Life of unused Lithium battery

When companies put batteries into the packaging for a H/PC, are they charged to 40%? Is it better or worse if a battery is still in its original box in terms of preservation? More specifically, if I order a (extremely rare) Handheld PC in its original box, never opened from 1998, what is the chance that the lithium cells still charge well?

No they don't, they usually put less than 5% in them - after all, why spin the electricity meter.

You may be surprised. If it's a fairly old Li battery, I've got 1995 batteries that are still as good as I remember them... the newer breeds are shockingly poor for longevity in my experience.

Never mind, it got bid out of my range... But thanks for the info about the batteries. I could still buy it if I really wanted to (It's a Hitachi HPW-200EC), but I'm saving up for a Libretto 70CT. Gotta love Windows 95 man...

MM--if you're willing to run W95B on the 70CT, you'll have a great time. I put 95B on an cf>hard drive adapter and it soared, with much better battery life. Easy to do, if you know things fdisk (I did not). And you'll need the pcmcia floppy. Don't get it without it.

I got it all in order and then the case and the machine slipped out of my hand, landed on its corner, and the video broke. Granted an opening car door knocked it from my fingers, but it was still my fault, should've seen it coming. At any rate, no USB obviously, but Word 97 flew on the cf. Battery life sux big w/o the cf arrangement--but the extended battery will hold you in good stead even w/ hard drive, should a buyer be throwing one in.

Jake

I actually dropped my MP790 right on the corner of the hinge without a case once from like 4 feet onto a flight of stairs. Absolutely nothing happened to it except that there's a little scuff on the corner of it now, but that's when I started using a case. I'm too squeamish I think to take apart a 70CT, especially considering that if I got one, it would be my most prized possession. The thing is, there's a person selling a 70CT with every accessory imaginable and 4 batteries, 3 of which are extended, for a reasonable and affordable price... except that there's a line of dead pixels on the screen! I mean COME ON!!! Anyway, I would love to have one and might be able to get another guy selling one to lower the price enough for me to buy both and then have all the accessories and a working Libretto, and one for parts. That would be a dream come true...

You're wise to give that video-challenged 70CT a pass. Were I you, I wouldn't worry about having a spare. They're tough numbers to get in and out of, though people have physically overclocked the motherboard.

But as for swapping the hard drive for a cf, that's an easy procedure with the 70CT, and you wouldn't screw it up.

The hard drive of my brand-new used Vaio (PCG-C1VN) on the other hand looks *very* difficult to extract. And lots to break along the way, enough so that I'm not going to do it. The hard drive that came w/ it is a replacement w/ 312K bad sectors, whatever that means. Should it die, obviously, I'll go with the cf, but I'm scared off for now.

But I really recommend the cf swap with the 70CT--you'll want to do it after the first time the hard drive eats your standard battery in 30 minutes. 20 minutes with wi-fi.

Jake

Do you still have the LCD assembly for your old 70CT? Does it still work, or when you said the video died, did that mean the screen cracked or something?

If I remember correctly, the screen was physically fine, but something had been jarred within. The display was multii-colored, impossible to read, and when I took it apart, I found all the cables intact.

Jake

Hmmm... If only there was some way to test it... How bummed were you when it got knocked out of your hands?

Well, right now, it's languishing in some storage depot in Antwerp (I mostly live abroad). I was disappointed, to say the least. It was housed in a case that was a tight fit, but very portable, with one corner slightly unprotected--that, of course, is where it landed.

And just today, my ancient cat got the crazies, and threw himself up onto the table for no reason at all. He hits the newspapers and kept sliding, right into my Vaio and sends that into the air. Our apt has wall-to-wall, and the machine somehow closed up in flight, so when it landed, it was already going into hibernation. All is okay so far, at least the video has survived until now.

I dislike the cat for starters, and the thought of spending hundreds to send him to Greece in August is unbecoming.

Jake

Why don't you like him? You can't blame him for jumping on the table. (I'm a cat person.)

Anyway, has this gotten off-topic or what?

I vote for "or what."

As I recall, Li-ion batteries hold up best in cool temperatures, so if the device was packed away indoors, that probably helped.

It's gone now anyway. But now I know some more about how batteries hold up.

I got a lattitude cpi the otherday from 1997/8 and its batteri is original and holds a 1 hour and 30 minute chargr