I've had my Gateway 275XL for about 2 weeks now and I had a concern about the battery. I just noticed in my power meter that the battery only charges up to 98% capacity. I know that a 2% deteroriation doesn't sound like much but its only been about two weeks since I've had the machine, and if this continues at this rate, then I'd have to get a new battery every year or so. Does anyone know if this is supposed to happen or could this battery be defective?

Thanks

RV

In article <BA8F270E-723C-4061-9A08-EEFC8541F76B@microsoft.com>,
RV@discussions.microsoft.com says...
> I've had my Gateway 275XL for about 2 weeks now and I had a concern about the battery. I just noticed in my power meter that the battery only charges up to 98% capacity. I know that a 2% deteroriation doesn't sound like much but its only been about two weeks since I've had the machine, and if this continues at this rate, then I'd
have to get a new battery every year or so. Does anyone know if this is supposed to happen or could this battery be defective?

I'm guessing it has less to do with battery deterioration and more to do
with the meter being out of calibration.

Hmm...any ideas as to how to calibrate the battery meter? Now its down to it stopping charging at 96%.
"Grant Robertson" wrote:

> In article <BA8F270E-723C-4061-9A08-EEFC8541F76B@microsoft.com>,
> RV@discussions.microsoft.com says...
> > I've had my Gateway 275XL for about 2 weeks now and I had a concern about the battery. I just noticed in my power meter that the battery only charges up to 98% capacity. I know that a 2% deteroriation doesn't sound like much but its only been about two weeks since I've had the machine, and if this continues at this rate, then I'd
> have to get a new battery every year or so. Does anyone know if this is supposed to happen or could this battery be defective?
>
> I'm guessing it has less to do with battery deterioration and more to do
> with the meter being out of calibration.
>

I'd say to contact the manufacturer's support section, RV. They're the ones
who need to know and supply a fix for you.
--
Chris H.
Microsoft Windows MVP/Tablet PC
Tablet Creations - http://nicecreations.us/
Associate Expert
Expert Zone - www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/expertzone


"RV" <RV@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:CF9F6FDB-D13B-48BA-B824-9DCACCC22F30@microsoft.com...
> Hmm...any ideas as to how to calibrate the battery meter? Now its down to
it stopping charging at 96%.

In article <CF9F6FDB-D13B-48BA-B824-9DCACCC22F30@microsoft.com>,
RV@discussions.microsoft.com says...
> Hmm...any ideas as to how to calibrate the battery meter? Now its down to it stopping charging at 96%.

I second what Chris said.

It is pretty normal for Windows to have issues talking to
the motherboard to determine the exact battery charge.
Give it another month and if it looks like it only charges
to like 85% or less afer a few hours of charging try
recalibrating the battery (boot to the BIOS by clicking
the F2 key during the beginngin of the boot cycle, go to
the Advanced menu, use the down arrow to highlight Battery
Auto Learning and read the instructions to the right).

If it still only charges to 80% or less after that, try
talking to GW tech support about it. If it charges to
between 89-99% then it is probably normal behavior.
Depending on use you will need a new battery every year
anyway. Batteries are only good for X number of charging
cycles and they last about a year if you are a heavy user.
That is why Gateway and others only have a one year
warranty on the battery, otherwise they would go bankrupt
repalcing them.

>-----Original Message-----
>I've had my Gateway 275XL for about 2 weeks now and I had
a concern about the battery. I just noticed in my power
meter that the battery only charges up to 98% capacity. I
know that a 2% deteroriation doesn't sound like much but
its only been about two weeks since I've had the machine,
and if this continues at this rate, then I'd have to get a
new battery every year or so. Does anyone know if this is
supposed to happen or could this battery be defective?
>
>Thanks
>
>RV
>.
>

When this happened to my Toshiba, I drained the battery completely (turned
off all power options and left it on till it went dead) then charged it
fully. That seemed to fix it.

--
Josh Einstein
Einstein Technologies
--------------------------------------------------------
Add ink input to Outlook with Tablet Enhancements for Outlook! Only $19.99!
http://www.einsteinware.com

"Josh" <anonymous@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:08e201c46e65$ddf6fc80$a601280a@phx.gbl...
> It is pretty normal for Windows to have issues talking to
> the motherboard to determine the exact battery charge.
> Give it another month and if it looks like it only charges
> to like 85% or less afer a few hours of charging try
> recalibrating the battery (boot to the BIOS by clicking
> the F2 key during the beginngin of the boot cycle, go to
> the Advanced menu, use the down arrow to highlight Battery
> Auto Learning and read the instructions to the right).
>
> If it still only charges to 80% or less after that, try
> talking to GW tech support about it. If it charges to
> between 89-99% then it is probably normal behavior.
> Depending on use you will need a new battery every year
> anyway. Batteries are only good for X number of charging
> cycles and they last about a year if you are a heavy user.
> That is why Gateway and others only have a one year
> warranty on the battery, otherwise they would go bankrupt
> repalcing them.
>
>>-----Original Message-----
>>I've had my Gateway 275XL for about 2 weeks now and I had
> a concern about the battery. I just noticed in my power
> meter that the battery only charges up to 98% capacity. I
> know that a 2% deteroriation doesn't sound like much but
> its only been about two weeks since I've had the machine,
> and if this continues at this rate, then I'd have to get a
> new battery every year or so. Does anyone know if this is
> supposed to happen or could this battery be defective?
>>
>>Thanks
>>
>>RV
>>.
>>

I bought a replacement battery for my Gateway laptop about a month ago from http://www.laptopsforless.com/laptop...ateway-battery and it works great. Is there any reason to think that a replacement Gateway laptop battery would be any less reliable than the manufacturers? My concern is the laptop battery fire risk; would this be a risk with a replacement battery?