Laptops All-in-One Desk Reference For Dummies- P44: Okay, I’ll admit it: I’ve got a strange biography. I’ve been a writer all my life. My first semi-pro job was sports editor of my high school newspaper. (Go Commodores!) After college I was a political reporter for daily newspapers in Ohio and New York (I covered four national nominating conventions and two Presidential campaigns) and a correspondent for The Associated Press. And then, in 1983, I gave in to my inner geek and became the first Executive Editor of PC Magazine, back in the days when most people asked, “What is a PC?”. | Contents at a Glance Chapter 1 Using Your Power for Good Purposes .405 Adapting to AC .406 Depending on a Finding Hidden Chapter 2 Replacing or Upgrading Your Power Source .417 Measuring Battery Capacity and Replacing the Mining Other Sources of Adapting to Plane and Chapter 3 Power-Management Using Power-Management Charging up Your Battery Advanced Power Chapter 1 Using Your Power for Good Purposes In This Chapter Learning your ACs and DCs Adopting an adapter Keeping your battery in tip-top shape ou know that the biggest difference between a laptop and a desktop computer is that one s designed to be moved from place to place and the other is pretty much consigned to staying put. It s like the difference between a bicycle and a lounge chair. You can sit on both. The other difference and this is more important to some users than others is that a laptop is for using when you re away from a standard electrical wall outlet. Some users transport their laptops from a desk in one office to a desk in another even if it involves eight hours of flying and never use the machine in between. All they need is an AC adapter and a wall outlet with juice. But the rest of us live the mobile life. When I leave my desk I usually continue my work on the ferryboat island life is such a bother then fire up the laptop once again on an airplane and finish my day in a hotel room checking e-mails and baseball box scores. And sometimes I run my laptop in the rental car to look up driving instructions or to make a change to a presentation. Here s how your laptop can get its power in any one day AC outlet. Overnight I top off the charge in the built-in batteries using wall current. And when I m at the gate in the airport the second thing I look for after I find out just how far behind my schedule my plane will be is a wall outlet to restore as much power as possible before .
