# Should I run my laptop battery down?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-i-run-my-laptop-battery-down/586366>\
**Category:** In My Humble Opinion\
**Created:** [June 22, 2011, 1:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-i-run-my-laptop-battery-down/586366 "2011-06-22T01:23:35Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 2

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![MsWhatsit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/eb8c5e/32.png) [@MsWhatsit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MsWhatsit)\
**Post date:** [June 23, 2011, 2:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-i-run-my-laptop-battery-down/586366/23 "2011-06-23T14:09:28Z")

</div>

Re battery life, I will anecdotally share that I frequently do video chatting with a friend in the UK, and on more than one occasion have done this on battery power. Last time, after literally two hours of running video chat, the MBP still had 35% battery left. My PC couldn’t even run Word for that long on battery. 😛

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Jophiel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jophiel/32/66_2.png) [@Jophiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jophiel)\
**Post date:** [June 23, 2011, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-i-run-my-laptop-battery-down/586366/24 "2011-06-23T16:02:58Z")

</div>

> [@Cicero](#):
>
> I’ve only ever had two laptops and have never been able to get near the manufacturers stated battery lasting times for either.

My wife has a Toshiba netbook and the battery on that thing is a beast. She regularly gets 8+ hours out of it while doing routine tasks (web browsing, watching some videos, word processing). When I bought it, I noticed that most of the netbooks in our price range were nearly identical in specs anyway but a few reviews mentioned the battery on the Toshiba so I went in that direction. Good call.

I only bring it up because positive computer battery stories are so rare. We were really surprised.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\
**Post date:** [June 23, 2011, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-i-run-my-laptop-battery-down/586366/25 "2011-06-23T16:29:51Z")

</div>

I have a newish Toshiba that gets about an hour of continuous screen-on use. Laptop batteries just aren’t very good.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![sachertorte](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sachertorte/32/3727_2.png) [@sachertorte](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sachertorte)\
**Post date:** [June 23, 2011, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-i-run-my-laptop-battery-down/586366/26 "2011-06-23T17:06:14Z")

</div>

> **[Batteries](https://www.apple.com/batteries/)**
>
> Maximize the life and lifespan of the lithium-ion battery in your iPod, iPhone, iPad, or MacBook. Learn how to service and recycle it, too.

> [@](#):
>
> Exercise Your Machine  
> Lithium-ion polymer batteries need to be used for maximum performance. If you don’t use your device often, be sure to complete a charge cycle at least once a month.

[Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-i-run-my-laptop-battery-down/586366.md?page=1)