laptop battery treatment (how to, work, memory, batteries)

[burr]

We just gotta Toshiba laptop and were wondering how to treat the battery for optimum use. Seems the only instructions were to charge overnight at first usage.

My personal route for tools, phones is to 'use up' the power fully before charging, so as to give the full range of a battery capacity type charge. When using at the desk, should we keep it plugged into the 110 outlet or use up battery ?

How long does such a battery last (this one is described as a 'five hour' battery) ?

[dijkstra]

Only run the laptop on battery when necessary. Any time AC outlet power is available use it by plugging in the charger/AC power adapter. Don't completely discharge/power cycle the battery when unnecessary. I have a laptop that is over 7 years old with the original battery that still holds up very well and works perfectly because I only use the battery when absolutely necessary. I have friends that kill their batteries within a year by using and power cycling it heavily when it really isn't necessary.

The length of run time on the battery is completely dependent on how you use the computer at any particular time so it is nearly impossible to predict how long the charge will actually last. To get the maximum amount of run time out of the battery, open and use only the applications necessary and close them when you are sure you are finished with them. Do not close and application and then restart it again 15 minutes later as initializing and starting an application uses more resources and thus more battery power.

[NHDave]

This is all a matter of opinion, personally I disagree with the above post. I run mine on battery until the low battery alert pops up, then do a full charge, have never had a battery die a premature death. I have had customers that always run on AC and never use the battery, then when they go to run it on battery, they get less than 30 minutes of run time on a year old laptop.

[tickyul]

Well, if it is a newer laptop it probably has Lithium-ion batteries. These batteries have next to no memory effect, meaning you do not get any benefit from occasionally draining the batteries all the way down. Best thing to do is keep them in an area where they have adequate air circulation and keep them fully charged.