Here is some information about laptop batteries I have compiled over
time after searching a lot about it on the internet. This information
applies only to lithium ion batteries. Pretty much every laptop being
built these days uses this type of battery.
1) Li-ion batteries have a life of about 400-500 recharge cycles, or about 3 years, whichever comes first. After that, they don't work at all, or too poorly to be of any use.
2) People who have been using laptops since the days of NiCd batteries are used to having to fully discharge their batteries before charging them. You should not do this with Li-ion batteries, this will actually reduce their life. However, you should still discharge them fully every 50 charge cycles or so, otherwise the battery may not report the correct amount of charge remaining in it.
3) The number one killer of Li-ion batteries is heat. Storing batteries in hot places (like a car in the summer) for long periods of time will reduce their life. Also, if you're using your laptop on AC power and the battery is fully charged, it is better to take the battery out of the laptop than leave it in, due to the heat. But do not let dirt or dust or whatever get in the laptop where the battery goes.
4) If a Li-ion battery will not be used for a long time, it is best to store it with 30-40% charge remaining. Then when you need to use it again, charge it fully before using. Also, store it somewhere where it's cool. One website even recommended storing it in your fridge (but not the freezer).
5) Although it should take about 3 hours to fully charge a laptop battery, the majority of the charging happens in the first hour. You might notice your battery charges up to about 90% pretty quickly, but then it takes a really long time to charge that remaining 5 or 10%. It is not harmful to the battery to not charge it all the way to 100% every time if you don't want to (although when it's new, you should charge it to 100% the first 3 or 4 times to break it in).
There is no standardization of laptop batteries, so once a battery dies, you will have a difficult time finding a replacement because a battery from one laptop brand will not fit into another laptop. So your only source of a replacement is your manufacturer, however by the time your laptop battery is old enough to not work, your manufacturer will probably have stopped manufacturing the type of battery you need a long time ago, and even if they have some batteries remaining to sell you, the batteries will not last as long as new batteries because Li-ion batteries only work for about 3 years after they are built. For this reason, some people are pushing for a standardization of laptop batteries, ie for all laptop manufacturers to design batteries of the same size and shape so that one will fit all. Here is an interesting petition which describes this in detail which I really recommend to be read by anyone interested in this: http://www.hanno.de/laptop-petition/
1) Li-ion batteries have a life of about 400-500 recharge cycles, or about 3 years, whichever comes first. After that, they don't work at all, or too poorly to be of any use.
2) People who have been using laptops since the days of NiCd batteries are used to having to fully discharge their batteries before charging them. You should not do this with Li-ion batteries, this will actually reduce their life. However, you should still discharge them fully every 50 charge cycles or so, otherwise the battery may not report the correct amount of charge remaining in it.
3) The number one killer of Li-ion batteries is heat. Storing batteries in hot places (like a car in the summer) for long periods of time will reduce their life. Also, if you're using your laptop on AC power and the battery is fully charged, it is better to take the battery out of the laptop than leave it in, due to the heat. But do not let dirt or dust or whatever get in the laptop where the battery goes.
4) If a Li-ion battery will not be used for a long time, it is best to store it with 30-40% charge remaining. Then when you need to use it again, charge it fully before using. Also, store it somewhere where it's cool. One website even recommended storing it in your fridge (but not the freezer).
5) Although it should take about 3 hours to fully charge a laptop battery, the majority of the charging happens in the first hour. You might notice your battery charges up to about 90% pretty quickly, but then it takes a really long time to charge that remaining 5 or 10%. It is not harmful to the battery to not charge it all the way to 100% every time if you don't want to (although when it's new, you should charge it to 100% the first 3 or 4 times to break it in).
There is no standardization of laptop batteries, so once a battery dies, you will have a difficult time finding a replacement because a battery from one laptop brand will not fit into another laptop. So your only source of a replacement is your manufacturer, however by the time your laptop battery is old enough to not work, your manufacturer will probably have stopped manufacturing the type of battery you need a long time ago, and even if they have some batteries remaining to sell you, the batteries will not last as long as new batteries because Li-ion batteries only work for about 3 years after they are built. For this reason, some people are pushing for a standardization of laptop batteries, ie for all laptop manufacturers to design batteries of the same size and shape so that one will fit all. Here is an interesting petition which describes this in detail which I really recommend to be read by anyone interested in this: http://www.hanno.de/laptop-petition/
