Battery/Lifetime

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Batteries

Summary: Batteries are consumables. 
Use them in any way necessary to be productive with your portable device 
and when they stop working, replace them.

It is almost impossible to have a conversation about portable electronics without someone mentioning battery life. This could mean:

How long can you work before having to recharge the battery.
How long you can own and use a battery before you have to replace it.

Today we are talking about number 2.

One of the most commonly quoted articles about batteries is

How to prolong lithium-based batteries from BatteryUniversity.com

Compelling reading though it may be, and it is:

If what you find in the article contradicts the information in your user documentation, then proceed at your own risk.

If your battery fails and you are looking to make a claim under warranty, you want to be able to say that you followed the documentation.

I doubt you would get very far if you said,

"I disregarded what was in the manual because I read something different on a web site."

"I did whatever... blah, blah because somebody (brother-in-law, co-worker, IT specialist) told me to."

Counterpoint

Batteries are consumables

Like the tires on your car, 
they will last longer if you don't use them.

I am always a little disgruntled about having to replace expensive consumables, batteries for my portables, tires and brakes for the cars and the like. On the other hand, that is just part of the ongoing cost of ownership, and given the relatively short life cycle of the technologies anyway, I don't really need a battery to last much more than a year.

It seems that if you use 'em - they eventually die.
If you don't use 'em - they eventually die.

If you run them down to 20% before recharging - they eventually die
If you keep them topped up - they eventually die.

If you take them out of the machine when running on an external power supply - they eventually die.

The only thing I have found that "everybody knows" about batteries is - they eventually die.

Modern charging technology found in IBM laptops for years (and I expect in most of our Tablets, does not charge the battery constantly once it is at capacity).

My overly simplistic view - if batteries are going to die no matter what you do, you may as well use them before that happens.

I know, I know... what is in the manual is probably vague at best. Here's a radical thought.

Do what you want.

Use the Tablet PC the way that works best for you.
Treat the battery as a consumable rather than a non-renewable resource.
Hope it survives the warranty period.
Consider yourself lucky if it lasts beyond that.
Make a claim if it doesn't.
Don't let trying to squeeze the last few charges out of the battery impinge on the way you use it.

A battery is worth what, 5 maybe 10 percent of the purchase price? In a year of ownership, that's nothing. Relax and enjoy the Tablet.

Links: