Popeye said:
Would appreciate some thoughts about leaving a laptop AC charger
always plugged in. I know that the laptop battery is not supposed
to overcharge but is this a fail safe deal? Also what about going
into standby mode rather than just shutting down and then unplug
the power supply from the back of the laptop?
From a standpoint of battery life - it is better to only have the laptop
plugged in to power when you need to charge the battery. The heat from the
computer and constant charging can shorten its life. (Mostly the heat.)
While in reality - no one will be taking out their battery everytime they
plug their laptop into power and they know the laptop battery is fully
charged - in some ways that would extend the overall life of the battery
(especially if you only charged it when you had the computer turned off.)
From a realistic standpoint - let's look at what is most likely going to
happen no matter what you hear - due to the nature of the machine being a
laptop (portable) and how most people utilize such things.
You'll probably travel with it from place to place, plugging it in when you
can. At home - the battery will remain in it and you will therefore be
charging the battery (until full) and using the laptop off power a lot. The
battery will experience more heat when sitting around on a desk - but that
is most likely where it will be used (or on a pillow or whatever.) After
1-3 years, the amount of time the laptop will actually keep a charge will
have greatly diminished and you will either have to get a new battery or a
new laptop. ;-)
If you want to use the laptop as normal and yet keep the battery life as
long as possible - consider one of the many laptop cooling units to set it
on. They do a surprisingly good job at dissipating the heat. Since heat is
one of the real killers for the battery technology - you'll end up extending
the battery life and the computer life for a $40 investment. ;-)
