Robert Paradis
ConnectPro Online Support Expert

To maximize battery life, you might want to have a look at this thread on regularly discharging your battery.

http://www.futureshopforums.ca/futureshop/board/message?board.id=computerlaptop&thread.id=8755&view=by_date_ascending&page=1

Another option is to set up an electrical timer to disable your power for part of the day when you use your laptop the most.  The timer then turns the power back on to restore charge.

That's a great thread to check out XL.

The big thing to understand with new laptop batteries (anything newer than 3 years old) is that you actually don't want to bother discharging your battery regularly.  The only time to do this now is to recalibrate the battery if your computer is not giving you the correct information.  New laptop batteries do not have the same issues as previous batteries and the older recommendations no longer exist.  Unfortunately though, the internet is still flooded with the old recommendations.

I just use my laptop as I choose (plugged in when I'm at home, unplugged when I'm out and about) and my battery life has been solid.  I passed my old laptop on to my boyfriend nearly 2 years ago after having it for nearly 2 years (it's now over 3 1/2 years old) and it still can get close to 2 hours of battery life.  This is because I avoided discharging it fully when possible and used the charger whenever I had access to it.

Many of the recommendations I mentioned in that thread are still accurate today, and I'm not really sure that I'd change anything from what I stated there. 

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Something to add to the battery talk is that overcharging is a concern for batteries, even current ones.  If you leave it plugged in all the time, especially if it gets warm, it can damage the battery.  Most current laptops come with a safety feature built in that detects overcharging, and will lock out all power if it occurs, even from the DC jack.  This gets frustrating for many people as they don't realize the way to fix it is to simply unplug their battery, leave it out for a few minutes, and then put it back in.

Robert Paradis
ConnectPro Online Support Expert

CTV recently did a story on batteries that may be of interest....

http://www.ctvbc.ctv.ca/servlet/an/local/CTVNews/20091118/bc_olsen_batteries_091118/20091118?hub=BritishColumbiaConsumer