Laptop Battery Charging

m5rcc

Plenty of alternatives if you Google it....

libra10

I've had my current laptop for around two years now and was advised to discharge the battery every day, to prolong life.

It really works! I discharge the battery each day and the PC still works for almost 2 hours before needing to be plugged in.

My previous laptops which were always powered from the mains, had almost no power left in the batteries well within a year.

Definitely good advice.

andy2004

http://www.nirsoft.net/utils/battery_information_view.html

gives you more informating than windows, including what the battery is doing, whether the battery is what it says it is, aka 4400mah etc also gives a better idea of battery life.

Kernel_Sanders

libra10 wrote: »

I've had my current laptop for around two years now and was advised to discharge the battery every day, to prolong life.

It really works! I discharge the battery each day and the PC still works for almost 2 hours before needing to be plugged in.

I've always thought that you shouldn't keep a discharged battery in that state if you can help it.
So, are you using an identical battery in the same laptop as the previous one and if not, how can you make a realistic comparison?

libra10

I'm not using an identical battery in the same laptop as previous PC, therefore not able to make a realistic comparison.

However, I've always used Sony Vaios (this is my fourth model), an F series, 64 bit, quad core machine, using lots of resources. Much bigger than my previous VGN model Sony.

I never used my previous PCs using battery power, as I never take laptops away from home, and electric point is handy. When I purchased this PC (almost 2 years ago) I decided to follow a techie's advice and let the PC use battery power before plugging into a power point. He advised that battery would last much longer.

This I've done daily, and from my own findings (admittedly not scientific), have found that the battery in this PC lasts much longer than previous PCs, even though they had fewer resources than my current machine.

thescouselander

m5rcc wrote: »

Fully charge it and remove the battery from the laptop and run on mains only, if you can.

If you need to be mobile, try to fully charge, then fully discharge, then fully charge....

Bad advice which is likely to lead to a dead battery very quickly. Never store lithium polymer batteries fully charged as this leads to chemical changes causing a higher internal resistance killing the battery's performance.

This website is an excellent resource for learning how to take care of batteries:

http://batteryuniversity.com/


Basically the best thing to do is to use the battery regularly (every day if possible). Also avoid discharging the battery too deeply before charging - I tend to charge mine when it reaches 30% remaining.

If you aren't going to use the battery for a while charge to 50% and store in a cool location.

Enterprise_1701C

I have set up my Vaio on a battery conserving power plan. It is in the control panel. I have seen that it only charges the battery to 80% and then it stops even if it is still plugged in.

I have had my laptop for more than 2 years and the battery performance is still showing as good, and I still get a fair while out of it (showing at 1hr 55 mins at 79%).

It is used most days. In the morning I run it on battery and often get it down to a minimum of 20%, sometimes running down if I am using power hungry programs, then I run it off mains in the evening to recharge it.