Tips to increase battery life...

[The_Alv]

Hi everyone,

I've been looking around other forums and web pages looking for information on this, and I've read any possible option you can imagine:

-Some say it's good to charge the battery up to the top, then leave it working only on battery until it discharges completely, charge it again, and so on...

-But some say that will cause battery life to reduce because batteries have a number of cicles of charge-discharge they can do in their life time; so it will end up killing the battery anyway

-Some say to charge the battery, take it out, and work on AC power (by the way, lucky us Vaio-owners, because most of the people in these forums say their laptop "looses a leg" if they take away the battery ), and every 15 days put it back on, do a charge-dicharge cycle, and take it away again...

-But then you risk electricity "jumping off" and damaging your hard drive by and abrupt power-off, and besides, I didn't buy a laptop if I was to stay still, everyday I take it to the library, to university, ... basically I want to be able to use it anywhere, in a flash, not having to take away or put back on the battery...

-Others say that you should ignore this, battery will damage itself by it's own nature, and it's a waste of time doing all I've said above...



SO, Vaio-lovers, I can only expect the most so-it's-best-for-my-vaio answer, so here we go: what's the best thing to do to care for our Vaio's battery?

[macsco]

Hello, I managed to 'kill' a battery on Fujitsu laptop in about 8 months, by doing what I thought was the right thing.
Keeping it fully charged as much as possible.
It appears that temperature is one of the main causes of shortening battery life. (and being fully charged).
And charging from the mains and working on your laptop for a couple of hours plus is the worst possible scenario for the battery. Fully charged and hot.
I found this link which explains it better than I could.
And if I get my Vaio to work (another thread) I shall folow its advice.
http://www.batteryuniversity.com/parttwo-34.htm
Macsco

[josecloyd]

Hello, I managed to 'kill' a battery on Fujitsu laptop in about 8 months, by doing what I thought was the right thing.
Keeping it fully charged as much as possible.
It appears that temperature is one of the main causes of shortening battery life. (and being fully charged).
And charging from the mains and working on your laptop for a couple of hours plus is the worst possible scenario for the battery. Fully charged and hot.
I found this link which explains it better than I could.
And if I get my Vaio to work (another thread) I shall folow its advice.
 http://www.batteryuniversity.com/parttwo-34.htm
Macsco

it's a great idea you have posted this linked article. I myself have believed to intially fully charged the battery to prolong it's life, but this article you have posted really is an eye opening. many thanks!!

[Thalamus.]

Hi The_Alv

The battery University is a very informative site, you may also find this link of interest..

[Franny74]

Hi!

thanks a million for the tips! I was just looking for some advice on how to use the battery at its best (sony VAIO VGN-TX5MN) given that I bought a docking station for the office (with screen etc..)

I decided after reading the links you posted that I'll be better off removing the battery when the laptop is docked (and would be connected to the main).

All the best!

[Thalamus.]

Hi Franny,

Glad the posts were of help..

[tonybeard]

Here is another hotfix for anyone with XP here