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[grhm]

I was wondering about notebook's battery life time. There is any good advice? My last battery got broken when i let the notebook about 2 weeks without use. At this time, my notebook was about 6 months. (this battery holds only 30%). Today my mother's battery got broken suddenly too.

I am thinking about buying a new notebook and i want the battery to last as long as possible.

Thx

[matthiaspaco]

Leave it in the fridge over night 

[grhm]

Leave it in the fridge over night 

Do you do that? Works?

anyway i am too busy to do that every night. 

[matthiaspaco]

No, that's what black people do with alkaline batteries.

[Andir]

if you want to keep your battery lasting, take it out if you plan on leaving your laptop plugged in unless you can keep it cool.  The heat from your laptop can have an effect of wearing out the battery.

If you do fridge it, don't leave it overnight.  Keeping the battery cold for too long can actually be bad for it.  Just keep an eye on temperature, get one of those lap supports that elevate the battery/laptop.

Don't discharge it all the way.  This hurts it more than it helps.  Over time, Lithium just loses it's ability to retain a charge.  The best way to make a battery last a long time is to get a laptop with a record of good charging habits.  Toshiba's are good for this.

[Vector]

No, that's what black people do with alkaline batteries.

My family does this, too.  I don't think it's a function of race, though it might be poverty-related.

[Blacken]

Don't discharge it all the way.  This hurts it more than it helps.  Over time, Lithium just loses it's ability to retain a charge.

This is not particularly relevant anymore. Modern li-ion and li-poly batteries have circuitry to prevent deep cycling.

The best way to make a battery last a long time is to get a laptop with a record of good charging habits. Toshiba's are good for this.

Not really. They're much better for inducing hardware failure and getting to experience the joy of a manufacturer trying to dodge a warranty. Toshiba is a lousy OEM.

Hoping you get a decent battery from a manufacturer that has a "record of good charging habits" (which doesn't even really make much sense) is much more naive than looking at the total power output and the mAh of the battery and...you know...doing a little math.

[Andir]

I deal with Li-Ion batteries day in and day out with my RC Helicopter.  Charging incorrectly, overcharging, undercharging, and all sorts of stuff can severely hurt the life of the battery.  Charging circuitry in the laptop can have a great effect on the life of the battery.

Nah, you're absolutely right... feel free to charge the battery whatever way you like. 

[Shades]

I deal with Li-Ion batteries day in and day out with my RC Helicopter.  Charging incorrectly, overcharging, undercharging, and all sorts of stuff can severely hurt the life of the battery.  Charging circuitry in the laptop can have a great effect on the life of the battery.

Charging incorrectly sure although you won't manage that unless your doing something silly, like connecting the wrong power supply to it.

Undercharging can cause it to whole less but normally a full drain / charge / drain cycle will reset it.

You can't overcharge with a modern laptop (I mean one from the last 10 years or so by modern), how this claim keeps going I don't know.

Overheating can damage battery life so make sure your laptop is well ventilated. But generally they are. Liquids are also bad for obvious reasons.

[Mishy]

Dont use your notebook while its charging up.

[grhm]

But i work with my notebook, i can't let the notebook unused while charging.

What happens if i keep using while charging?

[Shades]

But i work with my notebook, i can't let the notebook unused while charging.

What happens if i keep using while charging?

Nothing, ignore that comment. Both laptops and notebooks are more than happy to charge their batteries while being used as well. This is also true of phones, pdas and hand held consoles.

Basically anything made in the last 10 years. There was cases before that where devices would charge the battery, stop and use it rather than the mains supply and then recharge again from almost full which was bad for them. This is no longer the case.

[Volatar]

Shades is right that devices these days don't have all these problems of old.

However, its better to be safe than to be sorry. None of the fixes of old will actually harm your modern battery, just not help it. So go ahead and try them if you feel, or your device is 9 years old and it MAY not have the fixes.

It can't hurt can it? 

[psyn]

I was going to say, do not leave the laptop sitting unpowered, fully charged. I have seen it kill lots of batteries. But I figured someone who didn't fail EE as I nearly did could explain it much better.

Incidentally, Pentium 4(-M)s were terrible for battery life expectancy. I had to actually re-solder the power jack on one, because the damn thing got so hot it melted the five prong connections through-and-through. I am still surprised it didn't burst into flames or sear a burnt hole in the PCB.

As for the picture, it's on the optimistic side IME, so if you have a one- to two-year-old battery and left it sitting at 100% charge for 1-4 months, don't be surprised when it has a 3-20% capacity.

[Shades]

As for the picture, it's on the optimistic side IME, so if you have a one- to two-year-old battery and left it sitting at 100% charge for 1-4 months, don't be surprised when it has a 3-20% capacity.

The point is every modern device automatically cuts off and stops charging.

Yes heat can be an issue but that is true regardless of if your running on batteries or mains.