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[mr_chris]

Link: Zen and the Art of Battery Laptop Maintenance (links to reghardware.co.uk)

I just read this article on The Register, and I thought it would be of some interest to some folks on here.

Anyone who's had a laptop for any length of time has probably noticed that the battery doesn't hold a charge as well as it did when it was new - I know mine doesn't, but I think I'm quite lucky with it. The article provides some useful information on the best way to get the most out of your laptop battery.

For instance, one popular myth that I always believed was that it was good to allow batteries to discharge fully and then recharge them. Well according to the article, this isn't quite true, you should allow it to discharge - but not fully, before recharging it.

Hope it's of some use anyway

Article

[oldfogy]

Re the mobile phone scenario, this is something I have always said that happens naturally without people being aware of it, hence the reason why mobile phone batteries always seem to get the most life out of them.

Laptop, again something I have always advocated, if possible remove the battery on any laptop/net-book that is used on the mains for most of the time.

My BIOS has the facility called "Battery Management" basically the instructions are to charge the battery to a full capacity then run the battery management option in the BIOS which totally discharges the battery on a very slow and even rate, followed then "by being recharged 100% once the laptop stops doing it's thing".
I usually leave mine discharging over-night as it takes quite some time, then switch the mains power back on the following morning to charge it up again. This process however should not be run too regularly.
(but I'm not sure how often it should be run so I only do it possibly 3 times a year)

[pintosal]

The instruction booklet that came with my Dell Inspiron says to keep it connected to the mains whenever possible.

[sevenlayermuddle]

My BIOS has the facility called "Battery Management" basically the instructions are to charge the battery to a full capacity then run the battery management option in the BIOS which totally discharges the battery on a very slow and even rate, followed then "by being recharged 100% once the laptop stops doing it's thing".

This sound like another aspect of laptop battery maintenance that I've heard about, which is that they may benefit from a complete charge and discharge once in a while to recalibrate their built-in fuel gauge.  I had a quick google and found this, halfway down the page under "How to calibrate..."

http://www.batteryuniversity.com/parttwo-38.htm

[jeffbb]

Hi

Useful to know (specially about leaving laptop in car ). Understanding battery life better now .
Regards Jeff

[oldfogy]

Here's one to be going on with, if of any use to you.
http://www.batterytest.com/

This is a link to the battery testing program I have on my LT which tells me the state of the battery. The last time I used it I think it said my battery was only about 75% efficient, but then again it is approximately 4 to 5 years old.

http://www.geocities.co.jp/SiliconValley-Oakland/8259/

Don't worry about all the foreign writing, the program is in English.

This page is written in Japanese, but Mr.Tamaru translated this page into English.
You can download latest MobileMeter from here:
最新版はこちらです.