work on cable or battery?

[likosoad]

Hi I was wondering how many people always use their battery when they use their pb. Lately I charge my Pb at night and during the day only use the battery. But I'm afraid that this might shorten the life of my battery. Would it be better to leave the pb plugged in during the day aswell?

[Aggamemnon]

RTFM

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

[mduser63]

Lithium Ion batteries have a finite number of charge-discharge cycles before the wear out and need to be replaced. So, yes, it is better to use your PB with it plugged in during the day. Of course there's no point in having a battery in your PB if you never use it away from a wall socket, but if you are near a wall socket, you should always plug it in.

[Aggamemnon]

"For proper maintenance of a lithium-based battery, it’s important to keep the electrons in it moving occasionally. Apple does not recommend leaving your portable plugged in all the time. An ideal use would be a commuter who uses her iBook on the train, then plugs it in at the office to charge. This keeps the battery juices flowing. If on the other hand, you use a desktop computer at work, and save a notebook for infrequent travel, Apple recommends charging and discharging its battery at least once per month"

[Danksi]

Originally Posted by mduser63

....of course there's no point in having a battery in your PB if you never use it away from a wall socket....

The thing I like about laptops is the built-in battery backup (UPS).

May not be a regular problem for some, but we have enough power-cuts here that the iMac, external drive, ADSL modem and router is on a dedicated UPS under the desk.

The laptop (in my sig) is usually just connected to a anti-surge extension lead.