I get a lot of questions as to whether or not you should leave you batter in your laptop when you have it plugged in. If you remove the batter while the computer is plugged in, you get the following benefits:
- Slow down the batter aging process
The life of your lithium battery decreases with higher temperatures. When you have the notebook plugged in, the battery heats up as some power is sent to it to keep it charged up. By removing the battery, you extend the life of the battery by keeping it away from the heat experienced while installed in the laptop.
- Preserves charge cycles
Lithium ion batteries slowly discharge over time. By leaving your battery in the notebook, the laptop will top-up the battery on a continuous basis, losing some of your charge cycles. By removing the battery, you will save some of your charge cycles (typically a battery will have 300 to 800 charge cycles during its' lifetime).
Along with the benefits, there are some negatives to having your battery out of your laptop. Examples are:
- Lose battery backup
The battery in the laptop serves as a UPS (uninterruptible power supply.) When you remove the battery, you no longer get the benefits that it has to offer such as protection from power outages and voltage drops.
- Data loss
If the power does go out while you are using your laptop due to a power outage, you run the risk of lost or corrupt data. You need to be certain to save your work often to reduce the chance of lost data.
- Need a UPS for backup power
To help avoid data loss with your battery removed, consider plugging the laptop into a UPS (uninterruptible power supply.) A good quality UPS can cost $100 or more, whereas you can buy a laptop battery for $50+.
