If you are like most people, you leave your laptop plugged in when you are near a plug. But according to the battery experts at Cadex Electronics (www.cadex.com) you shouldn’t be doing that. They suggest unplugging it when it gets to an 80% charge and waiting until you get to 40% to charge it again. This 80 to 40 is the magic range and it can increase the life of your battery by as much as four times. When you consider that the price of a new battery can cost over 200 dollars, you can save a lot of money.

Why the big differences in battery life? It’s stress on the battery. The higher the percentage of the charge, the higher the voltage level. Storing more voltage causes more stress on the battery.

Another source of stress for your battery to be avoided is heat. Be sure to keep your laptop as cool as possible. For example, don't keep it on your lap where it tends to get hot. Also, keep the lid open as much as possible.

Frankly, I wonder why computer makers can't add such a feature to laptops?

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