Your daily dose of practical, easy to follow tech tips!
Like many laptop owners, you probably put your machine into sleep mode every time you shut the lid to transport it to a new location.
But if you constantly find yourself having to deal with a low battery, there is a better way. Hibernate your laptop instead! [Read more…]
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Question from Oliver: I have an old Dell XPS 17 laptop that’s now running Ubuntu Linux.
This machine still works perfectly but the battery won’t hold a charge anymore.
Since it’s so old I don’t really want to buy a new battery for it.
Would it be ok if I just removed the battery and ran it straight from the charger?
Question from Mike: I love your newsletter, Rick. I read it every morning!
I hope you can answer a question for me.
The battery in my trusty Lenovo G570 laptop has gone bad and I need to replace it.
I really love this laptop now that I’ve taken your advice and put Linux on it.
I’d really like to keep using it if I can, but I don’t want to spend a fortune on a battery for it.
Question from Tim: I have what is surely an easy question to answer, Rick.
Is it safe to run a laptop without a battery installed?
I’ve heard conflicting answers and I’d really love to have your opinion on the matter.
Question from Brenda: I just bought my son a new laptop for his birthday. As I was paying for it the cashier told me I need to let the battery charge to 100% before I let my son start using it.
In the past I have always just unboxed my new laptops and plugged them in and started using them immediately, and as far as I know there was never any problem.
Do you think I really need to charge the battery before I give it to him? [Read more…]