hey gang, when running windows xp on my laptop, battery power lasted only 5 mins... will this increase with linux? my laptop is a fugistu P3 650, 192 megs of ram, 20 gig hard drive.. if this works better please let me know ..

5 minutes? It sounds like your battery has seem better days. My HP with a Athlon 850 has already ruined its second battary, and it has no better life in Linux then in Windows (about 10 minutes now).

sujestion to keep your batteries to last longer.

when you are pluged into an outlet, not charging the battery, take it out and run 100% of the cord. before you need to move or go someplace with the system live away form the cord, just put the battery back in the system and off you go.

this will tripple the life span of your battery(ies). even when fully charged, most batteries are still taking a charge from the AC. this causes them to overcharge, thus hold less power for shorter times. it is the same with NOT alowing the battery to fully drain from time to time before recharging. the more often you only let it get a little dry, and recharge, the less it will last.

hope that helps and is at least semi clear. as for your 5min time on battery. time to get a new one.

This is no longer true. In the days of 286 laptops with nicad batteries the charger was simply connecting the power to the battery so it would constantly charge. Modern batteries such as Lion and NiMH require more complex chargers and thses chargers turn off when the battery is fully charged. Also these newer technologies do not like to be fully discharged. Lion for example usually have a published MTBF of 300 total full cycles.

Hi, Im confused now. I read on some laptop battery guide that said dont overcharge it. But when im using my laptop and it fully charges it justsays on AC adapter....so what you say does make sense, but i dont know ....i just want reassurance because if your right it would be so much more convienient to just leave my ac plug in there. How do you know for sure? Thanks

Check the manual specific to your laptop, since there are differences in battery types and different chargers any online guide won't be correct for all models. Most modern laptops _should_ stop the charging when the battery is fully charged. The reason I say should is because there always seems to be some odd exception to any rule or standard so its always best to check the laptop's manual. If the manual can't be found the charging light (if it has one) should tell. All I've had turn off the charging light when the battery reaches 99-100% then every few days it might come on for a few minutes to top off any self discharge that may have taken place.