Power to the people

The battery arrived in today's mail, and first impressions are definitely positive. The self-test button on the battery showed an initial 50% charge - which was verified when the battery was placed in the laptop and the power management software indicated a 49% charge. Just a short while later, the battery is showing a full charge and for the first time in years, the laptop is capable of running without a power cord.

It may sound like nothing much, but the decision to order the battery was difficult to make. First, the original battery was so dead, it wouldn't even respond to the self-test button, despite having been "recharged" for more than 24 hours, and despite showing an 89% charge on the power management software status screen. Second, I had no way to know if the internal battery charging circuit in the computer was still working, given what I was seeing with the original battery. Last, and certainly not least, was the fact that the computer was so old to begin with. There was some question whether there was any point making it functional again as a portable unit.

Now that the computer is running successfully under battery power, proving that the battery and the internal charger are fully operational, I feel much better about the decision, and will be using the computer much more than I had been.