I just switched over from PC to Mac and am loving it. With my PC laptop, I could not just leave the power brick plugged into the wall. Dell said they were not designed to be plugged in all the time. I had a number of them burn out before I found that out. Is Mac the same way? Should I be unplugging the power brick from the wall when not in use or can I just leave it plugged in all the time?
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Can I leave the power cord plugged into the wall?
- Thread starter MrMinor
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You won't hurt the laptop by keeping it plugged in, but heat is a battery's worst enemy. If you're going to be plugged in for weeks on end, it's not a bad idea to put the battery in the refrigerator while it's drained to 40% capacity. Doing so will greatly increase the life of your battery.
Thanks for the info, but my question is about the power brick, not the computer or battery. Will keeping the brick plugged in burn it out? The outlet I have it plugged into is behind a sofa so I would rather just plug it in and leave it if possible. I plan on plugging and unplugging it from the computer fairly regularly, but I don't want to unplug it from the wall if I don't have to.
Hmm... i think the Dell technician that told you that was probably smoking crack cuz if that was true, there will be a whole alot of businesses going to those power bricks. At my last job, everyone had the Dell docking station with the Dell power brick plugged in 24/7. That's roughly 30,000 employees. It just sounds retarded to design a power brick to able to handle being plugged in for 24/7 when it is required for the Dell docking station...
Just letting you know not all Dell technicians are bright...
I could not agree more about the Dell techs not always being the brightest and I here ya about it not really making sense. I use a docking station at work and my bring is plugged in 24/7 with no problems. That being said, at home I have gone through about 6 or 7 (I lost count) bricks until I started unplugging it when not in use. Since I started doing that at the Dell Techs insistence I have not had a problem.
Well at least it sounds like it will not be a problem with my Mac. That makes me very happy. Thank you all for your input.
Me too. I've kept it plugged in 24/7 and never considered the heat or anything. I mean plugged into the wall 24/7, not the machine.
It's best to get it down to about 40%, then go to Sam's Club or some local store that will let you sit in one of their freezers while you use the laptop and let it drain the battery down to zero.
OK, for those of you who have never heard of putting your battery in the fridge (not the freezer by the way):
http://www.batteryuniversity.com/parttwo-34.htm
That ought to explain it better than I can.
My laptop stays on my desk with a whole bunch of stuff plugged into it except when I travel. Since that means two or more consecutive months of AC power, I keep my battery in the refrigerator. Why needlessly ruin the battery if you can avoid it? I didn't do that with my last laptop, and the battery was nearly useless after 18 months or so. By the way, I have all the cables arranged so that there's no way my MagSafe plug will get tugged on and come out.
As for the power brick...I leave lots of power bricks plugged in all the time. That's not something I would worry about.
http://www.batteryuniversity.com/parttwo-34.htm
That ought to explain it better than I can.
My laptop stays on my desk with a whole bunch of stuff plugged into it except when I travel. Since that means two or more consecutive months of AC power, I keep my battery in the refrigerator. Why needlessly ruin the battery if you can avoid it? I didn't do that with my last laptop, and the battery was nearly useless after 18 months or so. By the way, I have all the cables arranged so that there's no way my MagSafe plug will get tugged on and come out.
As for the power brick...I leave lots of power bricks plugged in all the time. That's not something I would worry about.
and you'll cut your cpu usage down to one core if using a dual core cpu. you'll also lose all of your work if you hit the magsafe by accident. not very wise practice. i'll just follow apples recommendations on battery usage.
Why is everyone worried about a $100 laptop battery? If it lasts 3 years that is great! YOU probably spend more than $100/month on gas.
Don't forget to discharge it completely and charge it once a month. this prolongs battery life.
enjoy
-edrix
yes where are you getting that info from, im not saying you are lieing im just really wondering.... i ve never of anything like that
What's your point. My laptop doesn't run off of gas.
That's like saying, why is everyone worried about paying 3 dollars a gallon for gas when you pay more for a gallon of milk.
I just ran xbench w/ battery and got 111 and w/o got 79. I have heard about this though. Here is another thread about it, no proof, but still....
https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/273551/