Leave Battery in or out when playing..

Do you guys leave your battery in your computer when it is plugged in, or do you keep it out? It would seem the battery would be unnecessarily worn plugged in when you are not using the battery anyway.

 

The battery actually stops accepting charge from the charger once it reaches full capacity. At that point, the charger is powering the computer, not the battery. I'd keep it in, it won't hurt. And if the power goes out, no worries.

One thing I like to stress to people with laptops that are used as desktop replacements is to purchase an additional power adapter. Sometimes the adapter itself will wear out and die on you, then you're screwed. Over the years I've noticed Dell batteries aren't the best, but usually last a good two years before you really begin to notice a decrease in running time. You shouldn't worry so much about the battery as you should the adapter - they are great, but sometimes surges occur and can cause complications.

 

Honestly for me it doesn't matter, the biggest "killers" of battery is heat and being "used" and worn down. Heat is nothing you can avoid, so I just leave mine plugged in, my 9 cell battery is only a UPS to the UPS I have it hooked up to.

 

Nice question!

How does the alienware treat it's battery?

Alot of laptops wont charge to full, they are more going for 95 - 100% capicity.
What do i mean, it charges to full and then discharges and so going on do this cycle the whole time...
This process kills your battery in a slow way.

Now the question, does the alienware also do this?
Or what the guy said above it charges and then switchess to full cable-only?
Someone can give a definite answer to this?


Sjoerd

 

On the most recent laptop models (M14x R2, M17x R4 and M18x R2) the battery is automatically disabled once it reaches 100% charge. On older models you can manually disable it by pressing Fn+F2. No need to remove the battery to stop the charge.

Here are some other Battery FAQ's

 

I always forget about the fn-F2 option... thanks for the heads up Luis,
generally i keep my battery off the laptop, but i have also my laptop always connected to an APC UPS, at home and at work

 

Thank you, this a nice function, i didnt know it had that
This means my battery will stay fit (m17x r4)

 

If you really are sure you are not going to be using it, you could drain it down to 40%, remove it and stick it in a cool cupboard. The heat from the machine will have some impact on battery life after some time.

But just use your machine, it should not get in the way of how you do.

 

If the power goes out, and your battery is out, you'll lose everything you were working on. The battery, when you're plugged in, serves as a sort of uninterruptable power supply. I've been saved by the battery a number of times when the power goes out.

and yeah, they've designed the charging mechanisms to prevent overcharging. The laptop will be fine with the battery in it.