Laptops All-in-One Desk Reference For Dummies- P45: Okay, I’ll admit it: I’ve got a strange biography. I’ve been a writer all my life. My first semi-pro job was sports editor of my high school newspaper. (Go Commodores!) After college I was a political reporter for daily newspapers in Ohio and New York (I covered four national nominating conventions and two Presidential campaigns) and a correspondent for The Associated Press. And then, in 1983, I gave in to my inner geek and became the first Executive Editor of PC Magazine, back in the days when most people asked, “What is a PC?”. | 414 Finding Hidden Batteries ability to hold a charge if it gets much hotter. Does this mean that keeping your laptop in the trunk of your car on a hot summer day isn t a good idea Yup. Remove the battery. If you re going to use your laptop for an extended time while connected to an AC power source turn off the machine and remove the battery. A LiOn battery generates heat and shortens its life if you charge it while the computer is in use with AC power. When you remove the battery from your laptop and run the machine on AC power you re adding one risk If the power fails you won t have the battery ready to take over immediately and thus you will lose any unsaved work. If you re at your desktop consider adding an uninterruptible power supply. Avoid running your battery down to zero. It s okay to do this from time to time but don t make it a regular habit. With a modern LiOn battery it is better to have many partial discharges and recharges instead of constantly running it down to empty. Older nickel cadmium batteries were just the opposite they preferred full discharges and recharges. Put a charge on. If you remove your battery to store it for a while give it at least a 40 to 50 percent charge certain types of laptop batteries can fail if they discharge all the way to zero. Check the charge level at the power utility on your taskbar. When they re in your machine the built-in software monitor should give you enough warning to allow you to shut down with at least a bit of power still in the cell. Don t stock up. I stock our pantry with several dozen of each anytime the supermarket has a sale on canned soup and breakfast cereal but the same doesn t apply when it comes to laptop batteries. You re better off buying fresh batteries from a reliable source just before you need them ask about the manufacturing date before buying. If you have a spare LiOn battery keep the extra one with about a 40-percent charge in a cool place. You can wrap it carefully in plastic not .
