Battery life

[gibs]

Just got my new Dell 8600 and boy is it sweet! Anyways, on my old computer I noticed that after about a year of use I started getting very short battery life. If I unplugged the AC adapter I could only use my computer for about 45-50 minutes before I needed to plug it back in. While looking for a new battery, a salesman at BestBuy informed me that batteries for notebooks tend to get weaker usually within a year of use from all the recharging. The battery for my new Dell has about a 5 hour life. Just wondering if there is anything I can do to prolong its long lasting life.

[Bellagibro]

You might try taking out the battery when you are running it off the ac adapter.

[kurosh]

I actually just bought the same laptop. It depends on the exact type of battery. There are two types IIRC. One type lasts the longest if you wait until it's almost completely done then recharge it. The other type likes to be kept as close to max charge as possible. So, do some research and find out which one it is then tell me :P. Oh and unless you bought a spare battery, it only has a 4 hour battery life.

[octop]

If you have a waranty call dell and get a new battery after 51 weeks

[HesseJam]

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You might try taking out the battery when you are running it off the ac adapter.

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This is good advice!

[BusterStacks]

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You might try taking out the battery when you are running it off the ac adapter.

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This is good advice!

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No, it's not.

Laptop batteries do not have "memory" and it does not matter if they are left in during AC power or charged fully. Really it doesn't, call Dell if you don't believe me.

[HesseJam]

So why is it then, that most of our employees need new batteries after a year if they mainly used the ac with the battery in juxtaposed to those who took the batterry out and use them only on trips?

[jon593]

everytime you recharge a battery it gets weaker and weaker. especially if you dont let it completely drain of all its power before recharging it. every battery is like this if you have a cordless phone im sure it has happened with that

[flecks]

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everytime you recharge a battery it gets weaker and weaker. especially if you dont let it completely drain of all its power before recharging it. every battery is like this if you have a cordless phone im sure it has happened with that

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It depends on the type of battery. Older batteries had memories and had to be completely discharged before recharging. Here is what Dell says about its Lithium batteries: "There is no battery memory effect with a lithium-ion battery — you can charge the battery whenever you like without fear of reducing its charge capacity, and you do not need to drain a lithium-ion battery completely before recharging it." That's from their on-line parts catalog. I hope its true because the batteries aren't cheap.

[HesseJam]

I think the memory effect has nothing to do with it. A non memory effect battery just saves you the occasional "complete discharge - complete charge" maintenance ordeal. They are still being strained by the constant mini charge/discharge when constantly plugged into the AC.

[wbrumfiel]

Buy the second battery from dell that goes in the DVD-ROM slot. That way you get more time /images/graemlins/smile.gif