Retiring and conserving Sony VAIO Z

After eight years (!!) of daily use and travelling, I've finally decided to retire my faithful VAIO VGN-Z, and replaced it with a Lenovo MIIX 720, mainly to get faster CPU power and graphics.

What are the parameters to best store and conserve the Z so it will still be available in few cases while keeping it from degradation!?

Should I start and recharge it regularly, e. g. once per month? Will the battery (Lithium - Ion) battery die if it's empty and not used for several months?

Any help appreciated.

 

I've almost retired my VPCZ1 after 7.5 years of really heavy use. What a good laptop this was. Just bought the Eurocom Q5, (specs in my signature) very nice, but much heavier at 2.265 kg. Got to start working out. LOL

My battery is almost dead now - 29% wear, laptop shuts off sometimes when I turn off the adapter. However, I too am interested in what is best to keep it going as long as possible. The DC jack is broken, again. The adapter cable is almost gone as well. A few blemishes on the screen. Even the touchpad is starting to come loose at one corner. Fan shaft is worn. All in all, not worth repairing. Still, I love it - hard to see it die.

There is a nice app called BatteryCare. The website has some good technical info. Do check it out.

 

I think lithium batteries are most stable at about 50% charge.

 

I've heard 70 percent charge for long-term stability, but yeah, keep the battery not at full and not depleted.

Might want to take the battery out of the notebook and store it separately, if possible. And keep that AC adapter handy. ;-)
I'm surprised your battery is still working. My circa-2010 HP EliteBook 8740w is completely dead, I have to use it on AC power. And I didn't use it on battery all that much.

Charles

 

Does a notebook use power from the battery even though it's shut down? I did realise the battery Level decreasing although not used, so this may be a solution.

The Sonys had a good option to charge the battery to a maximum of 80% called Battery Care. Mine was used mainly stationary, therefore always on these 80%. I estimate however today it would only last 1-2 hours on battery when charged to 100%.

 

It shouldn't use power from the battery, no.
But if the battery ever leaks, expands, etc - you'll not want it to be in the notebook if that occurs.

Charles

 

I'm not sure if the Z was ever affected, but my SR and 1 or 2 other models had the terrible battery drain that was never addressed or figured out. From completely turned off and not plugged in, the battery would be at 0% in about 10 days of non use.

 

Prophetic words. My battery has actually started leaking. Just a little, but enough to make me remove it. Considering whether or not to buy a new one. On the plus side, the laptop without battery is VERY light indeed. (Especially since I've been using the much heavier Eurocom Q5.)

I have also removed the broken power input jack and have soldered the wires from the adapter directly to the wires inside. The adapter is now permanently attached to the laptop. This will now be my downloading PC, for torrents and such (hotspot, NAS, media streaming... ).