Delta Electronics orporated DN-715 NoteBook User Manual CHAP 4

Delta Electronics Incorporated NoteBook CHAP 4

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USER MANUAL CHAP 4

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USER MANUAL CHAP 4

CChhaapptteerr 44 Traveling with Your NotebookThis chapter covers allaspects of using yournotebook whiletraveling

4-1Battery and Power SavingThe internal rechargeable Li-Ion battery can power your notebook. The Li-Ionshould keep you on the road for about 2 hours. Higher performance typicallyreduces the battery life. When you make your notebook work harder, e.g. byplaying sound and video, or by running disk drives, battery life will be reducedfaster. You can dramatically improve the battery life of your notebook bytaking full advantage of the power management options described below.Battery-Low ProcedureYour notebook tracks the amount of charge remaining in the internal battery.When your battery charge level gets low, you will receive several warnings.When the battery charge drops to about 10%, the computer will issue awarning message on the display, if advanced power management is enabled inWindows. At the same time, the notebook will emit an audible beeping sound,and the LED next to the battery indicator on the front edge of the notebookwill turn red, to alert you of the low battery.When there is just enough charge remaining to power your system for 3minutes, Windows will pop up another warning telling you to switch to ACpower or to suspend operation, if advanced power management is enabled inWindows. At the same time, the red LED next to the battery indicator will startflashing, and the audible beeping sound will cease. Shortly after that, thenotebook will automatically enter the Suspend-to-Disk mode.If your battery drains completely without being placed into the Suspend-to-Disk mode, you might lose information that has not been saved. It is a goodidea when using battery power to place the unit in suspend mode if you thinkyou will be leaving the unit for any substantial length of time.To check your battery charge level in Windows:Battery IconThe battery icon on the Windows taskbar provides a rough indicator of thebattery charge level by starting out all blue, i.e. full charge, and becoming grayas the charge level drops. You can also hold the cursor over the icon to get apopup reading of battery charge level.Control PanelDouble clicking on the Power icon in the Control Panel brings up theWindows power management menu. You can get a reading on the current

4-2battery charge level here. You can also make changes here to the powermanagement settings used during Windows sessions.Responding to a Low BatteryWhen your notebook alerts you to a low battery, we strongly recommend thatyou either immediately use the AC adapter to connect you notebook to asuitable AC power outlet, or you immediately save all your work and eithersuspend your computer to disk, or use the Windows Shut down item in theStart menu to turn off your system.If you shut down your computer shortly after the first warning, you will haveplenty of power to save even long files to disk. After you have shut down thecomputer or suspended to disk, do not try to restart the computer unless youhave connected the AC adapter, or you have replaced the discharged batterywith a charged one.Battery ChargingWhenever the Li-Ion battery is installed and the AC adapter is connected tothe notebook, your battery will charge whether the computer is on, off, or inpower saving mode. It will however charge much faster if the computer isturned off. While the battery is charging, the power indicator next to thebattery icon will turn amber. When the battery is fully charged the indicatorLED will turn green.NOTE: Do not use battery chargers other than the designated one tocharge this battery pack.The fastest recharge occurs when the system is off. It takes about 3 hours tofully charge the Li-Ion battery.The notebook will stop charging the battery when the temperature of thesystem becomes too high.Battery ConditioningEach time you charge and discharge the battery, it stores slightly less power.Similarly, if you do not use the battery for a few days, it will slowly discharge,and when it is recharged, it will hold less than 100% of the potential charge.We recommend that you frequently conduct the following operation to keepyour battery in good condition.1. Disconnect the AC adapter and turn on your notebook.

4-32. Allow your battery to fully discharge, ignore any warning alerts, and leavethe system alone until it automatically turns off.3. After fully discharging your system, connect the AC adapter until thebattery is fully charged.This operation carried out every few weeks, will maintain the batteryefficiency and help calibrate the electronics that monitor and maintain thebattery charge.Over time, as the battery is charged and discharged, it gradually stores lesscharge. Li-Ion cells generally last for 500 or more cycles before they begin todeteriorate. You should replace the battery when you notice that it begins tostore significantly less charge.Changing the BatteryIf you frequently use your notebook on the road, you might want to purchase aspare battery pack. Your notebook only supports standard Li-Ion battery packsthat are designed for your system.NOTE: Do not dispose the battery in fire. Do not directly connect (shortcircuit) the positive (+) and the negative (-) terminals. Never attempt todisassemble the battery pack.Changing the battery1. Turn off the notebook, or suspend to disk.2. Close the screens cover and turn the computer over.Battery LatchFigure 4-1: Battery Latch3. Release the battery latch towards the back and hold it there.

