Questions about care of laptop

[Joker]

We purchased our first laptop this weekend. Our old computer crashed and it was very old. I don't know what I should or shouldn't do now. We never leave ours on for 24 hours but I don't know how long or often we should have it charging. Is is ok to leave it plugged in all day? Should we let the battery run down before charging? If I am on the laptop and will only be away for 30 min to an hour should I close and let it idle or should I shut it down? This is all new to me and I want this laptop to last as long as possible so any care information you have will be helpful. Thanks so much!

 

(If it matters it is a Toshiba intel pentium.)

[Carrie12345]

I don't know the "real" answer, but I can tell you that I've tried both methods (nearly-constant charging and letting the battery run down) on 2 Toshibas. Either way, the battery life was sucked nearly dry after a few months.

 

I almost never shut my laptop down (which could possibly be the real problem) b/c I pop on and off all day long, and the kids often use it. But I do CLOSE the actual laptop, which shuts the fan and everything down. I just like it to all pop back up when I open the lid. ;)

 

Regardless, my first lasted about 2.5 years, and I think I'm on year 2 with this one. That's been acceptable to me, based on what we paid for them. I won't buy a pricier model, just in case I kill that one in under 3 years.

[Margo out of lurking]

I don't know the "real" answer either, so I'm looking forward to hearing from someone who really knows.

 

BUT I keep my laptop plugged in all the time, unless there's a reason to unplug it. (That would be during yesterday's major electrical storm which caused a spark to shoot out from the outlet where we'd unplugged the tv...)

 

I don't believe you need to run the battery down before recharging. Those were an earlier battery generation (at least that's true with cell phones!).

 

I keep my email and browser open all day, although I close the lid for the same reasons as the pp. At night, I usually close those programs and put my computer to "sleep."

 

I love my laptop!!

[Sasharowan]

I keep mine plugged in all the time. Since its about 2.5 yrs old, the battery life is maybe 1/2 hour without plugin. Mine stays on and open all day, there is almost always someone on it, usually me. I have no idea what your "supposed" to do though. I can say never buy the cheapo one from Walmart though.

[DarlaS]

I keep mine plugged in most of the time.

 

It will be two years old this fall, and the (upgraded) battery still lasts nearly 4 hrs--if it needs to. I fairly often sit with it somewhere unplugged for over 2 hrs at a time and it will still have a lot of battery life left.

 

I was told to think of it as a portable desktop. I don't think laptop batteries need to be run down periodically to keep them optimal.

[NicksMama-Zack's Mama Too]

"Top Tips to Extend Your Battery Life"

 

http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2324229,00.asp