Just got a Dell - Battery Question

Just wondering...is it recommended to fully discharge the battery when you first get a laptop and then to recharge the battery? Or does it not really matter?

 

I don't know if it matters but I always do it, to be on the safe side

 

It's good to run it down fully and then recharge it when you get it at least once - it helps to condition the battery. Doing that once a month is good for it too.

 

Here are some details on how to care for your battery.

 

If I'm not mistaken the lithium ion batteries (I think that's what they use) do not have a memory, so it's not neccesary to run it down. It has a lifespan depending on usage and conditions of use such as the CD/DVD player, probably 1-2years.

 

You are right that li-ion batteries do not have a memory effect, but as Chaz and others have noted, a basic calibration of the battery will help to enhance battery longevity.

 

Thanks for the advice. I was definitely wondering since the battery in my old Fujitsu died after only about 6-9 months of use.

I was reading that article sent by PanamaMike. Does anyone take out their battery when their laptop is plugged in? Is this recommended?

 

The wikipedia article has basically the same info, just a bit abbreviated.

From the wikipedia article on lithium ion batteries:
"A unique drawback of the Li-ion battery is that its life span is dependent upon aging from time of manufacturing (shelf life) regardless of whether it was charged, and not just on the number of charge/discharge cycles. This drawback is not widely publicized.

At a 100% charge level, a typical Li-ion laptop battery that's full most of the time at 25 degrees Celsius, will irreversibly lose approximately 20% capacity per year. This capacity loss begins from the time it was manufactured, and occurs even when the battery is unused. Different storage temperatures produce different loss results: 6% loss at 0 °C, 20% at 25 °C, and 35% at 40 °C. When stored at 40% charge level, these figures are reduced to 2%, 4%, 15% at 0, 25 and 40 degrees Celsius respectively.

If the battery is used and fully depleted to 0%, this is called a "deep discharge" cycle, and this decreases its capacity. Approximately 100 deep discharge cycles leave the battery with about 75% to 85% capacity. When used in laptop computers or cellular phones, this rate of deterioration means that after three to five years the battery will have capacities that are too low to be usable."

So if your laptop is plugged in, let the battery get to around 40% and put it in the refrigerator.