Battery Life on a Laptop

Started by Spell, February 11, 2011, 07:32:02 AM

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Spell

So I have just bought myself a shiny new Macbook pro, used for creating music and helping me through my studies. Now the thing I am mostly concerned about is battery life. I do know that the Macbook can easily get 4 - 8 hours on a full battery charge on normal settings. That's not what I am worrying about though, I am worrying about battery health.

Obviously Lithium-Ion batteries degrade over time, from the second they are produced, and I am wondering how to use the battery in such a way that it doesn't degrade too fast.

So what should I do exactly? I do know about battery cycles and battery health, currently my battery health is 97-98% with 7 Cycles. Should I use the battery power, let it drop to 20-40% and then recharge? Or should I just keep it fully charged as much as possible? I do know that I have to calibrate the battery once a month though.

Any advice is appreciated. ^^
Darling,
What is going on...
Honestly that never happened,
Lying is your favorite passion...

Oniya

"Language was invented for one reason, boys - to woo women.~*~*~Don't think it's all been done before
And in that endeavor, laziness will not do." ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~Don't think we're never gonna win this war
Robin Williams-Dead Poets Society ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~Don't think your world's gonna fall apart
I do have a cause, though.  It's obscenity.  I'm for it.  - Tom Lehrer~*~All you need is your beautiful heart
O/O's Updated 5/11/21 - A/A's - Current Status! - Writing a novel - all draws for Fool of Fire up!
Requests updated March 17

Spell

Quote from: Oniya on February 11, 2011, 07:38:17 AM
http://ezinearticles.com/?Tips-for-Getting-the-Most-Life-Out-of-Your-Laptop-Battery&id=101044

This might help. ^^

Thank you Oniya! ^^ But I have also read a lot of conflicting reports. For example, if I charge a battery fully twice when it was at 50%, then I will have completed one cycle. But if I keep it plugged in at hope at 100% all the time, then if I'm correct it would not count to the cycles..which is also good in a way I guess? =o It would depend on the temperature on the battery, fortunately, I don't use my Mac intensively, and I live in a pretty cold country, so perhaps that is an added bonus?
Darling,
What is going on...
Honestly that never happened,
Lying is your favorite passion...

Oniya

My experience with computers in general is that they like it cooler.  Before I got the one I'm using now, my computer crashed several times a day during the summer, and not at all in the winter.  (The computer store couldn't figure it out, but they had Central Air.)  I'm guessing that if you leave the computer plugged in all the time, the battery life is only limited by the natural degradation (chemical reactions tend to be faster when it is warmer, though, so keep an eye on the battery temp.)  When you actually work off of the battery, the battery gets warmer, so that would increase the reaction as well.
"Language was invented for one reason, boys - to woo women.~*~*~Don't think it's all been done before
And in that endeavor, laziness will not do." ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~Don't think we're never gonna win this war
Robin Williams-Dead Poets Society ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~Don't think your world's gonna fall apart
I do have a cause, though.  It's obscenity.  I'm for it.  - Tom Lehrer~*~All you need is your beautiful heart
O/O's Updated 5/11/21 - A/A's - Current Status! - Writing a novel - all draws for Fool of Fire up!
Requests updated March 17

Spell

Well, the battery in my Macbook when charging is about 30 degrees Celsius, so I think that should be alright... =)
Darling,
What is going on...
Honestly that never happened,
Lying is your favorite passion...