On Fri, 2007-07-27 at 10:50 -0500, Mikkel L. Ellertson wrote: > Aaron Konstam wrote: > > On Thu, 2007-07-26 at 17:44 -0700, Les wrote: > >> Oh, one other thing. If you use the laptop plugged in all the > >> time, the charger are not designed to do that. Eventually the batteries > >> will overcharge and possibly short. Check your laptop at the manufacturers > >> list also to ensure you do not have a recalled battery pack. There > >> have been some problems with some batteries. > > As far as I know that is wrong. Most labtops are designed to be able to > > be run plugged in without problem. Especially if they have Hydride > > batteries. Of course , what the manufacturer says should rule. > > > With my Toshiba A105-S4004, they tell you not to leave it plugged in > after the battery is charged if you are not using it. But I am not > sure how much that has to do with heat, and how much it has to do > with battery life. I have a neighbor that used her laptop more as a > desktop, and left it plugged in all the time. Her battery life > dropped to nothing in about 2 years. (10 minutes from full charge to > dead.) It is my fault for making statements that are too global. It matters how old her laptop is. 1. If you have a metal hydride battery it can be probably plugged in all the time. On my laptop there is an ion that appears whenever the battery is charging. When the battery becomes fully charged the icon on the front goes off leading to believe it has a circuit that cuts off the charging when the battery is fully charged. 2. If you have an older machine with maybe a Ni Cd battery then the battery has a memory feature. If you let the battery get half discharged and then charge it will in the future be able to be discharged only to the half charged condition. I suspect that is what happened to the person you referred to. But is truth my statement was too sweeping. The behavior depends on the laptop and one needs to do what the manufacturer tells you needs to be done. -- ======================================================================= Very few profundities can be expressed in less than 80 characters. ======================================================================= Aaron Konstam telephone: (210) 656-0355 e-mail: akonstam@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
