Leaving Computer PLUGGED In?? Is this SAFe?

[MiniMan.]

hi i need bit of help please!

i have a macbook 13.3inch c2d. i leave my laptop plugged in all the time cas its on a desk with screen. when i say all the time i mean weeks!

is this ok? or bad for battery? ( i do calibrate every 2months or so)

Thanks

[iJawn108]

I pretty much leave mine plugged in for most of the day. People stress themselves way too much over macs, I never hear such things with say dells. People just use them. What does the mac comercial say? it just works and it does. I'd run it off of the battery every once in a while. I do once per week, but you arnt doing any damage at all they were designed to be plugged in. If it's a huge concern maybe take out the battery while you use it?

[Shackler]

Originally Posted by iJawn108

I pretty much leave mine plugged in for most of the day. People stress themselves way too much over macs, I never hear such things with say dells. People just use them. What does the mac comercial say? it just works and it does. I'd run it off of the battery every once in a while. I do once per week, but you arnt doing any damage at all they were designed to be plugged in. If it's a huge concern maybe take out the battery while you use it?

True. Just like all laptops u could leave it plugged in all the time but take out the battery while its plugged in, it better for the battery

[zblaxberg]

Originally Posted by MiniMan.

hi i need bit of help please!

i have a macbook 13.3inch c2d. i leave my laptop plugged in all the time cas its on a desk with screen. when i say all the time i mean weeks!

is this ok? or bad for battery? ( i do calibrate every 2months or so)

Thanks

I've been told by a few friends it's better to have it plugged in but take the battery out of it if you aren't taking the laptop anywhere. It makes it last longer

[iPhil]

Originally Posted by zblaxberg

I've been told by a few friends it's better to have it plugged in but take the battery out of it if you aren't taking the laptop anywhere. It makes it last longer

Your friends are right on the battery issue.



Say you got new laptop and alot work to do .. The new battery is already has 1/2 charge on it, plug it into the A/C without the battery and complete your work .. Then pop it in: Run it down all the way down/Re-charge overnight (12 Hrs) then run it down again/Re-charge.. Do those steps once a month to keep the battery in good health ..

If you leave the battery in all the time w/ac power then the battery depletes itself off the a/c more quickly .. Like 100% battery then 25% battery in 2.5 Hrs..

I had a customer who has this problem with his PC Laptop

[richard4339]

Just remember: you're using MagSafe. They are designed to come out easily, and if the battery is out and the plug gets knocked loose, all your unsaved work is gone.

[JHacker]

Doesn't the processor speed get clocked down if the computer doesn't have the battery in it?

Just use your computer and don't worry about things like that.

[iPhil]

Originally Posted by JHacker

Doesn't the processor speed get clocked down if the computer doesn't have the battery in it?

Just use your computer and don't worry about things like that.

short answer is no ..


lil bit longer answer to your Q: if your using 1 or 2 programs on dual core chip e.g. CD or C2D MBP then 1 of the cores goes to sleep since 1 core is only needed for that task

[e12a]

Take the battery out and throw it into the refrigerator (in a sealed bag of course)

make sure when you take it out to warm it up to operating (room) temp.

[XP Defector]

But once the battery is charged, I thought that there is some sort of circuit that essentially makes the computer think that it is no longer there, thus stopping the flow of electronic current through it?

[TonicAngel]

Originally Posted by XP Defector

But once the battery is charged, I thought that there is some sort of circuit that essentially makes the computer think that it is no longer there, thus stopping the flow of electronic current through it?

I thought that also. I keep mine plugged in a good 98% of the time... Should I be taking the battery out?

[ChrisA]

Battery life is determined by the number of charge/discharge cycles and the depth if discharge. So if you were to run off AC power all the time the battery might last a very long time.

[TheCreeper]

well my old iBook G4 I left plugged in all the time and the battery doesn't work after 2.5yrs. I never took the batt out when I had it A/C. I guess it makes sense as it did kill my battery faster than others who seemed to vary the A/C and battery use.

Its not practical to take the battery out while u use the a/c. but i was told by a mac genius to vary the a/c and battery use to keep the batt in good working order. also should discarhge it once every two months at least they said.

[m-dogg]

Originally Posted by XP Defector

But once the battery is charged, I thought that there is some sort of circuit that essentially makes the computer think that it is no longer there, thus stopping the flow of electronic current through it?