4-4Figure 4-2: Removing the Battery4. Slide the battery out towards the left until it is completely free. You canthen remove the battery.LEDs Button AreaFigure 4-3: Battery5. The top of the battery has an extra battery charge indicator. The indicatorconsists of a button and four small LEDs. When you press the area on theright side of the indicator, the button, some or all of the red LEDs will startflashing, depending on how much charge is left in the battery. All fourlights flashing indicates that the battery is fully charged, one light flashingindicates low battery charge.6. To replace the battery, slide the battery latch to the back and hold it there,then slide the battery pack in the compartment until it fits in completely.Engage the battery latch to secure the battery in the cabinet.

4-5Power ManagementIn order to make the most of the mobile computing capabilities of yournotebook, you will need to be aware of how to manage the power consumptionof your system. Aggressive power conservation can provide extendedcomputer usage. Sometimes aggressive power conservation will not beneeded, or you might prefer not to engage it. You should set the default tomatch your most common needs. If you use the system primarily as a mobilesystem with long-term battery needs, you can use an aggressive setting. If yourbattery usage is usually limited, then you might prefer a more moderatesetting. Remember, to reset the default, you must use the SystemConfiguration Utility program described in Chapter 3.Your computer is installed with two kinds of power management. One istransparent, and operates automatically. The other kind is user-programmable,and you can program how it operates.Transparent Power ManagementYour system is designed to use the Windows Advanced Power Management(APM) program to transparently reduce system power consumption.Whenever the processor inside your computer is inactive for a short time, thetransparent power manager idles the processor so that it consumes less power.When the processor resumes working, it returns to full speed almostinstantaneously with no loss of performance. This kind of power managementis transparent and automatic, and can save a great deal of energy.Thermal ManagementThe processor in this computer is extremely powerful. Consequently, itgenerates quite a lot of heat when it is working at full speed. Your computerhas an efficient thermal design, which dissipates this heat safely in normalconditions. If, however, the computer is in an extremely hot environment, andthe processor is working at full speed for sustained periods, the temperature ofthe processor may approach a critical level, which could damage the computer.Your computer monitors the processor’s temperature. Before criticaltemperatures can be generated your computer automatically turns on theinternal cooling fan until the heat problem disappears. You may notice thesound of the fan when this procedure occurs.Programmable Power ManagementThere are two programmable power management systems available to you.

4-61. Your notebook has power management features built into the SystemConfiguration Utility program. The utility program provides a moreextensive array of power management options than the Windows powermanagement discussed below. See Chapter 3 for more information on theSystem Configuration Utility.2. Windows has built-in power management features that can be used whenrunning under the Windows operating system. Since you can control thesewithout having to exit to the Setup Program, you might find it useful totake advantage of the Windows power management. You will be able tomake fine adjustments to power management while working. You canactivate these by double clicking on the Power icon in the Control Panel.NOTE: If you choose to allow Windows to control the powermanagement, it will take command of the power management settingsduring Windows sessions.Clicking on the Advanced button allows you to add the Suspend functionto the start menu. It also allows you to set the system to resume normalfunction when the modem detects an incoming call. You can also specifythe time period of inactivity before the hard disk is spun down. Spinningdown the disk provides considerable power savings. For optimal batterylife, consider a relatively short period of disk inactivity here.Suspend ModesYour computer can either suspend to RAM or suspend to disk. You can usethe System Configuration Utility to program your computer so that is suspendsto RAM or disk. A third, less aggressive power management mode is theSuspend.Suspend ModeIn suspend mode, your system turns off and reduces the power consumption ofa range of devices in order to save battery charge. The system will turn off thebacklight of the LCD display, stop the hard disk drive, and put the CPU intodoze mode. You can instantly return to full power by pressing any key orpointing device.Suspend-to-RAMIn a Suspend-to-RAM, the contents of your computer’s memory are heldintact, while practically all the rest of the components in your notebook turnoff completely, or reduce power consumption to a minimum. In a Suspend-to-RAM, your computer remains active but with the minimum possible powerconsumption. You can return the computer to full power by pressing any key.

