Misconceptions about Lithium Ion Batteries

I chanced upon a blog entry from techatplay, describing some of the popular mis-conceptions about the usage of Lithium Ion batteries. It would be good to understand how to conserve the battery life more efficiently, since laptops are the current trend now.

Basically, the popular misconceptions are as follows:

• Battery is limited by its lifespan and number of charging cycles, not how long you charge. Some people have a habit of keeping a spare battery, not wanting to use it. Please remember that the lithium ion battery starts to die the moment it leaves the factory. The best way to optimize your battery usage is to keep using your batteries, and swapping between 2 batteries.
  
• Taking your battery out of the laptop does not conserve your battery. That's because most laptops now come with circuitry that will ensure the battery does not get overcharged.
• Do not drain your battery completely. Draining it completely can damage your battery permanently.
• Temperatures higher than 40 degrees permanently reduce your charging cycles by a bit. Now I understand why some people put laptop coolers everywhere they go. A lower overall temperature helps in conserving the battery life.

Please read the full article here. Very enlightening.