The Notebook Review forums were hosted by TechTarget, who shut down them down on January 31, 2022. This static read-only archive was pulled by NBR forum users between January 20 and January 31, 2022, in an effort to make sure that the valuable technical information that had been posted on the forums is preserved. For current discussions, many NBR forum users moved over to NotebookTalk.net after the shutdown.
Problems? See this thread at archive.org.

    Charging lenovo t540p with computer off?

    Discussion in 'Lenovo' started by Milardo, Jan 30, 2014.

  1. Milardo

    Milardo Notebook Consultant

    Reputations:
    44
    Messages:
    207
    Likes Received:
    42
    Trophy Points:
    41
    Hi, i've just got a lenovo t540p and i noticed unlike other laptops, there are hardly any indicator lights like hdd activity, optical drive activity, and battery indicator? When i plug in my the laptop and don't power it on, all i see is the red light on the thinkpad logo on the back go on and off once. How do i charge the laptop to full with the computer not powered on and not overcharge it? Also, would like to know what the thinkpad logo red light means? Last question is has anybody gotten a copp protected dvd notice when playing dvds like with a 3rd party version- cyberlink software? Thanks for any good replies.
     
  2. soul347

    soul347 Notebook Evangelist

    Reputations:
    177
    Messages:
    350
    Likes Received:
    53
    Trophy Points:
    41
    That light just means that you connected to a power source. Unfortunately, there is no way to know if the battery has reached full without turning on the device.
     
  3. jcvjcvjcvjcv

    jcvjcvjcvjcv Notebook Evangelist

    Reputations:
    35
    Messages:
    526
    Likes Received:
    37
    Trophy Points:
    41
    ?? They scrapped that too?

    My T61 the battery lid will "blink" if charging and below a certain percentage shows an orange batterysymbol instead of green.
     
  4. TuuS

    TuuS Notebook Consultant

    Reputations:
    182
    Messages:
    105
    Likes Received:
    7
    Trophy Points:
    31
    The batteries have intelligent circuitry that won't allow you to overcharge it. When a battery is new it's important to make sure you fully charge it so the gauge can properly calibrate so it's best to just plug in the laptop and let it charge overnight before first use of the battery. I know the urge to use a new laptop, but if you must you can test drive it without the battery, but I always allow it to charge overnight and enjoy my new toy after I'm certain I've fully and properly charged the battery.

    ps. To prolong battery life it's a good idea to set custom charge thresholds so your ongoing repeated charges DON'T fully charge. I have mine set to only start charging when it gets below 70% and to stop at 90%. This prevents a lot of wear n tear on the battery and could greatly extend it's life. If your computer is constantly topping off the charge to 100% you could see the capacity erode rather quickly or even a complete controller failure within a couple years or less, in contrast I've seen gently used batteries last many, many years.