4-7If you are operating your notebook on battery power, a fully-charged batterycan maintain a Suspend-to-RAM for many hours.Suspend-to-DiskSuspend-to-Disk is really another way of turning off your computer. Whenyou suspend to disk, the contents of your computer’s memory are copied toyour hard disk drive as a file. When the contents of the memory have beensafely stored to disk, your computer turns off. The next time the computer isturned on after suspend to disk, the file on the hard disk is quickly read backinto memory. In just a few moments, your computer appears exactly as it waswhen you last suspended to disk.Suspend to disk is very useful for Windows users who like to have manydifferent programs open and ionized on the Windows desktop. It can take quitea few minutes to get a busy Windows desktop up and running, and then youhave to shut down each program one by one when you want to turn off yourcomputer.NOTE: Don’t use suspend to disk function while transferring files atnetwork. It may cause your data loss.Suspend-to-Disk PartitionSuspending to disk requires a special disk partition set up for that purpose.This partition has already been pre-installed on your notebook. The pre-installed partition is large enough to accommodate most system memoryrequirements. If you expand the system memory and get an error messagewhen you suspend to disk, you will need to increase the size of this partition.You should not attempt to partition your hard drive unless you are anexperienced user.Initiating a Suspend modeYour notebook will suspend fewer than four conditions:1. You can click on the Suspend button in the Windows Start menu. Thesystem will turn to suspend mode.2. Pressing the hot key [Fn]+[F2] combination will suspend the system todisk.3. After an automatic suspend timeout, set in the Power menu of the SystemConfiguration Utility, elapses.4. After the screen cover of the notebook is closed and no alternative displayhas been connected to the system, the system will suspend to RAM or todisk, depending on the settings in the System Configuration Utility.

4-8ModemYour notebook might come with the optional built-in software fax/modem thatallows you to take full advantage of the fax and communications abilities ofyour system. In some countries, local regulations may not permit the use of thefax/modem that is designed for this system. Note that the telephone jack iscovered with a cap and not present if your notebook does not have thefax/modem option built-in.The fax/modem is capable of running in two modes, both as a fax and as amodem, which can be used to connect to other computers. The fax/modem cansend and receive data at up to 56 Kbps and send and receive faxes at up to 14.4Kbps.If the fax/modem is present, the notebook is installed with an RJ11 telephonejack compartment on the rear side. In order to use the fax/modem you need tofirst plug a telephone cable into the RJ11 socket, and then use the fax orcommunications software to operate the device.Fax/ModemFigure 4-4: Fax/Modem Telephone JackFaxingYour modem can allow the computer to send and receive faxes. Any Windowsapplication, which has a print command, can be used to generate faxes. Tosend a fax from within a Windows program, you need only select the fax asyour printer for that document. Then print the document as you would to yourprinter.Modem CommunicationsIf you purchased the modem, you can use it to connect to other computers witha modem, or to log into networks that allow modem access. Your modem, ifpurchased, can be set to emulate a terminal for logging into remote systems. It

4-9can also be used with login protocols to connect to certain providers and on-line services, including those provided with Windows.You should always try to connect at the highest rate of connection available.Your modem will automatically negotiate the connection and establish theactual rate of transmission of information.To connect to anything with your modem, you will usually need to sign onwith some provider or dial-in to another computer already set to receive suchconnections. Since such electronic connections are an important resource forcomputer users, Windows comes with its own software for making suchconnections, as well as with software from some other major serviceproviders.You can also use your modem in conjunction with financial software toperform your banking and pay your bills electronically.Keep in mind that your modem is a phone, but unlike other phones, it is verysensitive to noise. If you find that your modem has a lot of disconnectproblems, you might see if you can reduce the noise in your phone lines.Internet and the World Wide WebOne of the most useful functions of your modem is to allow you to connect tothe Internet or to browse the World Wide Web. The Internet is not a network,but a vast interconnection of networks. The Internet provides a connection tothe world. You can send messages to anywhere on earth. You can login anduse library catalogues. World Wide Web browsers, such as the MicrosoftInternet Explorer browser built-into Windows, allow you to have access totext, images, sound and video stored on the Internet. To enter the Internet, youwill need to log your computer into one of these networks.Safety and Operation! The notebook does not have a handle or rough surface for a sure grip, souse a carrying case when travelling. At times, you may want to put boththe case and the notebook within a larger briefcase to conceal the systemand reduce the risk of theft.! Do not use the notebook in an unstable location. Serious damages couldresult if the system should fall.! Avoid rough handling of you notebook. Jolts to the system can damagecomponents or result in data loss.

4-11Remember to pack:! Your notebook! Your AC adapter/power cord! Any optional expansion modules! Any international converters for your adapter! A spare length of phone cord! Printer cable! PC cards! Spare battery packs! Bootable diskettes! Spare diskettes for easy file exchange! Manuals for any critical software or deviceAlso remember to:! Charge your battery! Change your power management settings to more aggressive settings, ifappropriate! Transfer the files you needUsing a Computer LockYou may want to secure your computer to a heavy object such as your desk orother immovable object to discourage theft.. The easiest way to do this is topurchase an optional Kensington Micro saver security cable. Your notebookhas an anchor point for such a cable.

4-12Lock AnchorFigure 4-5: Anchor point for a Kensington-type security cableTo use this cable follow these instructions:1. Loop the cable through or around some part of a heavy object. Make surethere is no way for a potential thief to slip the cable off the object.2. Pass the locking end through the loop.3. Insert the cable’s locking end into the anchor point on your notebook, givethe key a quarter turn and remove it. The computer is now securely locked.