Is it bad for the battery to always keep laptop plugged?

I have an HP dv6000 with a 6-cell battery that I bought 2 years ago. I have always kept it plugged in and seldom used it with battery power alone. Now the battery is completely dead. Would it have lasted longer if I used the battery once in a while?
Now I just bought an HP dv7 with an 8-cell.
What is the best way to insure longer battery life?
Is 2 years about the average battery life anyway?

Thanks.

 

if it was plugged into the wall, couldn't you have just taken out the battery?

 

You should just use the battery while you can.

If you really want to just keep the battery alive, I've heard that you should bring the battery down to 40% and store it in a cool dry place and check on it every 4 months or so to bring it back up to 40% or to just use it.

 

the more you keep it plugged in, the more you preserve your battery's lifespan, the only way you can prolong it even further is by taking the battery out, but don't do this because if your AC fails, then your laptop will turn off and that's very bad for your laptop.. furthermore, the amount of battery that you save is negligible. last.. do u really want to put the battery on and off and on and off for such a small gain?

just use your laptop in the most convenient way for yourself (and plug it in whenever you possibly can), and when the battery dies in the next few years, just replace it

 

I just use the heck out of my battery and then buy a new one. I usually buy mainstream notebooks because the batteries are cheapish and plentiful on eBay.

 

Thanks! I just checked on eBay. I didn't know they were so cheap.

 

It doesn't hurt the laptop, the worst that might happen is data loss if anything happens to be open (I know, I've accidentally pulled the wrong plug multiple times, though I haven't experienced any major data loss since I save regularly). Secondly, I've always taken my battery out when I'm not using it and today my battery lasts just as long as it did when I first got it (~2 1/2 hours, have owned laptop for about 1 1/2 years).

 

just don't keep the battery in like everybody else was saying. other than that theres no problem

 

Aha! Good to know. Thanks.

 

BTW, do you usually turn off the computer before you plug/unplug it?

 

i always keep my batt plug in.. to prevent data loss or component spoilt. but remember to let the batt to live in a cool environment.

for yr case, it could be in a warm or hot environment.

 

uhhh.. what the.... if you're using the AC adapter then TAKE THE BATTERY OUT..

 

Unless your data is worth more to you than your battery and unless you're running battery management software/preventing charging past a certain amount: http://www.pbus-167.com/ (or RMClock, etc). The main issue with leaving the battery plugged in is not charge cycles (that's not how Li-Ion batteries work) but heat buildup when charging to full or completely depleting the battery and then charging it (i.e. battery gets a lot hotter charging from 95%+ to full than to 95%, for example, or hell 40%). Vista also has battery charging profiles, I think. Set those up and use them!

Some info: http://www.batteryuniversity.com/print-parttwo-34.htm

 

Yeah, I'll usually hibernate or shutdown.

 

I think I had a battery tool running a little while on my SZ - then got rid of it as it interferred with Vista... It claimed 0% wear on my SZ's battery after 6 months of on and off usage...

But my SZ has a Sony battery utility, its only charged to 80% - that'll last up to 4,5hours - its at university at least 3 times a week being discahrged... so its used a lot - but It doesn't seem to loose any life
At home it runs with the battery plugged in...
And its running most of the time...

 

Lol i don't mind how long my battery lasts, i keep it plugged in always. i usually even use my laptop in my bed, yes i know bad me bad me sometimes accidently fall asleep and wake up and my laptop be hot, but it never overheats hahaha anyway back to the subject, i've had this laptop since june off ebay and i never unplug the battery it still lasts 4 hours on powersave.

 

And why not? Can't you explain/motivate that atleast?

I know for a fact that notebook batteries doesnt get hurt when you got the lappy plugged in at all times, not with the newer generations of notebooks, from like 2007 and up.
It will automaticall stop charging once it's fully charged and not keep on charging. So it won't hurt the battery.


Atleast, give out some facts if you're gonna tip anyone to do anything, just don't "don't do it! it's bad", please motivate why!

 

agree wit u!!

 

Every laptop battery has it own lifespan and if you will keep it all
the time plugged in the notebook or not, it doesn't matter. The battery
will be dead usually in 2 to 3 years , counting since the date of its
production.

 

Nice piece of A$$, martee. haha

 

I just read this article:
How to prolong lithium-based batteries

One of the recommendations is this:
Consider removing the battery from a laptop when running on fixed power.

So that's what I'll be doing henceforth.

 

This was on that document:

Lots of advancements in 3-6 years...

 

Agree with above, technology advances every minute.

 

Yeah, but my point is that it doesn't hurt to remove the battery. This is still valid even after 6 years, isn't it?

 

Watch your language.....thank youuuu!!!

 

No matters whether u pluged it or not. and if u keep it pluged in and use it as a desktop then that will give ur battery a longer life, so do as u wish.

 

Except for, say, corrupting/losing your data when you lose power ;P