Comments on: Would You Buy a Netbook With a Non-Removable Battery?

By: tvlampsn

tvlampsn — Wed, 05 Aug 2009 17:06:23 +0000

The last thing I need is to worry about this sealed battery either a) failing to early b) blowing up on me c) needing to be replaced and having to pay for the battery and the service to replace it.

You charge your phone every 12 – 18 months. A good computer can last for years and part of that means being able to update things. You can only upgrade but so much but every little bit helps make you feel good.

By: SAM

SAM — Fri, 15 May 2009 17:09:00 +0000

Aspare battery is needed if you are going nto
the field, you never know if you can plug in or not.

Murphy’s Law says your battery will crap out
while doing important wrok…and no AC is available

By: Lorie Ghamy

Lorie Ghamy — Fri, 15 May 2009 11:46:53 +0000

For reducing components, and have the same battery for many models why not a pushable battery in a slot ?

In this way no need of a big platic case and no problem for the color of it when you have the choice beetween Black and White Netbook or beetween “iPhone rainbow color covers”

Remember an Asus 900 and 900A has not the same battery….

By: AllanCJ

AllanCJ — Fri, 15 May 2009 06:14:54 +0000

The trouble with the questionnaire in this post is that the ‘yes’ and ‘no’ option each incorporates a reason. By choosing ‘yes’ or ‘no’ you seem to be choosing the accompanying rason. This reason might not be the one that applies for any particular respondant.

For instance, I wouldn’t buy a computer with a nonremovable battery, but not because “I’d rather use a second battery when I need more juice”, which is the reason given in the ‘no’ option. I wouldn’t get such a computer because batteries deteriorate, and I tend to keep a computer for a long time. Hence I haven’t responded to the questionnaire.

If you post questionnaire type questions, you have to think very carefully about what responding to an option entails for the resondant, and what conclusions can legitimately be drawn.

By: Daj

Daj — Fri, 15 May 2009 02:11:24 +0000

From an average joe non-power user perspective: I have no problems with a built in battery if it gave me 4 or 5 hours of usage. I’m a casual user. I have never gone close to running out of power while out and about. I want mobility and I don’t carry the AC adaptor around with me.

I would probably be replacing my netbook before the end of the battery’s useful life, although I would be concerned about the resale value I could achive for the unit.

By: Jasen

Jasen — Fri, 15 May 2009 01:42:09 +0000

I think a majority of users break into the laptop market through big box retailers such as Best Buy and the now defunct Circuit City. I bought a jack of all trades, master of none Toshiba from Circuit City. It is semi-portable at 14 inches, but it’s battery life is uninspiring. Most consumers have accepted the definition of portability as from wall plug to wall plug because of financial technologic compromise.

By: James Kendrick

James Kendrick — Thu, 14 May 2009 23:53:33 +0000

Because you can?

By: William C Bonner

William C Bonner — Thu, 14 May 2009 23:50:01 +0000

For those of you with second batteries, how do you charge the second battery?

Do you have external chargers?

My Fujitsu 7120 has two batteries, one in the slot that can run a DVD. I prefer to have the two batteries to having a removable disk, as I get around 6 hours with the combined batteries, but I don’t have any way of charging a battery that’s not installed in my computer.

As far as removable vs non removable, I really don’t like the idea of a non removable battery, because I’ve got at least one old laptop that I find useful to have sitting wired beside the couch. It runs with no battery installed because if I put the battery in it, the battery will not charge at all and the computer will not run. This machine is not worth spending money on a new battery.

By: Martin

Martin — Thu, 14 May 2009 22:01:02 +0000

I would never buy any kind of Notebook or Netbook with a built in battery. The same goes for a mobile phone. It only makes sense in a disposable device which you through it way after a while. I think it is sad that most of the mp3 players don’t have removable battery. It does not seem very eco friendly to have a built in battery.

By: Rishabh Mishra

Rishabh Mishra — Thu, 14 May 2009 21:23:25 +0000

James, if one has a power outlet and a power adapter for the laptop, why use a battery?

By: James Kendrick

James Kendrick — Thu, 14 May 2009 20:49:53 +0000

Interesting timing of this question. I just spent 3 hours in a busy Starbucks and saw at least 15 notebooks in use, every single one of them plugged in. I was the only one working on battery power. That is the norm and it blows me away that notebooks are almost always used tethered to the wall.

By: Jasen

Jasen — Thu, 14 May 2009 20:45:59 +0000

I may jump on this one, as I am willing to sacrifice the external battery for the even further portability the thinness on this already small netbook provides. But what about the rumor of the 1005ha, the one that is basically this model but with a removable battery? I lost track long ago of the various Asus models.

By: James Kendrick

James Kendrick — Thu, 14 May 2009 19:29:36 +0000

Power adapter = extra weight + needs an outlet.
Extra battery = extra weight

Lesser of two evils.

By: David M

David M — Thu, 14 May 2009 19:01:45 +0000

I always bring my Eee 901, a slim external drive, and a bluetooth headset to dinner outings with the wife and my 2-year old. Anyone with young jittery kids knows how hard it is to eat in peace unless you can occupy them. For us, Elmo and Dora videos work great. One time, my 901’s battery died mid-way through my daughter’s favorite Elmo DVD and as you can imagine, it was melt-down city for the rest of the dinner. I now add a fully charged extra battery to my gear for those netbook “emergencies”. Non-removables definitely wouldn’t work for me.

By: Lava

Lava — Thu, 14 May 2009 18:59:35 +0000

I don’t understand this devotion to removable batteries. Isn’t the point of a netbook is that it’s significantly smaller and lighter than regular notebooks? And here we are, ridding ourselves of the weight advantage with extra batteries. Do you also carry the power adapter, too? So what’s the point of using small and light netbooks with tiny screens and cramped keyboards anymore if you’re always carrying extra weight “just in case?”

If I’m going to carry all that extra weight anyway (not to mention the hassle of making sure the extra one is fully charged at any time), I’d rather just get a lightweight notebook and have the power adapter with me.

The main reason for their existence is having something you can just grab and go (not grab, make sure you pack all the extras, go, then come home and spend time swapping and charging batteries for the next time you have to go). If netbooks necessitate carrying an extra battery around, that simply means they’re not good enough.

By: FlyingShawn

FlyingShawn — Thu, 14 May 2009 18:48:01 +0000

One of my strongest arguments for having the removable battery is what happened recently with my Fujitsu P1610. I had the extended battery fully charged and put it away in my briefcase and for some reason the machine woke itself up out of sleep (I think it was a Windows 7 Beta glitch). Before I realized that it had turned on, it had managed to completely drain the battery, with the resultant heat also decimating the high-capacity of the (fairly new) extended battery. Now I only get ~2 hours or so out of a battery that previously gave me ~4.5-5 hours. If I didn’t have a removable battery, I’d have to pay more and give up precious time with my machine to have the battery replaced, but instead I’m able to replace it at my convenience and keep the compromised battery as a backup for long flights.