phone battery

[johnny37]

I was told by an expert in PC World that if you leave your laptop plugged in all the time it damages the battery. Which explains why my laptop battery only lasts 10 minutes. What I want to know is, is it the same for phone batteries? eg When you leave them on charge all the time.

Thanks

[boxtops]

Mine switches off when it's full, and beeps to tell me. why would you want to leave it plugged in all the time?

[snags]

''an expert in PC World''

lol!

[EcclesCake]

In very, very simple terms you need to exercise your battery, i.e. fully discharge and fully recharge. Otherwise they become lazy as they remember that when not on charge you only use them for 40 minutes at a time unplugged and therefore they won't bother giving you any more power than that from a charge.

[boxtops]

That's a good way to describe it, eccles - I was told that it does any battery good to drain down completely from time to time.

[4candles]

Made I larf too, snags, though in this case of course s/he is right.

I've seen it so many times among laptop owners.

[deggers316]

depends if its a lithium battery they dont have a memory.

[stoofur]

How old is your laptop? I believe the expected life of a Lithium Ion battery is only a couple of years.

http://news.tigerdire...ll-harm-your-battery/

http://www.telegraph....aptop-plugged-in.html

[Old_Geezer]

I must be a lithium lifeform then.

[bazwillrun]

"''an expert in PC World''

lol! 2

ya beat me to it !

[EcclesCake]

Lithium Ion don't like excessive heat and it affects their life expectancy. If a device is left plugged in, especially a laptop with it's vent covered can get quite hot.

[johnny37]

Thanks all, but what I wanted to know is it the same for phone batteries? I dont use my phone much and it was constantly running out of charge every two or three days. That battery eventually got so knackered it would not even take a charge. I bought a new cheapo phone as it was cheaper than buying a new battery (and a £20 top up as well). I got into the habit recently of leaving it on charge just to remind me it is there!

[Old_Geezer]

I was under the impression that modern batteries don't suffer from reduced capacity when always charged. But i suppose, why take the chance ?