Running The Computer On Battery Power; Monitoring Battery Power - Toshiba Satellite 200 Series User Manual

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Taking Your Computer on the Road

Running the Computer on Battery Power

Running the Computer on Battery Power
The Satellite 200 Series computer contains a removable NiMH
battery pack that provides power when you are away from an AC
outlet. You can recharge the battery many times. If you spend a lot
of time on the road, you may purchase additional batteries, giving
you the potential of many more working hours away from a power
source.
To charge the battery, plug the computer into a live wall socket.
The battery charges when the computer is on or off. It takes up to
two hours to charge the battery with the computer off, or approxi-
mately three to six hours when the computer is on.
There is also an optional battery charger that charges up to two
batteries at the same time. See "Charging More than One Battery
at a Time" on page 144 for more information about the battery
charger.
Aside from the battery pack that powers the computer, there are
two additional batteries: the backup battery and the real-time clock
(RTC) battery. These batteries quietly go about their business in
the background, you never have to worry about them. If you're
really curious about these batteries, see "What Other Batteries
Does the Computer Have?" on page 261.

Monitoring Battery Power

The computer's battery light gives you an indication of the current
battery charge. The possible states of the battery light are:
Green indicates a full charge.
Orange indicates the battery is charging.
Flashing orange indicates that the charge is running low.
Toshiba's MaxTime program also contains a battery gauge that lets
you check how much time you have before the power runs out.
You can set the MaxTime gauge so that it is always visible, provid-
ing a constant reminder of your current battery state.