How to choose a battery for your laptop

Having a good laptop battery is very important as to take full advantage of the laptop portability. Without a good battery you will loose that advantage and always have to plug the laptop into the wall. Most laptop batteries last from about to three to five hours depending on how many programs you run on a laptop or how long you use your laptop. If your battery has stopped to fully recharge or for some reason stops to hold its charge and you have to plug it in frequently, it probably means that you have to get a new battery.


Let's take things step by step there are certain things to consider before deciding on which battery to buy. First of all you need to the make of your laptop and its model number. If you don't know this information you can open up your laptop battery compartment while its off and unplugged of course. This is necessary because each laptop is designed to use only one certain type of batteries. Then second of all you need to decide whether you use your laptop on a regular or you use it occasionally because if that is the case you can get a way with getting a standard battery.


There is always the issue of whether to buy a used or a new battery. Well new is always better but if you don't use your laptop that often you may get an old battery. Always remember that before buying a battery it must have a warranty for at least a year. That is because poor quality batteries usually stop working after a minimum of three month.


The next thing you should look for is the type of battery. There are four main types they are Ni-Cad, Ni-MH, Li-Ion, and Li-Poly. Ni-Cad laptop batteries are really old which is why not a lot of manufacturers still make them. Ni-MH is newer and more advanced, but is not as good as its Li-Ion and Li-Poly counterparts. The Ni-MH batteries weigh more than the other two, but it produces less current than the rest of them. Li-Ion and Li-Poly are the most advanced types of batteries there is which is why you should try to get one of these two types if possible. Most laptops but not all laptops that come with one type of battery can not use any other type of battery i.e. if your laptop came with a Ni-Cad, it must be replaced by another Ni-Cad.


Now that you have seceded on which battery to buy you have one more thing to check first, the power rating. In the case of laptop battery they are rated be volts and mill amperes as they are really small in size. You should always go for the one which has the most mill amperes. Another way of rating a battery is to determine its Watt per hour. This is done by multiplying the number of volts with the number of amperes.


Whatever type of battery you decide to buy its important to keep good maintenance of these batteries. It always a good idea to try to drain out the whole battery supply before charges to maintain a life for your battery.