Archive for the Motherboards Category
I get asked all the time about laptop batteries, and being an inquisitive person, I’m prone to long periods of reading to satisfy people’s curiosity about the most overlooked piece of their computer. In going through every single link Wikipedia provides about lithium ion batteries, I can give the following advice on some myths, and also some very bad habits to have.
#1 If I don’t use the battery, it will never fail: False
Lithium ion batteries will fail over time without being used, even if used lightly.
#2 If I keep the battery fully charged, it will last longer: False
Most lithium ion batteries last longer if you keep them at or below 40% charge, which almost never happens. Worse, is that if you have a laptop fully charged, then leave it in a car, you will destroy the battery in just one year according to many experts.
#3 If you drain the power in your laptop you’ve ruined the battery: False
Lithium ion batteries have a circuit that is designed to keep you from doing this, it’s not fully discharged. Furthermore, most batteries will last for a least 3 months ‘fully discharged’ so to speak, which is when the batteries finally are ‘really discharged’ due to the self monitoring circuit having used all the juice left.
Now, for a few tips that I’ve found to be suggested.
Never leave your laptop in a car.
If you are using a laptop as a desktop, remove the battery and put it back once every 3 months to keep it topped off and at an average of 80% charge.
Every 6 months, take your laptop to someone who has an air compressor, or buy a can of air and blow it in the air outlet. (You’re looking to reverse the flow of air and blow out all the gunk out the holes it came in on.)
Above all, remember these things:
Batteries will fail eventually, they don’t last forever. Lithium ions will last 1-3 years depending on the quality and the amount of time you use it. All indications are that if the battery spends all it’s time in a car, you’ll get less than a year out of it. (This is true for cell phones too.)
Some laptops run way hotter than others, so that cooling pad may just prolong the life of the battery if you are running it as a desktop. The hottest part in your computer, the CPU, will normally run cooler than the interior of a car.
When your motherboard fails, who is faster at replacing/repairing it? Intel? MSI? The supposed crap master Foxconn?
When I contacted Intel about a failed board, it took over 37 hours for the leader to get back to me about replacing the board. When the board was sent away, the replacement took 4 days to return.
MSI was asked to replace a board, taking a full 24 hours to generate an RMA # for return. Good so far, right?
Then, when the board was sent in, it took 15 days to get an email stating that a new board was in bound.
Now, on to the company some love, swear by, and others say is the worst board/company out there.
I emailed Foxconn to get an RMA number, and in 15 minutes I had an email requesting more information. I replied, and in 10 minutes I had an RMA form to fax in to a Bob Wang. After faxing Bob Wang (hold the laugh please), I had an RMA number within hours. I sent the Winfast board in and in 3 days, a new board with no problems reported since.
Anyone care to add some advice on why Foxconn is so fast? I’ve determined that since they OEM so many boards for companies out there, it’s streamlined. I’ve heard rumbles that Dell/HP/Compaq and others all buy Foxconn boards. I won’t deny that almost all plastic connectors on motherboards come from Foxconn, but that doesn’t mean it’s a Foxconn board. I do have the knowledge that Foxconn was a Connector company first.
I don’t want to hear anything about performance of alternative motherboard manufactors. Some may be clunky, due to old Winchip, K5 procs and the like from the early 90’s. It’s obvious from benchmarks that cheap motherboards are just that, not clunkers.