
A recent article from Lawrence Berkely Laboratory suggests that readers should 'Pull the plug. Your battery will thank you.' Researcher Venkat Srinivasan writes about batteries and battery chemistry rather specifically, but without becoming overwhelmingly technical. He explains how batteries begin to fail, and suggests keeping your computer unplugged as a way of extending the life of your battery. I pulled the plug on mine as soon as I read the article, and I'm now writing this on battery power.
On the other hand, if you charge the battery and then pull the plug (so to speak), the battery discharges some, the voltage drops, and these reactions become less of a problem and your battery life goes up. So the best things you can do is to charge the laptop (or cell phone, camera etc.) and once its charged, pull the plug. Your battery will thank you for it.
This also has relevance for plug-in hybrid and electric vehicle owners, whose batteries have the same characteristics. A car sitting in a garage for hours, full charged, is going to be slowly deteriorating the battery. Manufacturers may already be incorporating measures into battery packs to address this problem, but this highlights just one of the many potential issues battery makers need to address in order to keep portable electrical devices functioning.
This week in batteries may not be on everyone's RSS feed right away. But engineers for computer companies, electric vehicle manufacturers, cell phone and other portable device makers should be following him. While the articles run to the technical, the information is accessible for all kinds of battery geeks.

written by Chris V, March 05, 2010
written by Tekito, March 05, 2010
I like Chris's idea too, if your laptop habits are like his.
written by Chris L, March 05, 2010
written by Tom Gray, March 05, 2010
written by Kat M, March 05, 2010
No, there is no contradiction here. The key phrase and no-no is "*fully* discharge."
written by ManOWarrent, March 06, 2010
I learned 15 years ago with remote control cars, you should fully discharge the battery before recharging. Otherwise you will not get the full life out of the battery. The technology of batteries has been around way before laptops, so save it.
written by Max, March 06, 2010
written by Kat M, March 06, 2010
written by cncmike, March 08, 2010
written by Ken, March 08, 2010
written by Dawn, March 17, 2010
Above I see a perfectly fitting article about saving battery life. But on the front page, this same graphic is on a story about medicine for erectile dysfunction, and clicking on that story's comments brought me here...
written by Chris, April 06, 2010
Please say this isn't some dumb marketing agreement you all are involved in -.-
written by Josh, April 07, 2010
written by HomJyoti, April 08, 2010
written by Auguss, April 10, 2010
written by ODDie, April 13, 2010
What is sad is I can't see that things in Windows default power preferences, not to mention, in linux power manager/settings.. IMO there should be an option in BIOS to do that (OS-independent).
written by James Smith, May 03, 2010
All the user group and tech support groups have said the same. From everything I have learned, the Apple chargers go to a "float" level after the battery is charged.
Conversely, the Toshiba laptop I had (bought in 2002) recommended removing the battery if it was not going to be used for some time. Nor did it recommend leaving it on charge after it was fully charged.
written by Mohamed Ramzy, June 24, 2010
but after this long discussion , what is surely the best way to save battery life ?
thanks
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MAR 05
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