OK, so I finally got that new laptop I've been thinking about forever, and now I'm poor again. Is it OK to leave it plugged in all the time when I'm home, or should I just plug it in to charge the battery and unplug it the rest of the time?
I have found that keeping a battery plugged in constantly tends to burn it out. If you are going to keep it plugged in why not pop the battery out.
You should run it til it's dead then fully charge it again. Do not leave it on charge constantly or your battery will die an infant.
I've done the opposite with my laptop and the battery has lasted 5 years. Maybe the battery Gods have smiled down upon me. I know for a fact that doing as I suggested is true for Marine Batteries but I realize they are not the same.....or are they?
Li-ion batteries (used in most devices) have a "memory" effect. If you keep one at 100% charge all the time, some of the cells will stop functioning, giving you less active charge. Cycling is the best way to hold this memory effect at bay. Also, wulf, nice fanboy. lol.
Some manufacturers still ship Nickel Metal Hydride (NiMH) batteries. The prominent brand names use Lithium Ion (LiON). Identify your battery type first. It's on the back of the battery. Nevilock is right when you leave the battery in the laptop continuously, and plugged to AC current. If you want optimum performance in life cycle, it's best not to leave the battery in the laptop if it will be used as a desktop unit for extended periods. Take it out after it's fully charged and put in in the case. The colder the storage, the better. Put it back in when you go mobile and run it down to at least 25% before charging with external power. Try not to run it down to a forced power "shut down" to often. If you want the tecky version here's why: The batteries used in laptops are 'smart' batteries. They have a chipset that regulates charging across the cells in different patterns. Inside your pack is 6 or 8 batteries. They are typically 3.6 to 3.8 volt and they're a little bigger than a AA battery. The chipset decides where the charge goes based on the drain in the combined cells and identifies weak and strong cells. The charging circuit in the laptop will turn off after the cells are fully charge when the battery is new. After a few months it will attempt to charge the weaker, or worn, cells more than the others while the laptop is being used as a 'plugged in' desktop. Eventually your battery pack has 3 to 4 very very good cells and 3 to 4 very very bad cells. The charging circuit starts running continuously. Causing the chipset to report to the laptop that it can't support the power draw, and the laptop tells you "Low Battery". On units that I've had to replace batteries for customers; I break the old packs open and retrieve those good batteries. We haven't had to buy a laptop battery in years. I rebuild my pack with those batteries. And I'm doing my part in keeping all that toxic waste out of our dumps. Because of their voltage, they also make great cell phone battery boosters to keep in your briefcase. I made a small case for 1 battery with my phones plug type wired to it.
Thanks, Dan. It is a Lithium Ion battery. I never thought of taking it out when I'm using the laptop as a desktop, but I will do that. I believe cell phone batteries do better when you fully charge them and then let them run almost all the way down, so that's what I do with my cell, and I wondered if it was the same with laptop batteries.
So does that mean by using a dockin' station everyday you are limitin' the life of the battery or does the dockin' station bypass the battery somehow?
