Charging Laptop Battery to 80% Max When Plugged In All The Time?

barman58 · Aug 26, 2023

I will admit that It regular use is not as great as it would be. if it was my only device, I normally run a Desktop at home , but for the last few months that has been off line with a fault, another factor is that the XPS 17 Is not exactly a budget device so you do expect the best quality hardware, even with a consumable component like a battery

Fabler2 · Aug 26, 2023

barman58 said:
I will admit that It regular use is not as great as it would be. if it was my only device, I normally run a Desktop at home , but for the last few months that has been off line with a fault, another factor is that the XPS 17 Is not exactly a budget device so you do expect the best quality hardware, even with a consumable component like a battery

I'm thinking it's 100% availability of it's health. My battery's health is down to 25.191 mWh capacity where as it had 32.004 mWh designed when new.

mike54545457444 · Aug 26, 2023

My battery lasts less than 30-60 minutes even after a 3 year old computer, not used at all, health report shows excellent. It depends on the mAH and probably all battery time ratings are over-stated.

probe7 · Aug 26, 2023

newmann said:
My new dell xps 15 9520 uses windows 11 but this is just a general windows question so figure I post it here.

I have the laptop plugged into 2 external monitors and laptop is on almost all day. So when it is plugged in, it is 100%. I read somewhere a while back to make your laptop battery last longer, make it only charge up to 80%. Is this true or false? I heard that laptop batteries can actually figure things out so you charging it fully at 100% and continuing to use it like a desktop is similar to charging it max to 80%. Which is true?

How do i do this on my dell xps 15 9520? Do I need to download a dell application or there is something in windows 11 that does this? Also when you do it, you have to make sure your laptop is unplugged and make sure the battery goes to like 70% or so... then you start charging it then it will go max 80% only?

The one negative issue I have with this is if there is a power outage, then I would have 20% less battery than I do normally.

Do people who use their laptops as desktops and plugged in always do this or don't make any changes?

I like to add, that my old xps 15 9550 laptop, I believe I had to change the battery every 1.5 years or so. I believe 2 or 3 years is what is considered normal for battery replacement? The issue is my laptop is on almost all day. It is on probably 16 hours a day. I even had it on 24 hours for months and just lock it. So doing this would maybe increase my battery life for another 6 months? I know if you have your laptop on all day every day, battery will wear out faster than someone that has their laptop on say 3 hours a day etc.

I end up watching till it gets to 80% and then turn off the power strip its plugged in to.

probe7 · Aug 26, 2023

mike54545457444 said:
Why 80%? my app has a 50% charge to preserve battery setting. They say its even better.

How do I turn that on? I'll do it!

trevo · Aug 26, 2023

FWIW, In my Dell XPS Bios Setup, under the section entitled Power, there are all sorts of settings under battery configuration.

I selected "Primarily AC Use", which is described as " The battery life span for users who primarily operate their system while plugged into an external power source."

spapakons · Aug 26, 2023

trevo said:
FWIW, In my Dell XPS Bios Setup, under the section entitled Power, there are all sorts of settings under battery configuration.

I selected "Primarily AC Use", which is described as " The battery life span for users who primarily operate their system while plugged into an external power source."

This is for Dell laptops only and I think some HP. Generally speaking a laptop battery is misused (charged at 50% or more, connected to the charger for many days), that's why the majority of the batteries have limited Warranty of 6 months. More expensive models have 12 months max. After that it is not replaced for free, you pay for it. Usually an original manufacturer battery is expensive too. I always buy a third party replacement which might not have the same performance as the original but is less than half the price and certainly better than the old damaged battery. In rare cases the replacement might have larger capacity than the original one.

trevo · Aug 26, 2023

spapakons said:
This is for Dell laptops only...

Yes, the Op was specifically asking for help with a Dell Xps.

barman58 · Aug 26, 2023

Current Dell XPS Setting and Resultant Status of my XPS 17

TraderGary · Aug 26, 2023

barman58 said:
Current Dell XPS Setting and Resultant Status of my XPS 17
View attachment 69029

View attachment 69030

@barman58 That last image doesn't look like my Dell Power Manager. Is that a different app?

barman58 · Aug 26, 2023

Gary It is the My Dell App - My Dell Version 2.2..4.0, I seem to recall that it was pre-loaded on the Laptop when I bought it, and has been updated a few times since then - not sure if it's only available for the XPS 17 9700 that I have or is generally downloadable for other Dell Laptops

Try3 · Aug 27, 2023

The My Dell Application is available for Inspiron, G Series, XPS & Vostro from the MS Store.
Dell's direct download page [v3.0.447.3] contains a more detailed list of compatible models.

