Path: utzoo!attcan!uunet!tut.cis.ohio-state.edu!cs.utexas.edu!yale!cmcl2!lanl!opus!pfeiffer From: pfeiffer@nmsu.edu (Joe Pfeiffer) Newsgroups: comp.sys.laptops Subject: Re: Is your battery REALLY necessary? Message-ID: Date: 22 Mar 90 15:24:55 GMT References: <5448.26080b81@uwovax.uwo.ca> Sender: news@nmsu.edu Organization: NMSU Computer Science Lines: 27 In-reply-to: trevorc@uwovax.uwo.ca's message of 22 Mar 90 04:17:20 GMT trevorc@uwovax.uwo.ca, in <5448.26080b81@uwovax.uwo.ca>: |I am interested in discovering how many laptoppers actually use the battery |feature of their machines. I have a Zenith Z-181 which has the battery |built in so that, even with the power pack, the battery must be toted |around. I also have a SuperSport 286 from which the battery can be |detached and that is the way it is always operated. I claim that one is |VERY rarely far from a power source and that the battery is just extra |ballast. Do others share that opinion and are there any models that do not |have batteries but expect to be close to either 110 or 220 volts? The best way to find this out is to lose the batteries. I have a Kaypro 2000, with a fuse between the battery pack and the board. For an unknown reason (I suspect a short in the batteries, but never mind), the fuse frequently blows when you plug in the charger. It's hard enough to get to that I now effectively have a laptop whose batteries really are just ballast. It just demolishes the usefulness of the machine. I had no idea how frequently I popped up the top and worked without plugging in. The machine now sits at home in my den; I can't remember the last time I actually took it somewhere. Without batteries, you just plain won't use it as a portable. I've got to do something about those batteries.... -Joe.