Good folks working on the One Laptop Per Child Project announced that the OLPC XO-2 concept had been shelved and in what appears to be bowing to the hype of tablet form factors, they’ve announced the new XO-3.

OLPC shows off absurdly thin XO-3 concept tablet for 2012 (update: XO-1.5 and XO-1.75 coming first). It’s designed to be thin, sleek, and touch, while continuing to lower power, cost, and material waste. We’ve been anticipating the new designs for a while, and now they’ve arrived! Here are the latest images from the Fuse design team.

This post is going to show you how to verify that an Laptop AC power adapter is working properly for you. If your laptop computer shows any of the following symptoms then you should test your AC adapter to make sure if there is any problem of it.

a. The laptop will not turn on when it is connected to the AC adapter .
b. The monitor does not turn on when the laptop is connected to the AC adapter .
c. The power LED of the adapter is off when the laptop is connected to the AC adapter .

Troubleshoot the AC adapter
Use the following steps to verify whether the AC adapter is working:

Step 1. Remove the laptop battery from the battery compartment.
Step 2. Plug the AC adapter directly into a wall outlet (a functioning one). Do not plug into a power strip, surge protector or secondary power source.
Step 3. Connect the other end of the AC adapter into the laptop computer.
Step 4. Ensure all the connections are not loose.
Step 5. Press the Power button on the computer.



If the LED is on , then the AC Adapter is functioning properly.
If the LED is off , the AC adapter needs to be replaced. Check LaptopTraveller.com for information on obtaining a replacement AC power adapter.

There are many people having power on issue with their laptop. If the laptop computer is out of warranty and you do not intend on investing the amount of money for a "board-level" repair, it is recommended that you try the methods below to reassemble the laptop and try to power it on again. If you get power, you are lucky, and it only cost you time!

Please do the following items and/or verify them:

1. Laptop Battery or AC Adapter Problem
Try taking the battery out of the laptop and then power it on with AC power only.
Power on with battery only without AC Adapter.
RESOLUTION: Buy a new laptop battery or power cord.
(Info about How to choose a laptop battery)

2. External Device or PCMCIA/CARDBUS removal
Disconnect all USB devices
Inspect all USB ports to ensure they are not broken and causing a short on the system.
Disconnect all Firewire devices
Disconnect all HDMI devices
Disconnect all external VGA devices
Eject and remove all PCMCIA/CARDBUS adapters
Eject and remove all memory stick cards
Disconnect all parallel printers or parallel devices
Disconnect all serial printers or serial devices
RESOLUTION: Replace device causing the issue or fix port if the port is broken.

3. System Memory
Power off the laptop
Disconnect the AC adapter from the laptop
Remove the battery from the laptop
Press and hold the power button for 10 seconds
Prevent static charge - preferably using a wristband
Remove the System Memory (RAM) cover
Remove the system memory out of the laptop
Plug the laptop in
Attempt to power on the laptop - listen for system beeps
Unplug the laptop
Press and hold the power button for 10 seconds
Reinstall the RAM into the laptop
Replace the cover
Plug in the AC adapter
Attempt to power on the laptop
RESOLUTION: Replace the memory if the system powers on with the memory out, but does not power on with the memory in

4. Hard disk drive
Power off the laptop
Disconnect the AC adapter
Remove the battery
Press and hold the power button for 10 seconds
Ground yourself to prevent static discharge - preferably with a grounding wrist strap
Remove the hard drive screws
Remove the hard drive out of the system
Plug the AC Adapter in
Attempt to power on the laptop - listen for system beeps or watch for BIOS information
Unplug the laptop
Press and hold the power button for 10 seconds
Reinstall the hard disk drive
Reconnect the AC Adapter
Attempt to power on the laptop
RESOLUTION: Replace the hard disk drive if the system powers on with the drive removed, but does not power on with the drive installed.

If none of the resolutions or tests provide any insight into the issue then you must disassemble the laptop part for part while attempting to regain power to the system. This includes optical drives and all add-in cards, such as WiFi, bluetooth, or any other factory or non-factory installed cards! If you reach the bare motherboard on the system and the system will not power on, you have a "board-level" issue to contend with. In most cases repairing this type of issue is not worth the cost associated.

Panasonic is charging into the green space headlong — first with deals to supply batteries for electric and hybrid vehicles — and now announcing that it will launch a massive lithium-ion storage battery capable of powering an average home for up to a week, the company says.

This is significant for two reasons. First, if home batteries like this one become commonplace, renewable sources of energy like rooftop solar and residential turbines could finally take off. The biggest roadblock to their adoption is that they are intermittent; reliable storage is needed to make them effective. Second, if affordable storage is achieved on the home-level, there might be less need for grid-scale storage, which is pricier and harder to accomplish.

The announcement is hastened by Panasonic’s acquisition of a more than 50 percent stake in Sanyo, making the company a battery manufacturing powerhouse that could trounce almost everyone else in the market, including A123Systems, Johnson Controls-Saft, Valence Technologies, and others. Becoming the earliest entrant into the home storage space would solidify its dominance.

Panasonic, which says it has already thoroughly tested this technology, plans to bundle its storage device with a home energy monitoring system that would allow users to view how much power they are using and how much it is costing them right on their television displays. This could make the company a major player in the smart grid arena as well.