And they seem to mean what they say.
The XPS 15 9520 is listed and its drivers & downloads page includes a direct download link to the MyDell application.
Gary's XPS 15 9510 is not listed and its drivers & downloads page does not include a direct download link to the MyDell application.
That might or might not mean that MyDell will not run on a 9510.

All the best,
Denis

TraderGary · Aug 27, 2023

Try3 said:
The My Dell Application is available for Inspiron, G Series, XPS & Vostro from the MS Store.
Dell's direct download page [v3.0.447.3] contains a more detailed list of compatible models.

And they seem to mean what they say.
The XPS 15 9520 is listed and its drivers & downloads page includes a direct download link to the MyDell application.
Gary's XPS 15 9510 is not listed and its drivers & downloads page does not include a direct download link to the MyDell application.
That might or might not mean that MyDell will not run on a 9510.

All the best,
Denis

True! My Dell app is not listed for my XPS 15 9510. I then tried downloading the My Dell app anyway. When I tried to install it, I got the message that My Dell will not install on my 9510. Oh well, I've lived without this app until now.

I always add an extended warranty to cover accidental damage and before the warranty expires I buy a new updated computer. It's also nice that if I buy a new computer before the warranty expires, the remaining warranty can be transferred to the new computer. I've already been looking at the new XPS 15 9530. My next XPS 15 will again have an OLED display and will be upgraded to a 2TB SSD and 64GB memory.

barman58 · Aug 27, 2023

Gary, I can recommend the XPS 17 9700 as a good workhorse, but does help if it is tax deductible as a business expense :wink:

TraderGary · Aug 27, 2023

Nigel, I've purchased many Dell's in the past 25 years and I've always been more than pleased!

newmann · Sep 5, 2023

How do you get to that option of showing many different options of battery options for dell?

spapakons · Sep 5, 2023

This is no standard Windows battery options. It is a Dell power management utility. Go at Dell support site, enter your Service Tag or model and see if there is any version available for your model. If you cannot find any for Windows 11/10, change to Windows 8 or 7 64-bit.

Try3 · Sep 5, 2023

newmann said:
How do you get to that option of showing many different options of battery options for dell?

What exactly are you asking?
Are you asking about the diagrams in barman's post #49?

barman58 said:
Current Dell XPS Setting and Resultant Status of my XPS 17
View attachment 69029

View attachment 69030

If so then barman answered in post #51

barman58 said:
It is the My Dell App

and I provided links & an explanation in post #52.

Try3 said:
The My Dell Application is available for Inspiron, G Series, XPS & Vostro from the MS Store.
Dell's direct download page [v3.0.447.3] contains a more detailed list of compatible models.

Denis

zbook · Sep 5, 2023

For comparison these are HP links for each consumer and business laptops:

HP Notebook PCs and Chromebooks - Improving battery performance | HP® Customer Support

Learn how to get the most service and life from your HP notebook battery by following these industry-wide suggested best practices.

support.hp.com

HP Business Notebook PCs - HP Battery Health Manager | HP® Customer Support

HP Battery Health Manager is a BIOS-level setting available in most HP business notebooks. It is designed to help optimize battery life by mitigating the exposure of the notebook battery to key factors, such as high state-of-charge, that can accelerate battery swelling and chemical aging over time.

support.hp.com

thecaretaker · Sep 5, 2023

I can't speak for laptop batteries, but my EV I'm told to never go below 20% or higher than 80%. Same for my Sansung phone (and I have set it to only charge to 80%).

But what I do know is many lithium EV batteries have a built in buffer meaning the battery is actually larger than what it is stated to be. This is done to protect the battery. Different battery manufacturers have built in a different buffer size.

So, if all Lithium batteries are the same, unless you know what size buffer has been built into the battery, it is not possible to do any accurate tests.

It also explains why some folk who just leave their laptop plugged in allowing Windows to stop charging it when it reaches 100% find no battery degradation as you have not actually charged the full battery. If the battery has a 10% buffer, you have only actually charged it to 90% of its total capacity. Likwise, if you have it set to stop charging at 80%, you have actually stopped charging at 70% capacity.