I have a less than a month old laptop. I use it all the time but am afraid to plug it in the whole day. I am afraid of battery wear due to excessive charging.
While I was told that new laptops have battery charging cut off when they are full, I wonder whether it is a wise choice to keep it ON all the time. ie, charger plugged in whenever in use.
I have read of it too, that new electronics can manage the usage of the battery, no matter if you use it always plugged in or if you go battery only mode and drain it regularly. Don't know what it is called.
You can shut down the machine or put it into sleep mode then disconnect it, but nowadays the batteries can still last up to 5 years. Excessive heat, amongst others can wear the battery down faster (i.e. leaving the laptop in a bag while it's still running for long periods of time) but you shouldn't worry about leaving it on the charger.
I have a less than a month old laptop. I use it all the time but am afraid to plug it in the whole day. I am afraid of battery wear due to excessive charging.
I have kept our laptops plugged in 99% of the time from the day they came into the house. I pull all the plugs when there is a thunderstorm.
One is a linux netbook from 2008 and yes the battery still works but at a much shorter time.
One is from 2011 and the battery was replaced in 2017 (6 years on an always plugged in laptop shows not much harm was done.
One is from 2013 and I will soon be replacing its battery because now it only lasts under an hour on battery.
Batteries don't wear out from overcharging. They have a finite number of charging and discharging cycles.
Don't discharge the device until it shuts completely off; that shortens its life.
I have to do it differently in Win 7. The last time I checked, the laptop from 2013 with the original battery was down to 36%. The battery has worn down by 64% in 8 years and it is almost always plugged in.
Batteries don't wear out from overcharging. They have a finite number of charging and discharging cycles.
Don't discharge the device until it shuts completely off; that shortens its life.
We'll have to agree to disagree on this point. Batteries can indeed be immediately damaged from overcharging! Note that a modern laptop charging circuit "should" shut off the charge and avoid overcharging, which is probably closer to what you meant. https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/823938
A quote from that document.
Overcharging of lithium batteries leads to irreversible damage to cell components and may cause serious safety problems.1 Overcharging of one or more cells within a high voltage multicell stack of the type required for vehicle traction can render the entire stack inoperative.
In addition, I actually did some consulting work for two different lithium battery companies on aircraft lithium batteries. I was working on the electronics that monitored the individual cells to prevent the battery from being damaged by overcharging. Every cell was monitored for voltage, input and output current, and temperature. Any deviation out of the maximum norms resulted in a complete shutdown of the battery system.
The videos of testing a deliberate overcharge had to be seen to be appreciated! The resulting explosion of one battery the size of a typical car battery damaged the 10x10 test chamber sufficiently that there was a two month delay in development for repairs to the test equipment!
When you will not actually be using the laptop for some time you could use Hibernate and then unplug the charger. Not really sure if it's worth the effort though.
Thanks for all the suggestions. My previous (old) Dell laptop battery will die just like that if I keep the charger plugged. But a decade has passed and I like to believe that there is some auto cutoff and I can continue on AC even when the battery is fully charged.
The article you linked to was published in 2003. I'd venture a guess that lots has changed in 18 years in the world of batteries!
My husband got his first pacemaker in 2008. It had an expected life of 8 years. It was replaced in 6 1/2 years.
The replacement put in, in early 2015 has an expected life of 10 years.
I find this to be a good discussion and my thanks to the OP and those participating. My experience and articles I have read from sources I trust tell me several things. First, IMO the OP should have bought a laptop with a removable battery. Dell, Lenova, HP all offer great laptops with removal batteries. I occassionally dock my laptop and if it looks like it will be docked for an extended period of time I always remove the battery from my laptop. The only laptop that is in widespread use that I can think of with a non-removeable battery is brand "A" but then again no one ever takes those guys seriously and it is a wonder they are still around with the junk they keep flooding the market with.
Second, I frequently take my laptop with me when I travel and use it for extended periods of time. I alternate between charging and not charging. I plug the charger into my laptop when when the battery shows charged I pull it from the wall and leave it connected to my laptop. Also I have read that LiOn batteries have a sweet spot. For my cell phone and my laptop I charge when the battery shows 20% and I disconnect when the battery shows 80%. This may be nothing more than an urban legend but so far it has worked for me.
The only laptop that is in widespread use that I can think of with a non-removeable battery is brand "A" but then again no one ever takes those guys seriously and it is a wonder they are still around with the junk they keep flooding the market with.
I have an Asus (that's one brand "A", I suppose the other one is Acer. Mine indeed has a non-removable battery. I've had it a number of years, and I've replaced the battery, it's just a lot more involved than one with the convenient removable battery.
FWIW, I see a lot of the newer laptops without a removable battery, the same with virtually all cellphones nowadays. It's just another way to force the consumer into buying something new, at least IMO.
hmm I own three Acer "pieces of junk (his words, not mine). A netbook purchsed in 2011, and a netbook purchased in 2013 both used daily and a Chromebook purchased in 2021. Support for the Chromebook ends in 2026 so by then, I won't worry about the battery.
I have two Asus "pieces of junk" again, not my words. An eeepc purchased in 2008 and an 8" tablet purchased in 2014. The eeepc still works. The tablet is caught in a fast boot and won't load no matter how long you wait. I believe it had something to do with a Lollipop update. These two will soon be e-cycled.
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