The best way to treat your laptopb battery?
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lutzj
The Last Thing You See
Turn screen brightness down, etc. to use the battery as little as possible. When the computer is plugged in and the battery charged, take the battery out of the laptop (if you can).
If it's lithium ion or lithium polymer, the following rules of thumb apply:
- Don't run the battery down all the way, frequent recharging is good.
- Keep the battery cool. (This is the rational behind removing the battery from the laptop when it's not in use)
- Don't leave the battery fully charged for long periods of time, IIRC 70% capacity is good for storage.
- Don't run the battery down all the way, frequent recharging is good.
- Keep the battery cool. (This is the rational behind removing the battery from the laptop when it's not in use)
- Don't leave the battery fully charged for long periods of time, IIRC 70% capacity is good for storage.
What Zelig said. The thing I see people doing most often that kills lithium-ion batteries is leaving laptops plugged in long term. If you're going to have the laptop stationary and plugged in for more than 6-8 hours, pop the battery out until you actually need it again.
One thing you can also do with a new battery is condition it. Let it fully charge (overnight), then run it down pretty low (10-15%, but *not* completely dead). Then let it fully charge again... drain again... rinse & repeat 3-5 times. How much it really helps I can't say, but that's what you're "supposed" to do, and I don't think it can hurt.
Realize too though the lithium-ion batteries just don't last forever. They literally start to degrade teh moment they're assembled in the factory. I would say if the battery makes it 2-3 years and is still maintains a "good" charge, you're well above the curve.
Edit: And when you buy a battery, I would get it direct from the manufacturer if possible, because you want the battery to be as new as possible. At a retail store, it's not unlikely that the battery you buy has been sitting on the shelf for 3-6 months or even longer.
One thing you can also do with a new battery is condition it. Let it fully charge (overnight), then run it down pretty low (10-15%, but *not* completely dead). Then let it fully charge again... drain again... rinse & repeat 3-5 times. How much it really helps I can't say, but that's what you're "supposed" to do, and I don't think it can hurt.
Realize too though the lithium-ion batteries just don't last forever. They literally start to degrade teh moment they're assembled in the factory. I would say if the battery makes it 2-3 years and is still maintains a "good" charge, you're well above the curve.
Edit: And when you buy a battery, I would get it direct from the manufacturer if possible, because you want the battery to be as new as possible. At a retail store, it's not unlikely that the battery you buy has been sitting on the shelf for 3-6 months or even longer.
Well my new one is not from the manufacturer (HP), but the company i bought it from guarantees that they only sell fresh batteries 
Well its over 1 year old, but then again i have never taken the battery out of the laptop. And its usually plugged inn when im home....
Well its over 1 year old, but then again i have never taken the battery out of the laptop. And its usually plugged inn when im home....
taper
Meet Tux
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Everything you ever wanted to know about batteries. Pretty good advice so far. Biggest thing is don't leave it plugged in all the time. Everything else is small stuff, but does add up. For storage of longer than a day, I keep my battery at 40%, I do 3 complete power cycles(100-5% and back up) once a year or so(which is something you should do immediately to any new lithium battery), and I still have over 80% capacity after 3 years. Not too shabby. Lithiums don't have "memory" problems either, so go ahead and "opportunity charge" whenever possible.
GenMarshall
High Elven ISB Capt & Ghost Agent
I keep mines on the side incase there is a power flicker. My laptop is always attached to an AC unit.
aimeeandbeatles
watermelon
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It may be a good idea to get two batteries, and switch every so often.
Unless you *need* two batteries, that's actually a very bad idea. The battery you aren't using is still degrading while it sits in the shelf, so in the end you just end up wasting the money you spent on it.
Comraddict
C.IV
pretty good advice, except that batteries for certain lose charge capacity based on number of recharges... more recharges, less capacity.
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