general battery question -- SZ Li-ion

Let me preface this post by saying that I've done lots of research on the Li-ion batteries found in today's laptops (including the SZ). Stuff on here, stuff over there, wiki-related stuff, etc etc etc.

That said, I was wondering what strategy folks around here use to keep their laptop battery in tip-top shape. I've noticed that when my laptop is running off of AC power and the battery is completely charged, the little icon in my system tray no longer says "battery 100%" or anything like that ----- it simply says that it's running off of AC power. I don't know if this means that the circuits to the battery aren't being used anymore, or are being used minimally, or what.

I guess the thrust of this question is ---- when you're battery is completely charged but you're running your machine off of wall-power, do you remove your battery, or do you let it sit in there at 100%? I know Li-ion battery life is generally measured in recharge cycles, and that there isn't a memory loss problem with li-ion, nor is there much of a problem with the batteries leaking their charge very quickly.

Anyway, thoughts? What do you do?

 

there is a thread on this. a lot of different opinions. also although sony hasn'
t recalled the sz batteries there still is the whole fire danger thing. does the 3 series lose power in standbye and hibernate? because on my 160 and others the battery may not be leaking charge but it gets run down very fast in both stanbye (more) and hibernate (much less). curious if they fixed this bug or whether it is the battery

 

My SZ150 says that the battery is still charging when it's at 100% and it always stays like that. Perhaps they fixed it in the 3 series. When on AC, I usually run without the battery unless I need to charge it.

 

Yeah --- in past notebooks I had, the battery meter would list the 100% charge while it was fully charged and on AC power. My SZ340 just says "on AC power" after the battery hits 100%.

Interesting, in any case.

 

Well, I haven't noticed a dip - or noticeable one - in my battery life with having my laptop plugged in and leaving the battery in. I'm sure it has an effect, but since April (and granted, it was in the shop the past month), it's fine.