How do I make laptop batteries and rechargeable batteries in general last for a long time. Should I constantly keep my batteries charged or should I wait for batteries to completely deplete to 0 before I charge them back up again? This question goes for more than just laptops, things like my iPod and my 360 controller as well.
With today's batteries, any preventative measures you take will result in such minor performance increases that it's not really worth the hassle of planning it all out. Generally speaking it's better to let them deplete before charging, but with any lithium battery (ie, iPods or laptops) the capacity is not going to suffer, just the number of potential cycles. Even then, I still don't think it's worth the annoyance of keeping track of everything - when it needs charging, charge it, when you feel like topping it off, do that too. NiMHs might be more susceptable to that, but I can't really say - I've always charged those from empty and I have pairs that are coming up on eight years of constant use.
Does it make a difference to the battery life as to how hot the laptop get? Should you make sure there is adequate air flow beneath it or does that matter to the batter?
Don't completely deplete lithium ion ones, also the best possible place to keep them is around 40%, 100% will kill them. Microsoft even lets you force your laptop to the max charge level, I put mine at 95%, and if I know I'm going somewhere I'll put it back up to 100%,
Log in to comment