Solved How do I maximize my battery life?

It doesn't harm to take precautions. I also recommend to use the battery and avoid having it constantly on AC power, unless you do a long process that don't want to interrupt, such as installing many updates or upgrading to a newer version.

"how do I maximize the life of my battery?"

The capacity of batteries gradually reduces over time, that rate increases at higher temperatures and the qualities of materials and manufacture. You just have to hope that manufacturers put in quality batteries.
There are about a dozen variations of Li-ion batteries.

Those are well known factors. Charging to 80% for longer life is not really proven, charging increases the battery temperature, fast charging even more, so how do you separate the effects such that 80% is actually meaningful. Factors cannot be taken in isolation.

They are not on charge all the time, my laptop and phone have a hysteresis loop when plugged in they both only charge when there is a 5% drop in charge, be they set to 80% or 100%.
That is typical of modern hardware in recent years.

That's it really, your choices are charge to 80% or 100%, and normal charge or fast charge.
Probably the best choice for battery life is 80% and normal charging, however will you ever know for sure...

" The best thing you can do is to let them run down often and don't leave them on charge all the time."

You are quoting old info on trickle charging, memory effect of the now obsolete NiCd rechargeables.

"My internal battery has been there all the time while I've been plugged in or on powerpacks and it still retains 100% Full charge capacity / Design capacity"

The capacity of both the internal battery and the powerpack battery reduces over time you are not preserving the capacity (full or designed) of either, self evident surely. The 100% is of the current capacity that reduces over time.

Also aged or bulged batteries show false capacity. My smartphone battery showed 80% when it was really less than 50% and if I tried to play any videos below 50% I got a warning that it is empty and the phone would turn off! Nightmare! Thankfully I replaced it.

Helmut said:

you are not preserving the capacity (full or designed) of either, self evident surely

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The PowerCfg Battery Report says that Full charge capacity is 55997mWh and that Design capacity is 55997mWh.

Helmut said:

current capacity that reduces over time

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You are saying that time is a factor rather than the number of charge-recharge cycles.


All the best,
Denis

Try3 said:

The PowerCfg Battery Report says that Full charge capacity is 55997mWh and that Design capacity is 55997mWh.


You are saying that time is a factor rather than the number of charge-recharge cycles.


All the best,
Denis

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Yes, even a spare battery unused over a year might have reduced capacity compared to a new battery bought now. That said it's better to store a spare battery almost empty, not fully charged.

It is not a spare. It is in my computer.

spapakons said:

it's better to store a spare battery almost empty, not fully charged

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What data do you have?


Denis

I know, I just said that stored batteries don't last forever. They too lose their charges over time, no matter that they are used. So if you fully charge your battery and then have the charger connected, it will lose a little charge and the laptop will realize it charging it again to the defined max.

I gave this question a few days to generate responses in case there was a diversity of opinions and wow, there really were a LOT of differing views!

As try3 points out (in different words), there is no real way to be sure which is the best approach. How could it be otherwise? We just don't know enough because some of the information is hidden from us.

I was particularly interested in the HP articles about battery life since that is the brand I have so I'll probably be guided by what they say.

If worse comes to worst, I'll buy a replacement battery. I was happy to hear that battery prices are coming down. I've never replaced a battery on my own computers but I helped a colleague out once by calling around to get prices on a replacement battery for *his* laptop and was appalled when they wanted $250 (Canadian) when the Canadian dollar was still close to par with the US dollar. Mind you, that was 30 years ago....

THANK YOU ALL for your helpful and considered responses!

For some exotic models that the battery is not common with many models and rather difficult to replace, the spare battery is usually more expensive in the order if 60€+. This is third-party replacement as the original costs almost double. Thankfully this is the exception and most others are 30-40€, even those that you have to remove the cover to replace. Since a novice user will not be brave enough to remove the cover himself, he often asks for professional service and this increases cost.

spapakons said:

For some exotic models that the battery is not common with many models and rather difficult to replace, the spare battery is usually more expensive in the order if 60€+. This is third-party replacement as the original costs almost double. Thankfully this is the exception and most others are 30-40€, even those that you have to remove the cover to replace. Since a novice user will not be brave enough to remove the cover himself, he often asks for professional service and this increases cost.

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Yep, most newer laptops don't have the conveniently replaceable batteries like they used to in years gone by. It's probably been at least ten years since it was common for laptops to have a user serviceable battery.

On the good news front, it's usually possible to find a video with a detailed walk-thru of battery replacement for most models. It's not always obvious how to crack the case without taking screws you don't need to remove out and creating more work for yourself.

Some models require more than just removing the bottom cover. Thankfully these are not the rule.

spapakons said:

Some models require more than just removing the bottom cover. Thankfully these are not the rule.

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I did a Toshiba laptop a few years ago, you had to remove virtually everything, the display, and even the motherboard! I had an enormous pile of parts on the bench by the time I got the battery out!

gunrunnerjohn said:

I did a Toshiba laptop a few years ago, you had to remove virtually everything, the display, and even the motherboard! I had an enormous pile of parts on the bench by the time I got the battery out!

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I once changed the disk in a Dell Vostro model, the same. I had to take everything out to replace the disk. A few days later the customer returned because he had lost in a game and violently hit the laptop keyboard damaging the new disk! He wanted to replace it again! I had to persuade him it's not worth it and buy a new laptop instead (it was old anyway) to avoid going through all this trouble again!

From Today's PC Mag - 7-9 deal with batteries

23 Common Tech Myths—Busted Once and for All

San Martino said:

From Today's PC Mag - 7-9 deal with batteries

23 Common Tech Myths—Busted Once and for All

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Well, some of the so called myths they "bust" are only myths if you trust big tech not to abuse your trust. So tell me: "Do you feel lucky? Well, do you???"

Another myth they "busted" was for drying out phones or other electronics. They started good with the "rice won't do it", but then they advised you to use the little desiccant packs you get with many products. Not a bad plan, but they skipped a vital detail in their recommendation. You MUST bake them before you reuse them or they're worthless. About half an hour in a low oven will actually make them useful. I use them to keep my 3D printer filament dry, but they need to be "recharged".

The battery myths didn't really address anything we were talking about.

What do you mean? That's exactly what I said. Use the full capacity, no difference on battery life if you charge at 80% or 100%. Also the battery is not affected if you charge overnight since charging stops automatically when maximum charge is reached. Finally it is better to use the battery and then recharge, don't connect the charger over 30%. So don't over analyse it, just use the laptop and enjoy it. Leave the smart electronics care about the battery life.