[Shortbus]

I don't usually use my laptop for gaming, but when I do, it's always plugged in to AC power. My sister says that running off AC power all the time will kill the battery, to the point that some day, I'll unplug it and only have an hour of battery life. I know of people who have had this problem with cell phones. They've charged them when they didn't need to be charged, or left them on a car charger all the time, and before they know it, they can't make a phone call without the battery dying. My current thoughts are that batteries only have so many cycles in their life span, and that cycling it unneccesarily will have me replacing my battery too soon.

My question... Am I better off running on battery untill it dies, then charging it, or should I run on AC power as much as possible? I'm still always going to game on AC power, for the brighter screen if nothing else. For general usage though, which way is better? It's a Li-Ion battery.

[Stevo]

I think the computer automatically detects when the battery needs to be charged, so it only gets charged when it needs to. Otherwise, it just runs directly off the power and the battery just sits there. When I try playing games off of battery power, it won't last long at all, even if it is brand new.
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[Mike]

i think that only happens to batteries directly connected to an outlet. I also don't rember hearing anything about how li-ion batteries can cook, probably because li-ion batteries are mainly on electronics which probably regulate the battery. it's actually better to have your li-ion battery charged in short busts, rather then fully emptying a ni-cad battery before another charge.
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[DarkTemplar316]

my first laptop was a crappy toshiba, and i left it plugged in all the time with the battery in. it eventually did not hold a charge at all, but i believe that was because of a defect in the laptop, because it melted part of the battery. i have an ibm now, and when the battery is charged to 100% i take it out and run on just AC. i do it as a precaution, because i dont want to take it somewhere and have like 5 minutes of battery life.