Help Please!

Hi, Good Day to the community!

I just recently bought this unit: Acer Travelmate x483, it has a Li-Polymer type of battery, and unfortunately, its batteries are permanently sealed, meaning they are non removable just like other newly produced units these days.

I really am not used to this kind of batteries (them being non removable) since for my previous laptop, I usually removed the batteries when I'm at home in order to preserve its life. I have read that always plugging in the batteries will permanently damage it, hence, I have some friends whom their batteries only last for 1 hour and below if not plugged in. The problem is, I really don't know how to take care of my batteries now, since they can't be removed. I'm afraid that sooner, my laptop's battery might be permanently damaged.

How should I prolong it's life then? Should i:

-Plug it and drain it once in a while, or

-Always use the batteries and only plug it in if its below 20% or lower than that, or

-Any other suggestion that will be very helpful

Please help me. I really want this unit to last long. I have read all the subjects in this forum site about batteries and found no answer. I've tried googling this, however I just got varied answers, without any tangible conclusion. Please help. I would greatly appreciate any advice. Thank you very much. Smiley Happy More power to you guys!

P.S.

Also, if you know of any apps, programs, tips, etc. that might help improve/preserve/prolong the lifespan of these types of batteries, any posts will be greatly appreciated. Thank you very much!

Accepted answers

ScottyC

Truth be told removing the battery when it's not in use doesn't affect it's life in any significant way. That isn't to say that there are some benefits, but they're negligable. Furthermore, if you plug in a device once the batteries are fully charged the system will stop charging them. It's not like they're continually being used, when the device is plugged in it uses power from the adapter, not the battery. The way these batteries are made now I wouldn't worry too much steps you have to take to ensure it works properly. The only thing I would suggest is fully draining the battery overnight once every couple of months. I would normally say to do this in safe mode, but I assume that you have Windows 8. So instead just load into the BIOS by restarting the unit and tapping F2 repeatedly. Then just unplug the unit and let it sit there in the bios config screen until it dies. Now you can plug it in and the device will recognize that the battery is fully dead. This essentially reconfigures the dead and full points of the battery. There's more to it than that but all you really need to know is that it's helpful to your battery. Other than that you have nothing to worry about with your new system.

Also, there are no apps, programs or anything else that will help with battery life. Just by running them you are using more processing power and are shortening the time it will last (albeit by very little). Software will have almost no impact on the life expectancy of your battery, but if you want the charge to last longer you're limited to cutting power consumption. In other words, lower screen brightness, disable wifi, cut processing power limit, run less software etc...

I hope that you found this helpful, enjoy your new product and take care!

All comments

ScottyC

Truth be told removing the battery when it's not in use doesn't affect it's life in any significant way. That isn't to say that there are some benefits, but they're negligable. Furthermore, if you plug in a device once the batteries are fully charged the system will stop charging them. It's not like they're continually being used, when the device is plugged in it uses power from the adapter, not the battery. The way these batteries are made now I wouldn't worry too much steps you have to take to ensure it works properly. The only thing I would suggest is fully draining the battery overnight once every couple of months. I would normally say to do this in safe mode, but I assume that you have Windows 8. So instead just load into the BIOS by restarting the unit and tapping F2 repeatedly. Then just unplug the unit and let it sit there in the bios config screen until it dies. Now you can plug it in and the device will recognize that the battery is fully dead. This essentially reconfigures the dead and full points of the battery. There's more to it than that but all you really need to know is that it's helpful to your battery. Other than that you have nothing to worry about with your new system.

Also, there are no apps, programs or anything else that will help with battery life. Just by running them you are using more processing power and are shortening the time it will last (albeit by very little). Software will have almost no impact on the life expectancy of your battery, but if you want the charge to last longer you're limited to cutting power consumption. In other words, lower screen brightness, disable wifi, cut processing power limit, run less software etc...