When I bought my Acer Aspire 4740G laptop last year, I was not even aware that the batteries that came with the device needed regular maintenance. I was probably like other people who think that batteries need no extra attention, only to come across complaining people that their laptop batteries disappoint them. Most manufacturers also don’t bother placing instructions on how to calibrate these kinds of batteries, and I’m beginning to think that this is their ploy to get their customers to purchase brand new lithium-ion batteries in a short time.

A good battery lasts for two to three years. Various factors like excessive heat and even keeping the laptop unused for several months on a very low charge could shorten the battery life.

Why is there a need for calibration?

Lithium-ion batteries often indicate inaccurate battery wear and capacity readings over time. In effect, the laptop charge doesn’t last long and indicates low battery mode even if the battery is still in good condition.

Simple steps to calibrate your laptop battery

Battery charge should last a bit longer after each calibration. Do the calibration every 30 cycles of charging and discharging, or every month, whichever comes first! Again, most instructions apply to Windows users but there is no reason not to perform calibration on Mac and other operating systems too.

image by VeloBusDriver

1. Charge the laptop up to its maximum capacity. Leave the device plugged for two hours or more.
2. Disconnect the laptop from AC power. Disable any means in the Power Options for the laptop to sleep or go into hibernation before the battery charge is depleted to. Use or leave the laptop on until the battery is depleted to 3% charge, in which the computer automatically enters hibernation.
3. Leave the laptop in hibernation state for five hours or more.
4. Charge the laptop again up to its maximum capacity.

Additional best practices

1. Lithium-ion batteries like shallow discharge than a deep discharge. Avoid getting the battery to very low levels of deep discharge (less than 10%). This could also easily wear out the battery. The deep discharge, as illustrated through the steps above, should be performed only when calibrating the battery. 40% charge is a good level to start a recharge.
2. Excessive heat from the laptop or other sources easily degrades the battery. Avoid getting the computer temperature hot. Avoid storing the laptop under heat sources such as the sun.
3. Unless performing a calibration, avoid plugging the laptop for more than eight hours on AC power. Lithium-ion battery lasts longer when it is frequently charged or discharged the right way.
4. When the laptop is expected to be unused for more than a week, make sure that the battery charge is partially charged to about 40%. Batteries discharge even when unused, and it is possible that a very low battery charge could go fully depleted – as a result, the battery will have difficulty picking up a charge anymore and will need immediate replacement. After storage, always fully charge the batteries before going through another cycle of discharge.

I think we would not have to wait too long when laptop battery technology goes maintenance-free and would last long even if these are subjected to heat, or goes fully depleted. For now we still have to religiously perform the calibrations to get the maximum life out of our batteries.

I’m not carrying a light netbook: my notebook weighs more than two kilos which is suitable for Photoshop work, web design and some blogging activities. When I purchased it, I chose performance over battery life. I noticed that my notebook’s battery charge lasts for about three hours with normal use.

image credit to Lauri Rantala

I am sharing these tips on how to extend your laptop’s battery life. I am a 100% Windows user so I have written these tips using the Windows operating system in mind.

1. As much as possible, adjust the brightness of the laptop screen to the lowest setting. Text is difficult to read when in a bright environment, so I try to look for darker places such as coffee shops where I could easily read the screen.
2. Turn off all unnecessary applications. Check your system tray for any applications that reside in the memory and exit them. If you can confidently tweak the registry (this is not for the faint of heart), remove the applications that run on startup. Uninstall unnecessary applications. Some of these applications reside in the memory that also shortens the battery charge and makes the laptop less speedy as well.
3. Check the computer regularly for any viruses residing in the memory. Most of the time modern viruses written today slow down any laptop systems.
4. Upgrades. Don’t ignore them. Some updates help speed up applications and make efficient use of memory.
5. Turn of unnecessary services. I have been able to add 30 minutes more on my own laptop’s battery charge doing this.
6. Run a defragmentation program on the computer regularly. I do this weekly. I don’t use the built-in defragmenter that comes with Windows. There are a lot of free and paid alternative defragmenters which performs the job faster with minimal downtime.
7. Turn off or unplug unnecessary devices attached to the laptop. Wifi and Bluetooth drains the battery easily, so turn it off when not in use. Remove all unused connections and devices attached to the laptop. Even a mouse attached to the USB drains the laptop easily.
8. Avoid using the CD/DVD. Like the USB port, this mechanical device too, drains the laptop power in no time.
9. Check the power settings. For the ordinary users, they could just set the Power Options to “Power Saver” mode (in Windows 7). The Power Options in Windows 7 isn’t limited to a few settings; advanced users would be delighted in seeing the advanced options which can be further tweaked.
10. Avoid multitasking. Open one or two program at a time as needed. Minimize open tabs or windows in your browser too.
11. Hibernate is better than sleep. In my experience, Windows 7 does a very good job in restoring computer from hibernation than all its predecessors. Sleep mode consumes a bit more power which is needed by the memory, while hibernate mode simply saves memory contents into the hard disk and doesn’t consume any power at all.
12. Keep the laptop battery cool. Don’t block the ventilation slots. A hot laptop increases the battery wear that leads to a shorter life (and you’ll be needing to buy an expensive laptop battery in no time to replace the worn-out battery).
13. (If you are using lithium-ion battery in your laptop – true in many recent releases). Calibrate the laptop once in every 30 charges or one month, whichever comes first. Also, don’t discharge the laptop until its last charge (10% charge and below) – lithium-ion batteries perform better with several shallow discharges than any deep discharge and makes the laptop battery last longer.
14. Increase RAM. The more RAM, the better because this makes the system faster and more efficient. The computer will not be relying on the hard drive that much to augment the data on the RAM.
15. Sounds, screensavers and other eye candy such as the Windows Aero, consume power. Turn them off.

