Though you can use the laptop anywhere, be aware of ergonomics! For example, when you’re using the laptop on a coffee table, if you start to feel a pain in your back from hunching over, stop! Find a better, more comfortable place to work.
Charging the battery
Your laptop may or may not have a fully charged battery when you first take it out of the box. Therefore, one of the things you need to do after finding a place for the laptop is to charge its battery.
If necessary, insert the battery into the laptop. Plug in or attach the battery per the directions that came with the laptop or, quite handily, etched into the bottom of the laptop case. Few laptops today feature removable batteries, so consider yourself fortunate if you can skip this step.
Plug in the laptop, as illustrated in Figure 3-1.
FIGURE 3-1: Plugging in your laptop.
Insert one end of the power cord into the laptop's power cord connector. Attach the power cord to the power brick, if necessary. Plug the power brick into the wall. Note that the power brick may also contain the plug that connects directly to the wall.
That's it. The laptop’s battery is charging. Yes, the battery charges even when the laptop’s power is off.
Laptops with removable batteries sport different methods for inserting, installing, or attaching the battery. Clues can be found on the laptop’s case or on the battery itself. You might even find an instruction sheet, but don’t count on it.
The advantage of a removable battery is that you can keep both charged to effectively double the laptop’s useful, unplugged life.
It usually takes a while to charge a laptop's battery. The length of time depends on the type of battery and power management hardware and on whether you're using the laptop at the time. Even so:
The good news is that you can start using your laptop right away — just keep it plugged in so that the battery can charge.
Refer to Chapter 10 for more information on using the laptop’s battery and power management system.
“Should I plug the laptop into a UPS?”
I advise my desktop computer readers in PCs For Dummies (Wiley) to consider investing in an uninterruptible power supply, or UPS — specifically, one with both surge and spike protection. This device serves to protect the computer from nasty electrical intruders that can come through the power lines, but also to provide emergency power if the electricity goes bye-bye.
A UPS for a laptop is unnecessary. The main reason is that your laptop already has a battery for backup power. If you’re running your laptop from an electrical outlet and the electricity goes off (or some doofus unplugs it), the laptop quickly and happily switches its power source to the internal battery. Nothing is lost!
Although you don't need a UPS for your laptop, I still highly recommend plugging your portable ’puter into a power strip that offers surge protection and line filtering. Such a gizmo helps keep your laptop’s power source clean and steady.
Generally speaking, if a lightning storm is nearby, don't plug your laptop into the wall unless you're using a spike protection filter. This admonition holds for the network cable as well. Wait until the storm passes before reconnecting the laptop.
Bye-Bye, Old Laptop
Getting a new laptop is so enjoyable that you’ll probably forget about the old laptop. Above all, recognize that electronics lack feelings. Jealousy isn’t part of the computer’s programming. Yet.
As long as the old laptop still works, don’t throw it away. First, migrate your old files and programs to the new laptop, as covered in Chapter 4. Second, remove the old laptop’s battery (if possible). Third, put the laptop back in its original box, or store it someplace where it won’t be thrown out accidentally.
Deciding when to retire an old laptop
Laptops should last at least three years, which is magically the same length of time as the maximum warranty provided by most manufacturers. I’ve had laptops last even longer, but after a point they do run slow or just start acting silly. Eventually new technology passes your laptop in terms of price and performance.
More key than hardware failure is battery failure. Even with modern battery technology, eventually a laptop’s battery no longer keeps a charge. At that point you can buy a replacement battery, if available. Or you can run the laptop purely from AC power.
Disposing of the old laptop
After you officially retire the old laptop and replace it with a new one, keep the old one around for a bit longer. I store old laptops in my computer bone yard. They sit in their boxes (which I save), along with all other pieces and parts. I do reuse items such as external mice and thumb drives, but the laptop itself gets retired.
Every five years or so, I purge old computers and laptops. Don’t let nostalgia cloud your resolve: Dispose of your ancient technology.
Before letting the laptop sail off into the digital sunset, I remove its mass storage device — the hard drive or SSD. Because it may still contain sensitive data, I dispose of the old hard drive at a data recycling center, which properly destroys the drive and all its data.
Along with the drive, I remove the battery. Dispose of old laptop batteries per the rules and regulations of your locality. Batteries are not to be tossed in with the rest of the rubbish.
The laptop might also be recyclable. Many waste transfer stations harvest the precious metals and other valuables from old electronics. Inquire with your local sanitation or recycling service for details.
Old technology holds no value. If your laptop was old enough to replace, it’s too old to be of value to anyone — even a nonprofit or charity.
What to Do Next
My guess is that after setting up your laptop, you'll want to turn it on and see how it works. This desire is understandable, but it’s a separate task from unpacking the laptop, so I’ve put that information in Chapter 4. Here are some other spots in the book that you should consider visiting to help start out your laptop journey on the proper foot:
You can find information in Chapters 4 and 5 about turning a laptop on or off. Turning it off can be an interesting adventure, especially if you've never used a battery-powered
