Any harm in plugging in the AC w/o the battery in?

[LuckyTaxi]

Damn laptop doesnt run well on battery power. Kinda slow so I plug it the A/C adaptor each time I use it.
It's my main system so my eyes adjust to the small screen. Anyways, I read that keeping the battery charged at all
time isnt good. So, I've been thinking of taking the battery out and just plugging in the AC. Of course if I'm mobile, I use the battery and not the A/C adapter

 

[stingygrrl]

maybe you need to get speedswitchXP to force your laptop to run at full CPU power on battery. I don't know which models do or don't do it, but perhaps that's the issue.

As for your question, batteries have a limited seet of charge cycles, so you wouldn't want to be using them for 3/4 full batteries, you know? I personally use battery or AC not AC with battery in, unless it's needing a charge, (not topping it off continiously)

I have 2, and cycle to about 10-15% and recharge (full drain is also not good).

 

[LuckyTaxi]

Originally posted by: stingygrrl
maybe you need to get speedswitchXP to force your laptop to run at full CPU power on battery. I don't know which models do or don't do it, but perhaps that's the issue.

As for your question, batteries have a limited seet of charge cycles, so you wouldn't want to be using them for 3/4 full batteries, you know? I personally use battery or AC not AC with battery in, unless it's needing a charge, (not topping it off continiously)

I have 2, and cycle to about 10-15% and recharge (full drain is also not good).

yes ... thats the program i was looking for. i set it to max performance and the laptop runs just like its on ac power

 

[bdunosk]

While all batteries have a finite number of recharges before they crap out, my understanding was that only NiCd had the problems associated with memory. Most nowadays use NiMH (right?) and they have a ton of recharges... but do you run off the battery if it's inside your laptop while you're plugged into the wall? My laptop (HP ze5500) won't start up without the battery installed (and plugged into the AC, duh).

 

[Abhi]

Originally posted by: bdunosk
While all batteries have a finite number of recharges before they crap out, my understanding was that only NiCd had the problems associated with memory. Most nowadays use NiMH (right?) and they have a ton of recharges... but do you run off the battery if it's inside your laptop while you're plugged into the wall? My laptop (HP ze5500) won't start up without the battery installed (and plugged into the AC, duh).

The new laptop use Lithium Ion batteries as far as i know..

 

[Junaid0]

more battery q's, i drain my battery to 3-10 percent, is that too low? shoudl i stop @ 11? i've been pretty religous about not recharging unless it is below 25%.... also, when i install a second battery, then i'd wanta drain both b4 recharing? or drain only 1?

 

[eriqesque]

It isn't going to hurt the battery by leaving in there
unless it is being subjected to extreme heat.
Li-Ion batteries can NOT be overcharged and there is no such thing as topping them off
or trickle charging. They charge til they are full then they stop.
As for discharging them they prefer a shallow discharge the less the better
But for mobile computing this is sometimes not possible so...
If you can recharge at say 30% you will get better life from your battery as opposed to charging at 3%
or 10%

 

[vladbot]

It won't harm the laptop. You should consider getting another battery if yours isnt running well.

 

[cipher00]

Additionally, I'd suggest a quick RTFM. Some laptops let you run directly, some don't. FWIW.

 

[Souka]

FYI, My $.02 about buying laptop batteries.

I had an IBM 600x Thinkpad...P3-650mhz. It ran at 650mhz on AC, 500mhz on battery by use of the Intel Speed Step util. Replaced the battery with a non-IBM battery that had a %20 higher rated mAh rating at same voltage. One problem.... when the battery was inserted, the system would ONLY run at 500mhz....period. Ended up returning battery and getting a real IBM battery....which worked just fine.


Have had similar problems with non-OEM batts for Toshiba laptops also....


Just a word of caution....



BTW, the laptop I"m using now (IBM T41 - 1.7ghz Radeon 9000, 7200rpm 60gb hd) has pretty decent battery intelligence.... It shows First Use date, battery temp, design capacity, current max capacity, number of charge cycles, and current charge.....

 

[jai6638]

have 2, and cycle to about 10-15% and recharge (full drain is also not good).

hey i read on some forum that its advisable to fully drain the battery and then recharge ... im confused