It's my understanding that it switches to a 'ebb & flow' trickle supply, that's why when you unplug it after it's been fully charging for a while it may only show 98 or 99% charge.

[Cult Follower]

I leave mine plugged in during the day, but I shut it down and unplug it at night.

[dpaanlka]

It sounds like there's a lot of falseness going on in this thread.

[mattscott306]

Originally Posted by dpaanlka

It sounds like there's a lot of falseness going on in this thread.

Yeah, I don't think anyone quite knows exactly what they are talking about. I'm getting kind of confused here. <------ not that hard to do though

[richard4339]

Yeah, everyone is offering conflicting opinions. The best thing to do is try it for yourself; watch the battery cycles and see what works best for your Mac.

[iSee]

Here are some relevant quotes from the Wikipedia article on lithium ion batteries:

A unique drawback of the Li-ion battery is that its life span is dependent upon aging from time of manufacturing (shelf life) regardless of whether it was charged, and not just on the number of charge/discharge cycles. So an older battery will not last as long as a new battery due solely to its age, unlike other batteries. This drawback is not widely publicized.

At a 100% charge level, a typical Li-ion laptop battery that is full most of the time at 25 degrees Celsius or 77 degrees Fahrenheit, will irreversibly lose approximately 20% capacity per year.

Different storage temperatures produce different loss results: 6% loss at 0 °C/32 °F, 20% at 25 °C/77 °F, and 35% at 40 °C/104 °F. When stored at 40% charge level, these figures are reduced to 2%, 4%, 15% at 0, 25 and 40 degrees Celsius respectively.

[e12a]

As the wiki states, li-ion batteries have irreversible aging, regardless if it's being used or not. We will call this "Shelf life".

but to slow down that aging, throw it into the refrigerator.

wiki: " Li-ion batteries should be kept cool. Ideally they are stored in a refrigerator. Aging will take its toll much faster at high temperatures. The high temperatures found in cars cause lithium-ion batteries to degrade rapidly."

here is the apple article on trickle charging.

http://www.apple.com/batteries/

[volvoben]

Lithium ion batteries do indeed die over time even if they're not charged, as the wiki suggests, but other than that most batteries are similar. Batteries last longest when they're never fully charged and never fully discharged. That's why batteries in hybrid cars last longer than you'd expect, they're usually in the 35-65% range. Colder temperatures also help retard deterioration. In practice though, we often keep our batteries nearly fully charged quite often, so a power cycle down to a few % is a good idea, even though we've come a long way since the nickel-cadmium days.

In practical use, if you're going to leave your laptop plugged in for a week on your desk without moving it, just let the battery wear down a bit, then pull it out and toss it on the desk next to you. If you'll be leaving it plugged in for a month, maybe you could toss it in the freezer, but we're probably looking at very small differences with the freezer methinks.

I took the battery out of my old dell laptop to help preserve it, unfortunately the power connector started acting up and then shorted the motherboard, so I'll never know if it did any good. I took the battery out of my mother's work laptop long ago because it just sits on a table. I borrowed it a while ago and stuck the battery back in - worked great, 3 hours of life in a 5 year old dell battery. of course the hinges on the screen had locked up and broke when i was using it, but listen, i already said it's a 5 year old dell.

[jimytheassassin]

Originally Posted by MiniMan.

hi i need bit of help please!

i have a macbook 13.3inch c2d. i leave my laptop plugged in all the time cas its on a desk with screen. when i say all the time i mean weeks!

is this ok? or bad for battery? ( i do calibrate every 2months or so)

Thanks

This is the answer http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=88344
Your battery will not be charged or trickle charged until it self discharges below 95-93%. But cycling for calibration is also a good idea as another poster noted.

[synth3tik]

If you are not charging the battery you will want to take it out. and remember to power cycle you battery regularly.

[JHacker]

Originally Posted by iPhil

short answer is no ..

According to many sources from the Apple Discussion forum, using the Macbook/Pro without the battery reduces the speed of the processor. For example, a 2.0ghz processor would run at a max of say 1.5ghz.

Look it up if you don't believe me.

[Yukinara]

well,I don't find any reason to make a fuss about this ,my MacBook run 24/24 for nearly 2 month already,and the battery is still fine. I don't wanna run the laptop without battery,if something happen with the power cord,then all my work will lost. Just take it easy and let it be,my friend.
I heard someone said that when he take out the battery,the fan run real loud.You may try it,but I don't think you can sleep with that noise(if you desk place near your bed like me)