Battery vs. cord for laptop

[jnschwie]

If I'm at a desk near an outlet, is it better to drain the battery, charge, drain, or just run on AC the whole time?

Does it matter?

I was told with my old laptop since I *never* used the battery, after 4.5 years, that it would probably have extremely limited life. I found this to be partially true. This laptop will DEFINITELY see more movement (ie. battery).


Edit: Battery is lithium polymer, if that makes a difference.

[Jeffro600]

The battery on my Macbook was recomended that it be COMPLETELY drained and recharged at least once a month. Ive been doing it once every two weeks or so and have noticed no appreciable loss of battery life since i bought it nearly 8 months ago. My last Dell laptop i had for about a year would hold a charge for a good 30 mins if i was lucky before the battery crapped out...but then, it spent its whole life plugged into the wall. Excercise that battery and it should most definetly last longer!

[IoN6]

The batteries that come in new laptops to not have a memory like the older ones. You do not have to drain them fully to be able to charge them fully. The only thing draining/charging them does is make sure that the little LED status indicator lights are accurate. I have a Dell C640 that spends 90% of its life plugged into the wall. I can unplug it and it will last 2-3 hours on a single battery or 3-5 hours on dual batteries.

[jnschwie]

Thanks for the feedback. :)

[satan]

One other point of reference...

I've got Li-Ion batteries for the Laptop here -- They are BOTH now going on 4 years old... Most of the life on these has been plugged in, or "in the bag" waiting. No special care or "draining" has ever happened.

When needed, they each still yield 3hrs of reasonable use on a full charge just as they did whe I got this used 3 yrs ago.