Remove Your Laptop Battery To Make It Last Longer

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One of my colleagues gave me a great tip last week for extending the life of a laptop battery – don’t use it! No seriously, what he meant was if your laptop is connected to the mains, then you should remove the battery to extend its life.

Why? Well when you battery is inserted in your laptop it is constantly charging. Batteries are only capable of a finite number of charges, so reducing the number of charges will extend its life. Also, by removing it from the mains it will allow the laptop battery to discharge properly when you actually use it, which will allow it work nearer its capacity.


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  • oddy
    I guess what his friend meant was that each time we use the laptop with the battery and reconnect it to charge before it is totally discharged shortens it's life which is true. The problem is not whether it continues to charge once it's full however not to recharge it before it is totally discharged. However this solution still brings us another problem which is not to have a full battery when we are out of AC power. Let's say I used my laptop with the battery when the electric was gone out and the electricity came back when I still have %50 battery life remaining, so what I do is NOT to let my battery inside the laptop so that it should recharge the lost %50. Instead you keep your battery at %50 charged and take the risk of having only %50 battery when the electricity is gone another time. Of course in USA it is not a problem but in some countries the electricity loss is very common :(.

    I hope this was helpful friends.

    Nice days forever and ever :)
  • Wow. Now then I know what commentluv does. lol. I've been hearing about it but do not fully understand what is so good about it.
  • Michael
    Additionally,
    All laptops manufactured with Windows (Since Windows XP)...have advanced write caching enabled on the hard drive. Microsoft has done this to improve disk performance but with the understanding that if the AC fails the battery will provide power. The advanced write caching allows the computer to be faster by leaving more information in the hard drive cache. So what this means is on a laptop if your power goes out...and you dont have your battery in...you are many times more likely to lose the information you are working on or even corrupt your hard drive. If you choose to believe in this Myth...then you should turn off advanced write caching...as this is a feature only available to computers with an uninterruptable power supply (battery in this case).
  • Michael
    No this is simply not true. Laptops, Cell Phones and many other portable devices DO stop charging the battery once they are full. If they did not they would overcharge and probably explode. Ever noticed your battery getting warm when you are charging it? Then once it stops charging...hence the light goes off...meaning it stops charging...the battery cools down. If a battery were continually charged it will continue to stay warm.  What IS true about removing your battery from your computer is that keeping it cool does help lengthen its life. If you happen to leave your laptop on 24/7 on your desk...then the heat of the computer constantly keeps the battery warm and accelerates the aging of the battery. If you do plan on removing your battery then remove it when it is about 50% charged....storing a full battery isn't good for the life of it...and storing the battery in a dead state isnt good either. Hence why when we get a new toy...out of the box it has some battery power but the manufacturer recommends we charge it.

    In fact, I just found this from the About Website:

    "First it’s important to understand what overcharging is:
    Over-charging occurs when the charger keeps the battery at a temperature that is warm to touch (body temperature) while in ready condition.
    Li-Ion laptop batteries have built-in controller chips which prevent it from overcharging, as they can explode if overcharged. Overcharging does not affect the life span other than potentially destroying the battery."
  • python
    So what we're waiting for is for Microsoft (or some other company) to take the first step into creating laptop/battery-friendly OS'es.
  • i seriously doubt that. cause once a battery is fully charged they get disconnected from the main supply.
  • Errol Dean
    Some laptops work on AC without the battery, and some dont. Remember, as noted above, without the battery, the slightest power hit or accidental jiggling of the power cord will shut your machine down - losing all your work. Its alot easier to accidentally loosen the power cord on a laptop than on a desktop.

    This tip is probably more trouble than its worth.
  • Strange, I always thought the battery had to stay in to use the notebook, that they would not run just on AC. Proves what I know.

    Paul's last blog post....GTA - Free and Legal from Rockstar Games
  • Pretty useful advice and pretty useless advice at the same time. the good of having a laptop is that you can carry it wherever you want. if i have to remove the battery from it, it is like having a desktop computer. If i have to put the battery back every time i want to carry my laptop in the living room or in the bedroom...well it is going to be a pain in the butt, plus it will take all the fun away of having something portable
  • Well I agreed if you wish to make your laptop battery last longer you need to unplugged it after it fully charged and when your used power adapter.

    But I like to leave the battery plugged in laptop because sometime I not regularly save my works, and it well be a disaster when their is no electric :)

    PC's last blog post....Pic Lens
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