How long do you leave a laptop plugged in?
Should you leave it plugged in as much as possible, or only when the battery wears out? My husband seems to think it will get ruined if I leave it plugged in all the time.
Answers:
Wow, there seems to be some differences of opinion on this one. Well perhaps I can help clear up some of the mystery. I have actually done quite a bit of research on this topic.
There is this thing called "battery memory". It doesn't actually have anything to do with memory, what it refers to is the battery's ability to hold a charge. If a battery is not discharged all the way before it is recharged it starts to develop a "memory" of the amount of discharge. It doesn't happen right away but eventually it gets to the point where the battery will no longer charge to the full capacity it used to have.
Different battery types are effected by this different amounts. Alkaline batteries are severely effected by it. Lithium Ion batteries (the kind in a laptop) are not nearly as effected by it but are still a little effected.
There is something else to consider however. All batteries, especially lithium Ions and most especially cheap lithium Ions loose there charge over time, even when they are just sitting being unused. This means that every few hours or even every few minutes depending on your battery and laptop, the battery charger kicks on to get the battery back to 100%. This rapid charging and discharging will quickly hurt the batteries life.
Of course this is only one of many things that can and will effect the life of your battery. The manual to your laptop should have care instructions for it. Usually it recommends running on the battery and draining it completely dead then doing a full recharge around once a month. This will help stop "battery memory".
Other answers:
I'm not sure about the technical answer, but I will tell you that I never turn off my computer, and I leave it plugged in all day, all night - in fact, the only time I unplug it is to transport it anywhere, and I just do "hibernate". I do reboot maybe once every two weeks. My battery is shot, but that happens with age - my computer is 4 years old.
I don't think running from battery or not running from battery really matters all that much. If it does make a difference, how much can it be? And if it does kill your battery life by, say, 30%, just think of it like this - is the hassle of plugging it in and out greater than having to spend $60 on a battery every 2 years instead of every 3 years?
Notebooks have a safety feature, once the battery is fully charged it automatically goes to wall current. you can leave your notebook connected all the time.
Don't leave the battery in the notebook if it's going to be plugged in for a long period of time. A notebook is in continous discharge/charge mode when the battery is in and thus it will wear the battery out pretty quick compared to charge your battery, take it out and use the notebook on AC until your ready for the road then pop the battery back in.
it tellls down at the botton before u plug it in
it won't matter, it will not do anyything except run up your power bill! yeah!
Leave it plugged in as long as you like. Once your battery is charged it will run on AC Power.
You can leave it plugged in all the time it will not do any harm... once the battery is charged, the laptop will simply run off "wall power".
If you plan to leave it hooked up all the time, it's a good idea to connect it rhough a surge protector, just n case.
If you leave it at your desk for a long time, I recommend removing the battery from your laptop completely while its plugged in. Only leave the battery in if you need to charge it, or if you are on the road.
Laptop batteries are Lithium-Ion (Li-Ion), so you can follow the care instructions for these batteries on the link below.
Laptop is design for portable. Although you can leave it on all the time but it doesn't have good airflow. I would suggest turn it off over night to minimize the overheat situation.
It's not a problem if you have a lithium battery. Newer batteries have safeguards to prevent overcharging. However, you should let the batter go all the way down (like 5 percent left) once in a while to refresh the battery. Older batteries have to do this more often.
Good answer jm3technologies. I've heard this before but not explained so clearly.
When laptop gets power from AC adaptor, it stops using battery and starts to charge it. Once the battery is full, it stops charging the battery and goes on power from the adaptor. To avoid mentioned often fullcharging (charge from 99,5 % till 100%), the charging mechanism itself has already set some percents (2 or 3, may be different) when it will not repeat full charging. In other words - when your laptop is plugged into a wall - it will charge battery till 100 % and then (if left plugged) it will wait till battery goes down till 97% (for instance) and only then start charging. This can be long time before plugged laptop battery discharge these 3%. If you replug adaptor - it will charge it again till 100%.
So - it is better to leave it plugged in.
Laptop producers are producing laptops for users. And one of the things is they make the laptops for us not to worry if it is plugged or not. If you leave it plugged all the night, no problem. The power consumption is very little (because laptop is off and don't consume power).
I'm sorry that I'm not answering your question, but I just wanted to tell you that I absolutely love your icon. I drew that same picture of Audrey for an art class. It turned out pretty good.
peace
p.s. you're right... hubby's wrong!