Laptop Battery Life

by Cath
(UK)

I know this is probably a much too basic question but ... The battery on my laptop (which is about eighteen months old) now has a very short life - maybe an hour if I'm lucky. It's a good laptop (a Sony Vaio) but this is a major disadvantage for me.

Have I contributed to this by keeping my laptop on mains power rather than using the battery and letting it run down? So in other words, if I buy a new battery would I be better advised to use the laptop on battery power rather than mains, and only re-charge it once the battery has run out?

Answer

To the best of my knowledge, the laptops all use Li-Ion, (Lithium Ion) batteries. These batteries do the best when they get drained partially and then recharged as opposed to draining them all the way and then recharging them. Typically, every 30 cycles or so, a just about complete drain and full recharge will help maintain the best battery life.

Avoid using the laptop fully charged with the charger connected. Removing the battery and running off of wall power only will help you get the most of the battery. They don't like to be at 100% charge and warm.

Battery University has a really great post to read if you want to really understand how you can get the most life out of your battery.