Remove laptop battery for desktop use?

I have recently purchased a new laptop computer. I intend to use the computer mainly as a desktop computer so it will usually be connected to AC power. The manual states "Do not use your computer without installing the battery pack as it may cause the computer to malfunction" . However, the salesman in the Sony store advised me to remove the battery for desktop use because it would extend the life of the battery.

Why might removing the battery cause the computer to malfunction? Would removing it extend the life of the battery?

Reply to
David Segall
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Occasionally you should run the lappy taking the battery no near flat to avoid images other than that leave it in

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Reply to
atec77

Usually not, but with Sony it's anybody's guess.

If you let it stay flat for any length of time it might not accept a charge at all. The optimum charge is considered to be 40% for maximum life, but that's hard to maintain due to self discharge.

MrT.

Reply to
Mr.T

Leave the battery in, for the non electrical personages, it acts like a buffer and stops overvoltage and spikes spikes and things which might dammage computer

Reply to
F Murtz

Not even close. I was going to explain why, but I figured because of your spelling and grammatical errors, you're not going to understand anyway.

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Have an adequate day.
Reply to
John Tserkezis

Don't need to explain to me, If you want to give long winded technical explanations to others feel free. ( also one too many Ms and one too many spikes is neither here nor there)

Reply to
F Murtz

Don't need to explain to me, If you want to give long winded technical explanations to others feel free. ( also one too many Ms and one too many spikes is neither here nor there)

Reply to
F Murtz

Apart from grammatical and spelling flames being unworthy and insipid you should remember some of the most intelligent and productive people through out history were unable to spell wonderfully many being mildly dyslexic or subject to other problems

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Reply to
atec77

Also he is depriving the original poster of his vast wealth of knowledge because of his affront at my one finger typing.

Reply to
F Murtz

F Murtz Inscribed thus:

No he's just trolling !

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Best Regards:
                     Baron.
Reply to
Baron

The sarcasm should be obvious in this case I would have thought.

MrT.

Reply to
Mr.T

No long winded technical reply, just that my employer uses standard laptops as consoles in it's products, there are 25000+ out there working just fine without batteries.

If you want maximum battery life remove the battery when it is fully charged, put it back in the laptop once a month, and run it down, then recharge it and remove it again.

Reply to
keithr

No need to run it down for a NiMH battery, deep discharge is not recommended like with NiCd. Give it a half charge every month if you can manage it. For most people the extra trouble is worth more than the cost of the battery though. I have a 4 YO laptop that is hardly ever used on batteries. The battery has never been removed, is allowed to charge every time I use the laptop, and it still works fine. IF I had taken it out and forgotten about it, it's almost certain it would not charge any more.

MrT.

Reply to
Mr.T

The answer is, "It depends." I haven't seem anything other than lithium-ion technology batteries in new laptops for some years. These don't much like being kept fully charged or fully discharged. Some laptop brands, such as most Lenovo Thinkpads, have smart battery management that you can configure for your intended use pattern. For a machine that is rarely used on battery, you can configure it to not start charging until the battery has dropped below a given charge level (say 90%) and stop before it reaches full charge (say 95%).

If you can't set your laptop to do that, then it's probably best to remove the battery if you're not using it. Insert it and let it charge fully once every 3 months or so. Lithium batteries usually retain their charge fairly well when not installed.

As for damage to the laptop, they are designed to work correctly off the supplied AC adapter with or without the battery. The charging circuit actually disconnects the battery when it reaches full charge. The battery is only connected to drive the laptop if the voltage from the AC adapter drops too low to operate the system. The main danger of having no battery is a momentary mains power failure causing the machine to reboot, just like a desktop system.

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Don Hills    (dmhills at attglobaldotnet)     Wellington, New Zealand
Reply to
Don Hills

Thanks to all those who responded to this.

It seems that my best option is to leave the battery in because, as Don Hills pointed out, it provides a UPS at the (small?) expense of battery life. It also prevents a quarrel with Sony in case, as Mr.T suggests, there is something weird with a Sony laptop and they do not honour their guarantee because I left the battery out.

Given that the battery is in, is there some routine for unplugging the mains power that would extend the battery life? The laptop does not provide any way of controlling the maximum battery charge.

Reply to
David Segall

David Segall Inscribed thus:

Actually the battery pack has its own microprocessor built in and that takes care of any needs that the battery pack may have !

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Best Regards:
                     Baron.
Reply to
Baron

I recently decided that notebooks have become so cheap, that it is getting harder to buy a box that has the same specs as a notebook at a similar price these days. The core i7 really screams along, and suits me fine.

There are some pluses and minuses. screaming i7s get hot and use heaps of power, so they have a short operating time range.

As I don't use them mobile, power doesn't matter. I run them with an external keyboard, mouse, and monitor. I decided to leave the lids open by about an inch, (plastic box spacer) so that the fan(s) drag some air from around the keyboard keys.

I no longer need a UPS. I simply set the power parameters to switch them off after running on battery for 15 minutes. If I have to buy new batteries during the life cycle of the units, so what!

I will probably find that technology will shift me into new units, before the batteries give up.

Here is the output of a little 7" Asus EEE PC that has been running for a couple of years as a webcam server, as well as running other security and weather applications.

formatting link

Only time it locks up is when the shareware webcam software goes bananas, and it needs to be re-run.

Cheers Don...

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Don McKenzie

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Reply to
Don McKenzie

My experience is that if you leave a laptop battery in while the laptop is constantly on external power, the battery life will degrade. The first battery in my work Dell laptop which is kept permanently in a docking station degraded to less than 30 minutes after 3 years use.

Reply to
keithr

You're not alone. I use a dell laptop at work, and have a Lenovo at home. I leave the battery in with both, and mostly keep them fully charged. The dell battery capacity degrades hugely over a few years, whereas the Lenovo stays pretty good. Others using the dells have the same experience. I wonder whether marginal batteries - old stock or marginal on test - are supplied in corporate deals.

Reply to
Noodnik

I

dell

stays

in

I imagine it's just an inferior quality battery from the cheapest supplier Dell can find. Still it could be worse, could be one of those that catch fire! :-)

MrT.

Reply to
Mr.T

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