Laptops About battery life on laptops.

[Radon]

I just got my DELL 15 laptop today. I am owning a laptop for the first time.

Specs:

15.6 " 720p WLED (1366x768) Display with TrueLife(TM) and Built-in 2.0MP Web Cam, 512MB ATI Mobility Radeon HD 4570, Slot Load 8X DVD + /-RW Drive with DVD + R double layer write capability, 4GB Dual-channel DDR2 SDRAM, 320GB SATA 7200RPM Performance Hard Drive, Intel(R) Core(TM) 2 Duo Processor P8600 (2.40GHz/ 1066 FSB/ 3MB Cache).

I am have some doubts reagrding battery life.

What is the best way to good battert life? Shouldn't I work on battery once it is charged 100%? Is there something like I should avoid completely draining the battery?

I have got the 9-cell battery btw.

 

[fangface]

You can keep the laptop connected to mains power even after it is charged to 100%.

However if you are going to keep the laptop on 24hrs for days at a stretch, you can remove the battery and only keep it plugged onto mains power.

If you do use it on battery power, you can plug it back into charge anytime, no need to discharge it fully before recharging on normal use.

However it is a good practice to completely discharge the laptop battery once in a few months and then charge it back up to 100% to calibrate the battery power meter.

This link is for HP Laptops, but the same principles apply for any laptop battery - HP Battery Health Center

 

[halo_3]

Dont keep the battery charged to 100% if you are using it on AC power everyday.. that will just reduce battery holding capacity.. instead, keep it at approx. 50-60% charge. Many laptops have a battery maximiser program that stops charging the battery after it has reached a user defined battery charge.. check your programs folder to see if it has it..my samsung lappy has it.

One every month or so charge the battery up completely to 100% and then discharge it to 1 or 2%.. that will recondition the battery and keep the cells with a fresh charge.

If you will be using it on battery power mainly, then do not charge upto 100% everyday before going for work. It is better to start the discharge at 90% and select the option for hibernation (in power options in the vista/xp control panel) when battery goes to about 5%.

Tips are based on using laptops for almost 6 years.. I still have a 5 yr old battery that has still has approx 85% battery capacity because of the above philosophy.