Although these tips help extend a battery’s life, remember that any laptop’s battery wears out in due time. Typically, these batteries last for two or three years before needing to be replaced.

Any experienced freelancer knows that communication is the key to building successful projects which, in turn, results to keeping good clients. My means of communicating with clients at present is through email, instant messaging services, voice and video calls. I haven’t explored yet the possibility of using video conferencing to work with other people. One reason is that leading video conference solutions such as Polycom, Tandberg and Radvision are way above what home-based individuals like me could afford.

Video conferencing would have been such an awesome and better communication tool to use – especially when working in groups!

Before I became a freelancer, I had co-workers. Approaching the boss or a co-worker at the right time and mood sometimes help me accomplish a piece of work, or even get an assignment that I want. Obviously, I should avoid talking to the boss or co-worker who is in the middle of a foul mood.

Things are different when using emails or instant messengers. We simply don’t know if we are trying to talk to a person who just had a lousy day. Without video we take words at face value, and not based on the kind of facial expressions we see.

Fortunately, HD video conferencing is becoming affordable. I have stumbled earlier across faceVision technology USA which claims to be the HD video conferencing solution that is affordable to the masses. One of their most affordable products is the faceVision FV Express Combo which is worth only $149.99 at their faceVision on line store.

At a glance:

• Native 2 megapixel sensor with autofocus
• Up to 30 fps True HD (720p) video calling experience
• True plug & play experience
• Auto-focus
• 28mm wide angle
• iF award-winning HD camera
• For Notebook PC

FV Express Combo product image

FaceVision FV Express Combo is Gmail-friendly, so these Gmail users will be pleased to find out that this gadget could deliver high-quality video resolution over the internet without any special software. The presence of H.264 hardware encoder and decoder chip is what gives this faceVsion gadget the capability to stream HD videos over the internet. Moreover, owners should be pleased that FV Express Combo HD Video Conferencing doesn’t behave like Microsoft Cinema and Logitech Pro 9000: both of the latter devices are capable of taking high-resolution videos but are not able to stream these at the same high quality.

FV Express Combo is available through shop.facevsion.com and other value added partners. On-going promotion with $10 off any purchase, using the promo code of FVTBTS2 while checkout. The promotion ends 09/30/’10.

As soon as I learned that I was able to get a salary loan from SSS and a multipurpose loan from PAGIBIG, I went out looking for laptops that satisfy that budget. After those few years of working at home at a desktop computer, maybe it is time for me to get out of my home and explore the world, right?

When I went out shopping, I already had set my sights on the ideal computer that I want: as light as a netbook but as powerful as a laptop. Performance was my first consideration; weight comes second. Soon I learned that finding one was difficult at this time.

After scouting around I decided to get an Acer 4740G notebook computer. Any person looking over this laptop gets to see these specifications written at the palmrest just below the right hand side of the keyboard.

• Intel Core™ i3 processor 330M (2.13 GHz, 3MB L3 cache)
• NVIDIA® GeForce ® 310 M 512MBVRAM
• 14.0 inch HD LED LCD
• 2 GB memory
• 320 GB HDD
• Acer Nplify ™ 802.11 b/g/n

And, What Else

There’s actually more to what is written on that, as I am happy to be have a DVD recorder (8X DVD Super Multi double-layer drive), 3 USB 2.0 ports (one of this is located at the right hand side of the computer where a right-handed optical mouse can be placed), multi-in-one card reader (SD™, MMC, MC, MS PRO, xD), built-in webcam and microphone.

The 14 inch LED LCD is at 1366×768 pixel resolution which I find suitable for most office application tasks and blogging work, but sometimes inadequate for web design work (I often need larger resolution monitors for this, that why I still need that maintain that desktop computer with the huge LCD monitor at home).

At times, I would turn this laptop into a portable entertainment center: its 16:9 aspect ratio lets me enjoy movies. I just plug in a high-quality headset to be able to enjoy the Dolby® Optimized sound (3^rd generation Dolby® Home Theater® audio enhancement). The 8X DVD Super Multi double-layer drive is already enough for me to enjoy these high quality videos.

