help you save data in a laptop, and sometimes protect electronic components as well as its electronic circuits. For those who are going to buy a new battery to replace an old, worn out one, I recommend finding out the exact production date of the new battery, since no one will tell you how long it could be stored in warehouses, under what conditions, and how much its capacity has decreased?

This could be the end of the article, if there was one more important “trifle” that I missed at the beginning. Many readers of the “Computer from scratch!” blog, who have budget portable devices, turned to me with a problem: “it seems that they used the battery as described in this article, but after just a year it still fizzled out.” What was the reason? Bad battery? Not always.

One of the important parameters for using a lithium-ion battery is the temperature at which it is operated. Lithium-ion batteries are afraid of overheating. The ideal temperature at which a lithium-ion battery will last as long as possible is only +5 degrees Celsius. When the laptop is running, heat is generated (often quite a lot of heat), which, spreading through the components of the laptop, naturally heats up the battery, sometimes up to 60, 70 degrees Celsius! As a rule, this happens when a load is given to the laptop, for example, during games. Some "advisers" advise you to remove the laptop battery for the duration of the games, and put it, supposedly "for preservation", in the refrigerator, having previously wrapped it in a plastic bag - complete nonsense! Taking a cold battery out of the refrigerator, into a warm room, and then installing it in a laptop, you can “kill” it many times faster due to moisture condensation and sudden temperature changes.

"What's the way out?" - you ask. A cheap laptop, and therefore cheap, because the manufacturer saved on everything he could and how he could, including on the heat removal system. The task of the manufacturer in this case is for you to quickly buy a new laptop from him, eventually laying out the amount that he wants to receive from you. That's why the battery gets hot. In expensive and special gaming laptop models (which are also expensive), the cooling system, on the contrary, is given due attention. Cheap laptops are not designed to run too resource-intensive applications and games. And their relatively decent characteristics are just an advertising race of competing manufacturers, and ensuring comfortable work in standard applications. In fact, many users buy a budget laptop, and then try to "squeeze" everything imaginable and unthinkable out of it. Others even try to disperse ...

To summarize...

You should not "train" the battery of a laptop, phone or tablet before using it;

Don't remove the laptop battery - it gets old anyway;

Do not store the battery in the refrigerator;

Choose a laptop designed for the tasks you plan to perform on it;

Do not overclock your laptop, and do not demand the impossible for little money;

Have you ever wondered what the essence of revolutionary changes in engineering and technology is? Why does an engineering idea, which at first seemed ingenious, not find approval among consumers, and a simple design find can give rise to a real boom? Or maybe marketing ploys are more important than engineering genius? Today, such bizarre hybrids and “new trends” appear on the computer platform market that you never cease to be surprised! The SFF compact mini system platform is beginning to compete with the Desknote subclass of "desktop" batteryless notebooks, which in turn compete with the newfangled Tablet PCs.

It's no secret that laptops year by year increase their share in the total number of computer systems sold. This is due to a number of reasons, the main of which is the improvement in speed and functionality (thanks to which laptops are very close to desktop systems in terms of performance) while reducing the price of portable computers. Of course, a portable computer costs an average of 1.5-2 times more than a desktop system similar in these parameters, and, unlike the latter, it is difficult to upgrade during operation. So many have had to sacrifice portability for a winning price. At the same time, the growth in performance of computer systems for the vast majority of applications has already exceeded reasonable limits, and frequent platform changes negate the possibility of a reasonable upgrade. What can we realistically add to our current desktop system over time? Well, let's say we increase the amount of RAM, replace the hard drive with a larger one (and it's not a fact that by the time we need it, manufacturers will not have time to change its interface) and install a slightly faster processor (a radical increase in its performance will most likely require replacement motherboard, memory type, power supply, and possibly the case itself, which will lead to the replacement of the entire computer).

Thus, compared to a desktop computer, the laptop has only one significant drawback - the high price. Everything else (that is, compactness, ease of transportation and low noise level) is unrivaled.

However, more and more often you can see that they work with laptops exclusively “from the outlet”, although they transfer it from place to place. It is quite logical in such a situation to abandon an unnecessary, expensive and short-lived battery, energy conservation system and other mobile subsystems, thereby saving a significant part of the cost (and retaining all the main advantages). In addition, desktop components can be used in such systems, which will cost significantly less.

