What will happen to my laptop from frequent power-cuts?

[MarHardware]

My laptop is like a desktop PC now - doesn't run on battery.

It seems my country's power supplier - Jamaica Public Service Company - are performing some maintenance in my area. I keep experiencing power-cuts and my laptop shuts down abruptly every time. What should I expect to happen to my laptop and how can I prevent it?

Thanks

 

[azaran]

In theory your laptop should auto switch to battery power when the AC is knocked off but if its not doing that it may be time to replace the battery. Depending on the age of your laptop, your battery just may no longer hold a charge. It happens to all batteries eventually.

 

[huilun02]

If your laptop's battery is dead, get a UPS (uninterruptible power supply)

Its a device that stores charge in its battery, and will use it to keep your connected device running for a while when the power is cut. Thus protecting it from abrupt loss of power and gives you time to save your work.

Beats buying a new battery that becomes useless when the laptop dies.

 

[MarHardware]

In theory your laptop should auto switch to battery power when the AC is knocked off but if its not doing that it may be time to replace the battery. Depending on the age of your laptop, your battery just may no longer hold a charge. It happens to all batteries eventually.

I know this.
My laptop can't use any battery at the moment. No power is reaching the battery. I need a new motherboard, but can't afford it at the moment.
My laptop is Sony Vaio VGN-NS110E.
I just did some more reading and I think I would need an UPS.
Question still stands though: what should I expect to happen to my laptop - which particular component?

 

[azaran]

Ah yeah then your going to want to go with a UPS. If your just getting short term blackouts or brownouts it'll help keep your laptop from crashing every time and give you time to shut down properly. As for what to expect to happen to your laptop, I'm assuming you mean what kind of problems this can cause? The components should be able to handle a sudden power loss fairly well. The only thing I'd be truly concerned with is your OS or data getting corrupted from unexpected shutdowns midway through writing to the hard drive.

 

[huilun02]

If you don't protect your laptop, the most vulnerable component that could take damage from power loss/spikes would be the power adapter and any VRM (voltage regulator modules) in the laptop. Or an internal fuse could just blow which would prevent any power from reaching the components.