Want to extend laptop battery

December 1, 2007 6:14 PM

Will I have any trouble putting this hard drive in this computer? More inside.

I want to extend the battery life in my travel laptop. All I really need is word processing and basic apps, but some of my documents are too complex to run something like Puppy Linux or other software only battery conservation measures. Is replacing the drive something a complete newb could do? What issues might I encounter? Will this save substantial battery life? Thanks in advance for your free and prodigious expertise!

posted by Crotalus to Computers & Internet (5 answers total)

You shouldn't have any trouble. It'll save some power, but probably not as much as you expect -- this review found about 10% longer runtime. So if your laptop runs 3 hours, you'll get an extra 15-20 minutes.

Replacing the hard disk is pretty easy in most computers. In a casual Google it doesn't look like it should be any problem in your computer.
posted by kindall at 6:31 PM on December 1, 2007

make a note of size and position of any screw you take out (not that there'd be a lot for a hard drive, really). good thing to get into the habit to now, in case you ever need to get in there and work on something else.
posted by mrg at 7:11 PM on December 1, 2007

Replacing the hard disk is pretty easy in most computers

And a complete nightmare in others. Esp. notebooks. Often, they are trivial, but the smaller the notebook, the more likely it is to be a complete and utter pain to swap the HDD.

mrg's point is spot on. Get the right tools to remove the screws, keep careful track of where they go, and don't be surprised if you have to take apart 2/3rds of the notebook to get to the HDD.
posted by eriko at 8:10 PM on December 1, 2007

I broke the lead to the power button off the motherboard when trying to replace the hard drive in a friend's powerbook. This cost a lot to repair. The hard drive install itself was trivial, but getting to where you can actually install the hard drive is not necessarily easy.
posted by beerbajay at 6:03 AM on December 2, 2007

The hard drive on a nc400 is under the front plastic bit where your hands would rest when you're typing. It's not as easy to get to as later Compaq/HP models, but it's not impossible. You'll need to take off the keyboard and the plastic bit to get to it, and the plastic bit will probably be the hardest part only because you'll feel like you're using too much pressure and are about to snap it, but you probably aren't.

There's an extended life battery for that model that looks like a big cylinder that you hook on to the back. Do you have that already? Because if you don't tracking one down is probably a better option that PC surgery. Mefimail me and I can send you the part number when I'm back in the office tomorrow to speed up your search for the battery if you want it.
posted by Cyrano at 6:35 AM on December 2, 2007 [1 favorite]