Dear CNET members,
Happy Friday! Just a quick announcement for all you Dell fans, owners, or potential Dell product owners. CNET has recently partnered with Dell to bring you the Dell forum on CNET. This forum was built just for you so that you can talk shop about anything relating to Dell products. And the best part about this forum is that there will be Dell representatives present to take part in the conversation. So if you have Dell product questions, troubleshooting needs, or just simply are in need of some buying advice from your fellow members or Dell staff, swing on by this new forum and get your post on! Now let's tackle Raji's question on how he can extend the life of his new laptop battery.
This past week we received a bunch of answers from our members regarding Raji's questions on how he should properly maintain his new, expensive lithium ion laptop battery that he just replaced. However, although many answers were submitted, many members gave general answers on how to maintain batteries that weren't necessary specific to what Raji owns, which is a lithium ion (Li-ion) battery. And Li-ion battery maintenance differs quite a bit from nickel cadmium (Ni-Cad) or nickel metal hydride (NiMh) batteries. For example, Li-ion battery should not be frequently discharged and recharged (or cycled through), whereas with Ni-Cad or NiMh batteries, deep cycling is a known practice to help preserve the battery's life. In fact, Li-ion batteries shouldn't be completely drained at all, as this hurts the battery.
These are just a couple of the many things that make Li-ion batteries different from their older counterparts and it just goes to show that not all batteries are created equal. Depending on the type of battery you have, there will be different methods of maintenance used to prolong the life of that particular battery. So please check out the few selected answers in the Q&A section that go over in detail the dos and don'ts on Li-ion batteries and hopefully Raji, you'll have enough information to go on to prolong your new laptop battery. If not, there is always the link to Wikipedia that member Aparicio Martínez provided that will surely help. Thanks everyone for you participation. Have a great weekend!
Cheers!
- Lee
Got suggestions? Send me an e-mail: messageboards@cnet.com
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Hello, I have a HP laptop that about 1.5-years-old and its
battery is in such a pathetic state. When I pull the plug on
it the laptop, it completely dies off (shuts down). It's as
if my laptop is on a respirator (the battery) and it can't
breathe on its own. Since it was getting highly frustrating
that my original battery would not hold any charge
whatsoever, I resolved to get a 12-cell lithium ion battery.
Now, I am more concerned about how I can use my battery more
efficiently. What should I do to preserve the condition of my
new battery so it can work longer? It is expensive to replace
a battery every year. Please let me know what all I can do to
extend the life of my battery. Should I be plugged in all
time while I'm using my laptop or should I charge and
discharge it? I will greatly appreciate your recommendations.
Thank you!
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