Laptops which are manufactured nowadays are most likely to come with Lithium-Ion batteries. This type of battery suits the typical usage of laptops where frequent charging occurs even if the battery has not been fully discharged yet. However, this is not to say that laptop users can use and abuse the Lithium-Ion batteries of their laptops. Proper care for laptop batteries should still be observed.

Below are a few tips on proper laptop battery care.

• When you purchase your laptop, the battery that comes with it is usually empty. Charge the laptop battery as long as possible before using it. It is advisable to plug in the laptop without using it for at least 4 hours

• It is advisable to keep or store your laptop battery in a cool and dry place. Heat hastens the deterioration of battery life. But this does not necessarily mean that you should store your laptop battery inside the refrigerator or freezer as this can also deteriorate the quality of your laptop battery.

• When using your laptop at home where you have easy access to a power outlet, remove your laptop’s battery while using it. Use the power of the AC adapter for your laptop. Using your laptop while charging it should be avoided if possible for it will contribute to the overall deterioration of battery life.

• It is not advisable to buy a back-up battery if your purpose is to prolong the battery life of your batteries. Lithium-Ion batteries have a functional lifetime whether you use it or not. You can only prolong its life up to a certain level through proper care. But using two laptop batteries alternately will prove to have shorter combined life compared to purchasing the second laptop battery when the first one is already showing signs of deterioration.

• Do not always wait for the laptop battery to fully discharge before recharging it. You may be confusing the laptop battery with another battery type (Ni-Cd) where a complete charge-and-discharge cycle is needed to prolong its life. When your laptop charge falls to 10%-15%, you can already charge your laptop battery

• The optimal level of leaving you laptop with a charge is at 40%-60%. Studies have proven that batteries normally left with this amount of charge have longer battery lives. Charging your batteries fully-charged all the time before storing it is not exactly optimal for battery life. Of course, you should take into consideration your foreseeable immediate usage when charging batteries. If you know that you shall be using you laptop on batteries the following day, the normal thing to do is to fully-charge it to avoid batteries getting drained while you still need to use it.

• Allow your laptop battery to fully discharge when you notice that it is not calibrating correctly. When you notice that the battery life being rated by your laptop does not represent an accurate estimate of the actual power remaining within your laptop battery, just do one complete discharge up to the point where the battery is fully drained. Then recharge it fully before using it.

Just try to follow the above tips for laptop battery care and it can help prolong the life of your laptop battery.