According to the results of marketing research, in the near future it seems possible to increase the production of batteryless laptops that require connection to a power source. After analysts found out that many customers work on their laptops in close proximity to the outlet and the main thing they need is the ability to move their workplace to a nearby table in the office or home for the weekend, manufacturers came up with Desknote. In principle, power is available in almost any more or less civilized place - in most public places there are sockets on the walls: in airport waiting rooms, in hotels and even in airplanes. The laptop can be powered even in the car.

Without a doubt, such a computer is quite convenient and comfortable for work, and if you don’t like its non-standard keyboard or the touch pad is inconvenient, then you can get an additional set of a full-size keyboard and a classic mouse and store it in more or less regular places. But the ability to quickly move along with your workplace to another room, apartment or cottage will undoubtedly attract many potential buyers.

However, Desknote only at first glance is just a laptop without batteries. Free from the disadvantages of their battery-powered counterparts, such as poor power and battery life, batteryless laptops can be equipped with faster and more powerful processors, standard memory, brighter displays and other stuff from desktop computers (even adjusting for the increased heat dissipation of such components). no need to save energy allows for better cooling even in the smallest case). In addition, all this will be much cheaper, and the upgrade process will be almost as easy as desktop systems (the only difference from the desktop computer is the difficulty of replacing the video subsystem). Moreover, the absence of heavy and rather massive batteries will reduce the weight and size of the new device, even compared to its mobile counterpart - a laptop. And given some poor battery designs, battery overheating issues, and even cases of laptop spontaneous combustion, laptop buyers may well take laptops without batteries more than seriously.

As a rule, Desknote computers are supplied without a processor, hard drive and RAM (although, like desktop computers, there are also versions with installed components, that is, turnkey assembly).

The processor is standard. There are versions for Pentium III, Pentium 4, and Athlon. There are few slots for RAM (only one or two), but, unlike laptops, they are designed for standard "desktop" modules. Hard drives are usually small (2.5-inch) and their capacity is limited to 15-40 GB on the market.

Taiwan's Elitegroup Computer Systems (ECS) Corporation has been producing such batteryless laptops for a year now, and also offers solutions for the Intel Pentium 4 platform - Desknote i-Buddie 4. Several other Taiwanese companies, such as Mitac and Asustek, are also going to release processor-based batteryless laptops. Pentium 4. At the same time, ECS decided to go even further and release Desknote without a display, giving the user the opportunity to choose a monitor on their own, guided by their needs and capabilities. The brainchild of Elitegroup called i-Buddie A980 resembles a thick laptop, devoid of a screen. In reality, the A980 is a portable desktop system, half "mobile" and half "desktop". The basis for building this system was a motherboard based on the SiS 651/962 chipset. The platform supports desktop Pentium 4 processors based on Willamette and Northwood cores and has an integrated SiS 315 video subsystem.

In the standard configuration, this "non-notebook" costs only $ 300 and weighs 1.8 kg - in the best traditions of laptops. However, if someone is not satisfied with the meager possibilities of basic graphics, then he can separately purchase a video card based on the NVIDIA GeForce 4Go mobile chip! with 32 MB DDR memory. In general, there are ample opportunities for expanding this system: processor upgrades, memory (one DIMM slot supporting up to one gigabyte of DDR 266/333 memory) and hard drive (2.5-inch models with capacities from 15 to 40 GB are supported). Optical drives are also available: DVD-ROM 8x or DVD/CD-RW combo with CD-R 24x write speed. Audio speakers are built into the system case. To connect external peripherals, there are four USB 2.0 ports, one IEEE-1394 port, an infrared port, a 10/100 Mbps network interface and a built-in 56 Kbps modem. Thus, the system has a complete set of interface and telecommunication capabilities. It even comes with a wireless radio mouse. Additionally, you can purchase external batteries and a floppy drive, and to complete the kit, you can buy an external 15-inch LCD monitor or a 14-inch "notebook" panel.

A spoon of tar

History knows a lot of unsuccessful attempts, when ingenious developments and projects failed solely through the fault of marketing - as a result of erroneously chosen time of appearance and form of implementation.

MiTAC International has announced that it is halting production of its mobile computers due to low demand. The batteryless MiNote 8500 was planned to be sold in quantities of up to 50 thousand pieces monthly, but it was not possible to reach this level.

Such portable PCs were especially disliked by buyers from Europe and Japan. It is noteworthy that representatives of Intel actively opposed the use of desktop processors in batteryless laptops. Indeed, despite the fact that laptops work most of the time from a stationary power source (which was the reason for releasing a laptop without a battery), they even in this case have such an indisputable advantage as a “portable uninterruptible power supply”, which the buyer receives in the form laptop power system with battery. Moreover, the duration of the operation of such a source is several hours, while ordinary household UPSs are able to feed a computer system for no more than half an hour.