Depending on how successful Panasonic is at marketing its household battery (and bringing down the cost), it could become a formidable competitor for fuel-cell makers like Clear Edge Power. Fuel cells also allow for low-emission operations, converting natural gas into electricity and recycled heat. But they don’t store electricity for use later, which is a major need for alternative energies to gain traction.

Panasonic, which scored a deal to supply batteries to Tesla Motors in October, has already successfully pushed automotive battery makers out of the market, like Imara, which shuttered earlier this month. Valence, being kept afloat by a new contract with Smith Electric Vehicles, could be next if it doesn’t move fast. In any case, it will have a head start, with Panasonic’s storage system not hitting stores until 2011.

If your Gateway 400Sd4 Ac Adapter is not powering your laptop, here are some simple steps you can do before you get a new AC adapter

1) Check the AC Adapter

Take your battery and ac adapter out and then reseat the Battery and the AC Adapter. Check for any damaged connections or connectors.

2) Update the BIOS (Basic Input-Output System )
A computer’s Basic Input-Output System (BIOS) is embedded software on a motherboard that will control attached hardware. It provides an operating system with information about hardware, and is designed to support a specific range of components. An out of date BIOS can cause Unknown AC Adapter issues. Visit the the your laptop manufacturer’s website to for latest BIOS updates specific to your computer.

The 2 steps above are not limited to Gateway Ac Adapter only. After you have done the above and your power cord is still now working, it is time for you to get a new one. It costs you an arm and leg to get the OEM AC adapters ( Original Equipment Manufacturer, for example,if your laptop is DELL, a DELL AC adapter is OEM adapter). Aftermarket AC adapters are perfect solution to this. They usually cost only 1/2 or 1/3 of the OEM ones and they work the same.
You might notice that PowerUP AC adaptors have a higher mAh rating than the original one supplied with your laptop, this will NOT affect your laptop in any way. It is very important that the voltage is the same however so please do check this before using your new laptop ac adaptor.

Here are the most common questions you might ask and you need to know before buying a laptop battery for your notebook computer:

Can I upgrade my Laptop Battery to a newer chemistry?
There are several types of chemistries: Nickel Cadmium (NiCad), Nickel Metal Hydride (NiMH), Lithium Ion (Li-Ion) or Li-Ion Polymer (Li-Polymer). Different battery chemistries cannot be substituted unless the laptop has been pre-configured in the factory to accept more than one type of rechargeable battery. Each chemistry type requires a different charging pattern to be properly energized.

How Are Batteries Rated?
There are two ratings on a battery, Voltage (V) and Milliamp-hours (mAh). Voltage is the rate at which energy is drawn from a battery. Milliamp-hours represents the capacity of the battery. This is a unit of measurement for battery capacity, obtained by multiplying a current flow in amperes by the time in hours of discharge. (Example: A battery which delivers 5 amperes for 20 hours delivers 5 amperes times 20 hours, or 100 ampere-hours.)

What if the "mAh" rating is different to my original battery?
The mAh rating represents the capacity of the battery. The capacity is affected by the number of batteries in the battery pack. The capacity is increased by linking the cells in parallel. If the mAh rating is higher than the original battery, then the replacement battery will run for a longer time, if the rating is lower then the replacement battery will run for a shorter time.

Can I use a battery which has a different voltage rating than my original battery?
No, the voltage rating has to match that of the original battery or as recommended by the computer manual. Using a battery with a different voltage setting can damage the laptop.

Related Reading: Choose a Correct Laptop Battery – How?

The HP Mini 311 is the latest and greatest in the carrier-subsidized netbook offerings we've seen, and besides its small size, this netbook comes closest in performance to what we'd expect from a larger, more expensive notebook. The Mini 311 is stylish and easy to use, and since it weighs just 3.22 lb2., it's easy to carry around. With the NVIDIA Ion graphics chipset driving the machine, it was capable of handling higher quality video and even online games better than any other netbook we've seen. Plus, instead of the tired old Windows XP operating system, the HP Mini 311 now runs Windows 7 Home Premium, a full-fledged OS with a great user interface that's more polished and reliable than its predecessor. It still suffers from the problems that plague portable computers this size. With a large screen and 1080p HD video playback, the Mini 311 is great for surfing the Web. There's no optical drive, which makes it difficult to actually load the games that will show off the NVIDIA Ion, though you can buy an external drive from HP. Storage and RAM are a bit anemic, and the trackpad is absolutely tiny. In the end, though, if you were looking for a netbook with a ubiquitous WWAN option, there isn't a better subsidized option than the HP Mini 311. Release: September 2009. Price: $200.

THE GOOD: Nvidia Ion graphics adds HD video and basic gaming functionality; reasonably priced; high-def display.

THE BAD: Annoying touch pad; streaming Flash video support for new Nvidia Ion graphics is spotty; $20 extra for a white lid, seriously?

THE BOTTOM LINE: HP's Mini 311 adds a larger, high-definition display and advanced graphics to a basic Netbook, while keeping the price very appealing. Once it starts shipping with Windows 7, this could become our favorite Netbook.

Find more netbook power accessories on LaptopTraveller.com:
HP Mini 110 Ac Adapters
HP Mini 1101 Battery
Eee PC 1000HA Battery
Acer Aspire One D150 Power Cords
Aspire One D250 Rechargeable Battery