Dumbass laptop question.

OK, so this may seem like something reeeeeaaaally basic - but my inner nerd was chained up at an early age and dropped into the deep pit of teenage despair OK.

So - I've got a new laptop. Charged up the battery like it said in the little book n all.
Now I've left the battery in, sometimes using the machine 'unplugged' from the mains and sometimes noe - but still I've left the battery in.
According to the little picture inthe bottom right corner of the screen it's charging up fine when needed and then automatically switching to AC power.

Thing is I've since been told (by a couple of people who kind of know what they're talking about) that I should really take the battery out if I'm using it on mains power. Also that I shouldn't be actually 'using' the laptop when the battery is recharging.

Are both of these comments true?
I know with my old mobile that if you left it plugged into the mains for too long you'd 'cook' the battery and effective shorten its life - but the laptop is tellign me that it stopps charging the batter and switches to AC power - is it lying to me? (Devious little machine that's probably cleverer than I am )

[SoulKiss]

Used to be a big issue with old type batteries.

Now with Li-Ion there is much less of a memory effect so not such a big deal.

I think your advisors are using old wisdom.

I leave my laptop plugged in all the time - but then again, I hardly use it on battery anyway.

David

To slightly contradict Dave (slightly)

If you use a latop on AC power, it will constantly feed power through the batter (like riding the bike, it always charges the battery, if it needs to or not).

Yes, Li-Ion batteries have a better memory, but they still do degrade over time.

I haven't ever heard of anyone taking the battery out when using AC power, nor have I heard of anyone being told not to use the laptop whilst it's charging (again, imagine not riding your bike whilst the battery was charging! Stupid idea!)

IMO, use it, charge it at the same time etc. I would just try to always use the power from the battery unless it needs charging. That way, you're power cycling the battery better, and it'll keep it's memory a lot longer.

I used to have one of the old type batteries that Soulkiss has mentioned. The battery took a turn for the worse after the Warranty had just expired. (Typical, eh?) After a full charge, I'd unplug from the mains, start up the laptop, and by the time I was just about to read my first email, the Laptop shut down due to low power!!!!!

If your laptop is new and has the new type Li-Ion battery and are having problems, consider getting a repplacement battery from the dealer!!!

Where did you get the Laptop from BTW? PCWorld, Dell etc etc?

Don't know techy stuff but I have 15 Dell laptops in my team here all run constantly all day on AC with batteries installed, then batt only possibly when 'offsite'

When travelling to and from London on occasion my battery has lasted both way travel - about 2.5 hours though I've never checked batt level.

Never had a problem or noticed loss of performance. basically I would say it isn't a big issue with the batteries- as Baph says.

Many of the new but budget laptops still use the old style Nickle batteries.

If your's has one of these as mentioned above, fully discharge (ie run until it runs flat) then recharge, try & avoiding recharging when only half discharged.

Li-ion, do degrade, but not as a result of recharging when half "empty".

Originally Posted by K

Thing is I've since been told (by a couple of people who kind of know what they're talking about) that I should really take the battery out if I'm using it on mains power. Also that I shouldn't be actually 'using' the laptop when the battery is recharging.

Are both of these comments true?

nonsense - ignore

This is the laptop's spec, but it doesn't actually mention the type of battery. Or I'm being blind.
HERE

I'm gonna assume it a Lion or whatever thingy doobry and just carry on using it as I have been.

I've had no problems, I just don't want to do anything now that could screw it up later on is all.

Originally Posted by K

I'm gonna assume it a Lion or whatever thingy doobry and just carry on using it as I have been.

Take the battery out of the laptop, it'll have a sticker/markings on it. That should tell you what type of battery it is.

EDIT: The HP C310EA has a 6 cell Li-Ion battery

Originally Posted by K

I'm gonna assume it a Lion or whatever thingy doobry and just carry on using it as I have been.

Spot on!