Most laptop manufacturers today enter the market with full-fledged, but inexpensive models. At the same time, major manufacturers continue to uphold the traditional concept that a laptop should be portable, and emphasize its mobility and independence from power sources, even in a budget version. And if the price difference between portable batteryless models and full-fledged laptops becomes minimal, then buyers will naturally choose the latter. So the prospects of this branch in the evolution of computers are still a big question...

Probably, many people have encountered a situation where a laptop refused to work without a battery from a 220 V network. There may be several reasons for this. Let's look into this issue.

Maintenance

Should a laptop work without a battery from the mains

Sometimes the question arises whether a laptop can work without a battery and whether it should work like that at all. In general, most models can be easily and simply connected to the network with the battery removed. To do this, a controller is provided on the motherboard, which automatically switches power to the battery if it is not charged or directly to the laptop if the battery is charged to 100% or removed.

There are also some models that simply do not provide for operation without a battery. Usually these are old models that are simply not designed for such actions. They use the battery as part of the circuit. That is, first the idea is powered by the battery, and then into the laptop, and if the battery is removed, the circuit will be open.

Separately, it should be noted that using a laptop without a battery makes sense only if the battery has failed. In order to save battery life, you should not remove it. The fact is that the controller on the motherboard independently copes with disconnecting the battery, and operation from an external power source does not affect the battery life in any way.

If you work without a battery, it is better to use a UPS, in case of a power surge or a sudden power outage.

Causes and Solutions for Faults

Sometimes it happens that you need to connect the laptop to the network directly, without a battery, but this does not work. Power is not supplied. There may be several reasons for this inappropriate behavior.

Network operation is not provided

First, make sure that the laptop allows such a connection. If you have a modern gadget, even Chinese-made, there should be no problems. But, five years ago, many laptops did not support direct operation from the network. A battery was required. Now this is found only in the cheapest models or replicas.

But, nevertheless, the first thing to check is whether the laptop can work without a battery.

Lack of electricity in the network

Another banal situation - the socket is simply de-energized. This really happens. In this case, the laptop will not work naturally. Just in case, check if there is current in the network.

  • Plug in any known working device. If it works, then there is current.
  • If there is no voltage, check the automatic fuses. Sometimes they are made on separate devices, maybe this is your case.

If the fuse turns on, but there is no current, you should call a specialist, but for now use another outlet.

Worn out wire

Quite often the reason is in the power supply wire. As a result of operation, as well as regular transportation, the cord may break. It is quite simple to identify such a problem, it is enough to move the wire, if the reason is in it, in some positions there will be power. You can also check the wire with a multimeter. Typically, a break occurs in the following places.

  • Break at the base. Directly near the block, the cord is constantly subjected to various loads. As a result, it breaks down quickly. To avoid this, it is worth carefully and carefully positioning the cord when using, as well as transporting. If a breakdown has already occurred, you can try to restore the integrity of the product. If the break is not near the block itself, cut off the damaged section of the wire, and wind the rest. In the event of a break directly near the block, you will have to disassemble it and re-solder the wire on the contacts.
  • At the plug. Usually occurs after transportation with the charger connected. Due to incorrect positioning, the conductor breaks. This is solved either by replacing the damaged section of the wire, or by completely replacing the cord.

The power supply has gone

A fairly common problem is that the power supply simply does not work. It can burn out quietly, or noticeably, with the release of smoke. In any case, the malfunction will not allow the device to continue working. There is only one way to solve the problem - buying a new block.

When choosing a new unit, pay attention to the connector and power. They should fit your laptop.

Crashed connector at the memory or laptop

Another common problem. If the gadget was used inaccurately, transported with a connected cord, lifted by the wire, there is a possibility of damage to the socket. The antennae that come into contact with the plug may be bent, or the contacts directly in the laptop itself may break off. There may be several reasons.

The only way to solve the problem is to replace the socket. To do this, you will have to completely disassemble the device. If you are not sure of your skills, it is better to contact a service center for repair. Any mistake during operation can lead to other breakdowns.

Broken motherboard controller

As already mentioned, the corresponding controller is responsible for the operation in the "without battery" mode. If the laptop does not turn on without a battery, the motherboard may be the reason. The microcircuit can start working if you change the corresponding capacitors and transistors.

