Laptop Battery Life

[Skull Commander]

Some places I read that you should remove your laptop battery if you are operating off the mains and other sources say it doesn't matter.

Being pretty clueless in all things in this department, do any of you gents know if there is any benefit in the above?

[VR46]

Can't see it or the manufacturers would be telling you to do it. Leave it in - as the vicar said to the nun.

[charlesr]

Leave it in, in case of power cut or accidental cable swipe. Batteries are cheaper than OS massacre heartache.

I think the general concensous is to let the battery drain to 10% (but no further) once a month if you rarely use it mobile. My laptop has a battery optimiser which does it all for you.

[Skull Commander]

Excellent work fellas. Can always depend on here for good advice.

[smouty]

I've had a few laptops at work suffer early battery failure due to being constantly plugged in. Either look for a setting in the OEM power manager to 'cycle' the battery - I know Dell and IBM have these - or disconnect them. Replacement batts. were £100+.

[charlesr]

Yeah, IBM and Lenovo have an "Optimise battery lifespan" option in the power manager. I wonder if there are 3rd party options.

[MJ]

I've always left my Dell one in when running on the mains and I've had the laptop for 4-5 years and the battery still lasts well. One of the laptop's feet is actually on the battery anyway.

[smouty]

Yeah. No problems with earlier models e.g. D630 but E6400 onwards are poor. Batteries seem to fail just after the 1 year warranty.