Keep laptop plugged in or use battery ?

Discussion in 'Laptops & Notebooks' started by SentinelAeon, Feb 6, 2017.

  1. SentinelAeon

    SentinelAeon Guest

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    Hello, i am using hp stream 13 with about 9 hours of battery life when i read pdf files. I want this non removable battery to remain in good condition as long as possible. So in that regard, which one would be better for health of my battery:

    1) always when possible keep computer plugged in. Since this is a very cheap laptop i doubt it has any special battery options, which means it will probably do what dumb laptops do, charge battery to 100%, let it drop to 99.99999%, charge it to 100%, over and over again.

    2) unplug computer when battery is 100% and use its battery power. This means the battery will have quite a few full charge/discharge cycles, going from 5% to 100% and back to 5%.

    I do not use my computer everyday for a whole year. For instance there comes a week when i use it 5 hours everyday but then there comes a week when i dont use it at all. I make sure the battery stays above 5% at all times.
     
  2. zipper

    zipper Maha Guru

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    Going down to 5% stresses the battery - keep it above 30 - 40%. And look at the charger when it starts to recharge - my MSI lets the battery go to 95% before recharging and newer models do start recharging at about 90% which is still better. I have lost 22% capacity in 3.5 years sitting all the time on AC.
     
  3. Extraordinary

    Extraordinary Guest

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    Charge the battery to 50%, remove from laptop when using on AC for absolute life extending I would have thought

    but I used my laptop with the battery connected permanently, and almost always used it on AC, battery didn't start to noticeably degrade until around the 3 year mark

    Many years after the battery lost it's ability to hold a charge I removed the individual cells from the battery (18650's) and found only 1/6 to be dead, the other cells were and still are perfectly good, and I use them in my torch and other 18650 devices

    IMO - Use the laptop how you want, likely only going to make a couple months difference either way no matter what you do, if one cell dies the whole battery stops taking a charge
     
  4. SentinelAeon

    SentinelAeon Guest

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    As i stated, i cannot remove it, it is that thin battery thingy, similar to the one in mobile phones or tablets, only i am using ultrabook HP stream 13.

    I did some reading and 40-80% really seems to be the healthy thing and 1 complete charge/discharge cycle a month. I got me a program that will notify me when ultrabook is not between 40 and 80%. Maybe i will change this to 30 and 80%, depending on how annoying the notifications will be. What i need now is an ultrabook that will tell charger to stop charging when it hits 80% or one with such software support. Sadly as i said before, my computer is far to cheap to have any such options.
     

  5. swealpha

    swealpha Guest

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    I have it connected all the time, just dont forget to remove the adapter when sleeping at nights. :)
     
  6. SorienOR

    SorienOR Guest

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    Keep it plugged in. The two factors for lower Li-Ion battery life is temperature and charge cycles. If your laptop has any sort of "long life" or "trickle charge" setting (charges battery at a lower voltage) that would help a lot.
     
  7. Agent-A01

    Agent-A01 Ancient Guru

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  8. lexer98

    lexer98 Guest

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    Keeping the battery at maximum capacity (4.20v +/- per cell) or deep cycles isn't healthy.
    Most modern laptops have a option on BIOS or a Software to limit the charge to 80% or less. Are you sure that your HP doesn't that option ?
     
  9. Dch48

    Dch48 Guest

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    I have had 2 HP laptops that were used as desktop replacements and left plugged in almost all the time. The older one (2005 vintage) needed a replacement battery after about 5 years but the newer one (from 2011)is still strong. I now use the battery maybe 10% of the time and let it run down until the computer tells me it's low which is set at 15%. Then I plug it in and leave it plugged in until the battery is charged and I'm not using the laptop. When I fire it up the next time, I will start out on the battery and depending on the usage, plug it in or not. If I'm gaming with it or watching a movie, it's always plugged in. Both batteries are staying at full capacity and working well.
     
  10. sandeepReddy

    sandeepReddy Guest

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    Hello, i am using lenovo laptop from 9 months. first 3 months laptop battery came 6 hours back up and then slowly decreasing the back up.Now it is coming only 2 hours.I take and gone to lenovo showroom to solve this issue.He said you are keeping charging more after completing 100% also you are keeping like that only so battery problem occured .He said i am suggesting dont keep charging more than 100%.
     

  11. 321Boom

    321Boom Member Guru

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    From my experience with my laptops, keeping them plugged in all the time takes it's toll on battery life much worse than letting it deplete and recharge. As Zipper stated, do not let it drop as far as 5% either if possible.
     
  12. scatman839

    scatman839 Ancient Guru

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  13. ROTOR

    ROTOR Guest

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    I prefer without battery
     
  14. Vibe

    Vibe Master Guru

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    I've had my MacBook Pro since 2013, I just use it how I want and recharge it when I get the warning that it's low. Battery life is still very good. But then again Apple uses really good quality batteries, something that many companies skimp on and reflects in the price.
     
  15. allesclar

    allesclar Ancient Guru

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    Typically i leave my laptop plugged in, naughty i know, as i find there are not really any situations for me where i would need to be mobile for more than 20mins.

    I did before used to take my laptop on my 2hr commute to work by train, but i ended up just buying a bigger aH sized battery.
     

  16. sykozis

    sykozis Ancient Guru

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    Apple uses such high quality batteries, that they've had to recall laptops for batteries catching fire.. Nothing like your laptop burning your house down....

    Across the major brands, the actual Li-Ion batteries being used are of such similar quality that there's no reason to even discuss it. Panasonic, LG, Samsung and Sony all produce Li-Ion battery cells that are suitable for use in a laptop. The only real difference from 1 battery pack to another, aside from the number of cells and cell spec, is the circuitry and the actual charger. Apple is no exception.
     

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