It is very difficult to identify this cause on your own. Eliminate it at home is also not possible. It is best to contact specialists who will restore the controller to working order.

Conclusion

Most modern laptops work without any problems without a battery. But, sometimes there are difficulties. They may be related to a malfunction of the power supply, wires, or components of the laptop itself. Diagnosis and elimination of some of the causes can be done independently. If the problem is in the connector or motherboard, you will have to contact the service for help.

Stayed questions or is there something supplement the article? Write about it in the comments. This will make the article more complete and useful.

If the laptop is without a battery, can it be used?

Today, you can often find a discussion about the operation of a laptop without a battery. This question, for various reasons, worries laptop users. Someone motivates this by increasing battery life, others by the recommendations of acquaintances, and still others do it simply because they read about it somewhere. In this article, we will try to figure out whether it is necessary and possible to use a laptop without a battery.

Indeed, why use a laptop without a battery? When answering this question, users usually say that this saves battery life. Some have seen information that the battery is very vulnerable, and has a limited number of charge and discharge cycles. For this reason, they remove the battery from the laptop and work directly from the power adapter connected to the mains.


Regarding the limited number of charge-discharge cycles, we can fully agree. In modern laptops, lithium batteries are installed, which, after 500 charge-discharge cycles, significantly lose capacity (up to 20%). With active use, the laptop battery can come to this state in a year. You can also agree with the sensitivity of the laptop battery. Lithium type batteries are extremely negative about overcharging and deep discharge. All this is true, but why use a laptop without a battery?

Indeed, in a modern laptop (meaning a normal product of well-known brands, and not a Chinese noname), a battery or mains power supply scheme is provided. To do this, the laptop motherboard has a special microcircuit that controls the power. How does it work?

When you plug the power adapter into the laptop's power jack and plug it into a power outlet, the chip turns on mains power. During this time, the battery is charged if needed. Moreover, the battery has the same microcircuit for controlling charge and discharge.

This chip is called the BMS battery controller. It is responsible for the process of charging and discharging the battery. When the battery is installed in the laptop and needs to be charged, the BMS board allows access to the lithium cells that make up the battery and they are charged. At the same time, the board controls voltage, temperature, and sometimes even pressure inside the elements. As soon as the parameters are out of range, the BMS controller disconnects the battery from the outside world. This helps to prevent overheating and ignition of lithium-ion batteries.


If yours, then read the material at the link to find out about the causes of this problem.


The same thing happens during the operation of the laptop from the battery, that is, when it is discharged. The controller board monitors the voltage of the lithium cells and, when it drops to a certain value, turns off the battery. This prevents deep discharge of the battery. And for this it is not at all necessary to turn on the laptop without a battery. All of the above processes occur in normal mode, that is, with a battery connected to the laptop.

In addition, the microcircuit that controls the power on the laptop motherboard automatically switches to mains power mode when the adapter is connected. That is, the battery is excluded from the power supply. If you unplug the adapter, the chip switches to battery mode. It turns out that the laptop battery acts as an uninterruptible power supply for it. Thus, in the event of a power outage, you can continue to work from the battery. This is another argument against running a laptop without a battery.

So, can you use a laptop without a battery? Yes, definitely. But is it necessary? After all, if you use a laptop without a battery, you have to buy an uninterruptible power supply for it. Then, when the power goes out, you can save all user files and shut down correctly. But, think about why you need additional expenses. Also, if you work on a laptop without a battery, it does not mean that you will save the battery. Lithium batteries degrade even when stored. Even when the battery is idle, lithium is destroyed.

Apparently, the myth about saving the battery, if you turn on the laptop without a battery, has gone since the days. When laptops first appeared on the market, cells were also used in their batteries. As you know, this type of battery has such a drawback as the "memory effect". This problem lies in the fact that when a nickel-cadmium or nickel-metal hydride battery is not completely discharged, a double electrical layer occurs.


This causes the battery to lose some of its capacity. In this case, the voltage drops slightly, which is perceived as a discharge of the battery. As a result, the battery starts to charge again and the problem gets worse. Therefore, with such a battery, it was reasonable to work from the network without it. In addition, with alkaline batteries, it was necessary to periodically conduct training, which consisted in the full discharge and charge of the cells.

But now this type of battery is not used in laptops. Their place was taken by lithium-ion and lithium-polymer batteries, which do not have a “memory effect”. Therefore, I consider it pointless to remove the battery from the laptop.

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