What to do with battery?

The NP9150 manual says to "Always completely discharge, then fully charge, a new battery" (Battery Information 3 - 13). I am stumped by this information.

The first MP3 player (Creative Zen Touch) I ever got got screwed up because I didn't charge BEFORE using it. I used it right away, and after that the battery couldn't keep a charge for longer than a few minutes. I checked the manual and of course, the instructions said to charge 100% before use.

My electric shaver manual specifically states to fully charge BEFORE use, in order to prolong the stable life of the battery.

So, now the Sager manual is telling me to completely discharge before charging 100%. The manual also says never to take out the battery, even if 100% charged and plugged into the AC adapter. Do I believe my own experience, or do I believe Sager? Their advice seems pretty f'd up and goes against all previous learning.

http://forums.anandtech.com/showthread.php?t=2045428
http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/increase-lifetime-laptop-battery/

 

all i know is my first battery lasted about 11 months as i always kept it plugged in and alfter 11 months it only had 22% charge.
the replacement battery is now 3 years old and when i know im not going to be using battery for long periods of time i remove it with roughly 40% charge. after 3 years its still holding 98% charge and going strong.

ive never heard of any of that what you wrote. you normaly open your new laptop and plug it in straight away as you want to start loading software and games as soon as you can and also running benchmarks so you need mains plugged in.
i will have a read therough the links you posted when i get a chance.

download battery care from my signature below which has a good write up on how to protect and monitor your battery.

the worst thing for batterys is heat.

 

Keep in mind that there are different types of batteries.

The one in your MP3 player (and presumably electric shaver) was probably a nickel metal battery. These can have a "memory effect", which causes them to hold less charge.

The battery in the NP9150 is a lithium-ion battery, which does not have this problem. You should be able to start using it as soon as it arrives. I am not sure why the manual tells you to completely discharge it and then charge it. I've been doing some reading and there seems to be some confusion about this. Some say this is necessary and others say it is not. I'd let someone more qualified answer.

EDIT: All right, after reading through more links I think I understand it mostly. Some people seem to recommend fully discharging it and then charging it, but I would not do that. Partially charging a li-ion battery is fine.

This is how you "care" for a li-ion battery. They hold their charge best when they have about 40% charge. So if you want to store the battery, you want to keep it there. MrDJ always kept his laptop plugged in, so his battery was staying at 100% charge the entire time. This is bad for a li-ion battery, which is why it lost all its charge. Since he always had it plugged it, it is better for him to store his battery when not in use.

However, if you plan on using your battery frequently, this isn't a great idea. You can keep the battery at 40% charge if you want, but then when you unplug the laptop, you are going to have a 40% charged battery, which won't last you very long. If you don't plan on keeping the laptop plugged in for periods at a time, then keep the battery in. If you know your laptop will be plugged in for a while, then you can take out the battery with a 40% charge, and when you are getting ready to unplug the laptop, put the battery back in to charge up to 100%.