rtfm = read the f***ing manual?
Anyway, here's the deal with laptop and mobile phone batteries: First time you charge it up, make sure you charge it up to the top, but even if the indicator is green and says it's full, just let it sit for a little while longer, say a few hours. Then discharge the battery by using it until it goes to sleep by itself (ie: it goes to 0%), and recharge it to the top. Once charged, it's better for you NOT to discharge your laptop battery to 0% every time. Some people believe that if they use their laptop for 30 minutes or so on battery power, they shouldn't plug it into the wall only after they fully drain the battery to 0%. This was true......in 1991.
Today, if your
Li-Ion battery is still partially filled, you can plug it in whenever and recharge it to 100%. If the battery indicator says that it's 63% full......feel free to recharge. Do the same thing if you feel like recharging it at 41%, or 27%, or any other percentage. However, once every 20 times you charge it, you should fully drain it to 0%, and then charge it back up to 100%. This recalibrates the battery so that it has a better sense of what a "full" and "empty" battery is.
If you use
NiMH batteries in other devices, they DO need to be fully drained (0%) before charging back to 100%. Not true for laptop and mobile phone batteries that use Lithium-Ion.
NOTE:
- If you ARE that old school and would rather fully drain your battery before charging it again, you're actually wearing out your battery faster. You're heating up your battery for too long, and heat kills Li-Ion batteries. Your battery's capacity will decrease faster. Charging whenever you feel like it is more convenient for you, and your battery will last longer.
- Li-Ion, like all batteries, enjoy being used. Your battery will suffer if charge doesn't move through it once in a while, so even if you don't need to, use your lappie on battery power at least once a week for an hour, then plug it in and charge.
