Battery management

Hello Vaio users!
I own a VPCEB2S1E. Yesterday while my vaio was plugged into the AC i got a window that showed my battery condition and some tips on how to extend the battery life.
I enabled the battery care function from VAIO Control Center and set my battery to charge only until 50%. And i have some questions:
1. If my notebook is turned off and the AC is plugged will the battery charge until 50% or will it charge to 100%?
2. I have in startup the ISButility (ISBmgr.exe) activated, and on the Services i have activated VAIO Power Management, VAIO Event Service and VSNService. All the other sony services are tunred off. Do i need to enable any of the off services for my battery to charge only to 50% as i set it in the VAIO Control Center?
PS I saw there is no extended battery for my model, that's why i am trying to keep my battery alive as much as possible. Is there another model i can use an battery from?
Thank you!

 

Paulie,

You have the right software running and once you set it to 50% it will only charge to 50% whether the machine is on or off. In fact, if you booted up linux it would still only charge to 50% so it's safe to say that when you make that change in the sony SW it triggers something in bios or in the battery controller itself.

 

Thanks for the help beaups!

 

Hey... I have another question... Is it better to leave my battery in the notebook while using the AC and while setting it to charge to 50%? Or should i take it off when i am using the AC? Thank you!

 

The intent of battery care is to extend the life of the battery while the laptop is mainly plugged into AC power. So... if you were to rely on battery power frequently, it would make sense to charge to 75% or higher. If you are going to use the laptop as a desktop replacement, then set it to 50%.

I set mine to %50 for most times, but disable battery care and allow a full charge if I'm going to be taking it with me.

 

As I know, older laptops with Nickel-based batteries had this problem you may think of - when plugged in, the AC keeps (over)charging the battery resulting in increased wear of the battery. Newer laptops like the one you have, have a good battery management, so charging of the battery is controlled and if it is full or has reached the wanted charge, it is turned off.

Remember that the battery dislikes hot temperatures, so when you play hard on the laptop, it's better to take it out to prevent the battery getting hot.

Never forget, if you take the battery out and store it for a long time without usage, most battery manufacturers recommend to charge it half full and recharge it at least once a month due to the normal battery drain (battery can be permanently damaged if its voltage runs too low).

hope i helped you a bit.