My kid was also at all excited when I got that toy, that she was even willing to pose for the camera as I got home and unwrap that from its box.

Why This Laptop Fits Me

I am a very heavy internet user, a Firefox user with several add-ons installed (for web development), an Adobe Photoshop user, a moderate application multitasker and a very heavy internet user. Since I do freelancing, I had to use the computer more than once a day and it should allow me to easily connect to wifi internet and/or USB broadband internet.

I had been carrying this laptop for a few weeks, checking in at restaurants, malls, coffee shops and other places where wifi and/or broadband internet is available. So far, I am happy with the performance of this computer.

However, this laptop is still quite heavy for me. This baby is weighs at 2.3 kgs without its laptop bag: quite bulky, really. I carry that just like any other ordinary sling bag to avoid getting that snatched from my grasp.

Another disadvantage of this notebook is that it’s battery life lasts only 3 hours. A frequent traveler might to consider buying additional batteries; keeping these batteries fully charged most of the time is an additional thing to keep in mind.

I do not really like working with slower netbook computers even for blogging work so I decided to have this computer despite it’s heavy weight at 2.3 kgs (without the laptop bag) and short battery life (typically 3 hours, if I keep the LED LCD brightness at its lowest level and not plug any peripheral on its ports).

This notebook computer only costs me P33,600 (around US $750) which I bought from a local computer shop along Session Road here in Baguio City. If you are looking for a laptop that just covers only simple office tasks or even blogging then you’d realize that this laptop’s is more than suitable to your needs.

This particular video had me laughing so much today. This girl in red had gotten herself drunk too much that she actually did some embarrassing pole dancing during a wedding. The bride seemed to sense something wrong and she was right!

To most, this video seemed real because it looks like any other homemade videos, but good thing this turned out to be just one of the viral videos made by Heineken to continue their last year’s “Enjoy Heineken Responsibly” campaign. Now this one is catchy and Heineken is successful at catching people’s attention to drink responsibly this time.

To further promote this campaign, they are offering a free iPhone application called Breathalyzer that turns any iPhone into a realistic breathalyzer. The application works by simply having a friend blow into the breathalyzer to show which one of the funny drunken characters he or she is turning into: The Crier, The Fighter, The Sleeper, The Exhibitionist, The Groper, The Flirt or The Stumbler. Visit The Heineken Know The Signs website to further know each of these characters.

The application is not a true breathalyzer, but it can be effective in reminding a friend that he or she is near to turn into one of those drunken characters.

Download the Heineken Breathalyzer iPhone app now and gently help a friend avoid being stuck into those embarrassing moments when they had one too many to drink.

This phone caught my attention today. I am aware of mobile phones that give the mobile capability to connect to the internet wherever I go, but LG Chocolate Touch wowed me: it lets me connect and interact with various social networks such as Twitter and Facebook. To me, LG Chocolate Touch is a social networker’s dream because I can interact with my online friends to as far as my phone’s signal could reach –without needing a computer to connect to the internet just to interact with online friends!

Another of its strongest feature is its Dolby Mobile technology sound quality, as demonstrated in their site: LG Chocolate Touch

The most outstanding features of this phone are:

• Dolby Mobile technology for crystal-clear sound quality: the sound quality is not limited to using stereo headphones – even rich quality sound can be heard through a set of external speakers!
• Sweet Visual Effects and features, including Rhythmical Beat that vibrates the handset to the beat of the music: visual effects truly enhance listening experience.
• One-touch Social Network Message Key for easy use of Mobile Blogging (Facebook, MySpace, Twitter, etc.): this isn’t limited to status messages but it can also include microblogging and blogging services as well as posting pictures taken from the phone camera.
• Mobile Media – top-notch text, picture, video, and voice messaging, including Visual Voicemail
• 3.2MP Camera/Recorder–quality pictures and videos, with image editor: the image editor comes with a built-in facial makeover to remove facial blemishes and enhances facial features.

The excitement over in the internet increases as Apple had been so busy preparing the Yerba Buena Center in San Francisco earlier for this huge announcement which will happen in less than 24 hours – January 27, 2010 at 10PM PST.

Like other people I also wonder if the gadget below is the real one.

Flickr has now a nice collection of artist’s rendition of the upcoming Apple Tablet.

The construction of this building started in 2004. This structure contains a total of 169 floors, with the top floors cooler by 10 degrees than those at the bottom. The 76th floor contains the world’s highest indoor swimming pool. A mosque can be found at the 158th floor.

The Burj was intentionally made as a building residence. Giorgio Armani, the famous Italian designer, even took part in designing some rooms in some floors. With that, this building is meant for high end VIPs.

Greenland sharks are recognized as the largest Arctic fish which rivals the Great White in size. However, these sharks are actually less aggressive than the Great White.

The meat from these sharks are not edible but Inuits have been using its flesh for biofuel.