Recipe for Li-Ion battery longevity

[Tim]

The other Tim wrote:
>> Standard advice for rechargeable batteries is to use them, you get your
>> money's worth that way.  If you don't make use of them, it's a waste.

Timothy Murphy
> I'm not sure what this means.
> Surely most people will use a laptop
> (or indeed any device with a rechargeable battery)
> if they have one?
> What else would you do with it?

You've paid for your battery, if you don't actually use it, you've just
given your money away.  At least if it powers your computer while you're
using it, you ARE making use of the battery.  If you just deliberately
charge it and flatten it for the battery's sake, it's making use of you,
and needlessly wasting electricity.

> What I find amazing about this endless discussion
> is that it must be the simplest thing in the world
> for a lab to work out which usage gives the longest life.

Mikkel pretty much answered it.  Some will use their laptop on the
battery most of the time, some will use it on the power most of the
time, and there's all the variations in between.  The only way that lab
testing could be of any use to you, would be for you to use your laptop
in a manner dictated by the testing.

Your system was probably designed to warn you when the battery gets too
low, I'd use that as the guide for when to discharge it.  Not someone
else's idea about how flat a battery should be discharged.  Use the
laptop, use the battery to power it at times, regularly.  Charge it as
seems most convenient.

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