Care and feeding of laptop battery

[Qwakkeddup]

Compaq presario, I think.

My wife runs this while plugged in more than 90% of the time. I think the old standby of running a battery almost dead before a recharge once in a while is pretty well dead, but I'm not sure. Will this shorten the life of the battery? Significantly? What would be the proper care to help ensure a long and charged life for her battery.

[hobscrk777]

If she's using it while plugged into the AC adapter, I'd take the battery out. I used to have a laptop that had the battery perpetually attached. It was completely, totally, 100% dead within a year. The battery will discharge slightly, even while on AC power, and then quickly top off again. This messes with the limited charge/recharge cycles of lithium ion batteries.

After a long series of events, I eventually replaced the computer. I now keep the battery aside when my laptop is plugged in.

[astro]

Li-ON batteries really aren't all that responsive to "conditioning" by deep cycling the way older Nickle Hydride and and nicads batteries were. It's kind of a waste of time to deep cycle them off line IMO. Li-ONs placed in use and being charged will peter out gradually more as (so far as I can tell) a function of the effect of time vs normal charging cycles.

[ZenBeam]

I have a Compaq Presario, and usually use it plugged into AC all the time. I've read online that LI-ion batteries last longest if they're stored at about 40% of their capacity, and that they'll wear out fastest if they're hot and at full charge, but for me it was just too much bother to unplug periodically while using my laptop. But the same place said that the best correlation with reduced capacity is just time from manufacture.

Mine is three or four years old now, and the battery now only has about 25 minutes of capacity according to the power meter. I think it was almost two hours when new. Actually, I ought to buy a replacement....

As far as taking the battery out, there was a thread a few months back where someone's laptop wouldn't start. The battery had been removed, and one of the suspected causes was that the AC adapter alone couldn't supply enough power alone for the peak power draws. Not sure if that was ever confirmed, though.

[sailor]

Originally Posted by hobscrk777

If she's using it while plugged into the AC adapter, I'd take the battery out. I used to have a laptop that had the battery perpetually attached. It was completely, totally, 100% dead within a year.

My experience as well. But I am not sure if just taking the battery out is good. I would love to have a dummy cover without battery because it makes the computer much lighter and I always use it plugged in anyway.