January 9th, 2009 | 
Author: BOb S asked:
I have a laptop and its first battery only lasted me a year before dieing permanently. I have a new battery now, and want to know what to do so it will last longer. Should I let the battery die every so often? Is it true that overcharging the battery is bad? Please let me know.
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You should always take the battery off your laptop if you’re plugging it in and if the battery is fully charge. Never leave the battery in your laptop all day fully charge and plugged in to the wall.
Usually a laptop battery will last about 500 cycle (charging/discharging = 1 cycle). So it’s best to wait until the battery is very low to charge it again. If you charge it when it’s half full, then you’re going to kill it 1.5 faster than if you were waiting for it to be low.
Another thing that is usually overlooked is to properly recylce your laptop battery. http://www.rbrc.org/start.php has rechargeable battery recycling information available and a locator to find recycling drop off points near you.