Although we all wish our laptop batteries would last forever, we know that’s really impossible. However, the amount of life you get from your laptop batteries can vary depending on how you take care of your battery. The amount of charge cycles you get before having to replace it can be anywhere from 300 to 800. In addition, how you care for your laptop batteries can affect the performance between charges. Since everyone of course wants their batteries to achieve top performance and last a long time, here are 5 great tips to protect and get the most use out of your laptop batteries.

1. Do not short-circuit. A short-circuit can cause major damage to your laptop battery.
2. It’s best if you don’t let your laptop batteries lie dormant for long periods of time without charging. If you don’t plan on using it for over a month, it is recommended that you remove it from the laptop and store it in a clean, cool, dry place. Note that the battery is still losing its charge and life even when not in use. If you haven’t charged it in awhile, you should break it in again. In some cases if you haven’t used it in a very long time you may even find the battery won’t charge at all and you’ll have to buy another.
3. maximum performance from your laptop batteries, you should optimize the laptop’s power management features before you even use a new laptop battery. This can reduce the performance of your computer, but if you don’t need the best performance it can be worth it to conserve power. Also you might want to set it up so that when the laptop is not in use for awhile it spins down the hard drive and / or goes into sleep mode.
4. Do not hit, drop, or abuse the battery in such manner as this could result in exposure to the corrosive cell contents.
5. Always charge a brand new battery fully before using it the first time. Batteries typically take at least 2 to 4 full charge / discharge cycles after that to achieve top capacity. Also, new batteries can sometimes be hard to fully charge at the beginning. In some cases the laptop’s charger might stop charging your laptop battery before it is fully charged. If you experience this, then just remove the battery, reinsert it, and continue charging. Sometimes you may have to do this a couple times during the initial charging phase.

A great place for finding out more information all about batteries can be found at BatteryUniversity.com. And when your laptop battery does die, be sure to dispose of it properly. A good resource for recycling your battery is Call2Recycle at RBRC.org.

If you plan to still use your laptop, you just need to get a new laptop battery. This way you’ll not only save money since you won’t be buying a new laptop, but you’ll also keep that laptop from going into the landfill anytime soon. So when you are ready for a new laptop battery, go to InfinityBatteries.com to find one of the largest selections of laptop batteries, cell phone batteries, and more at great prices. 1% of sales are also donated to nonprofit environmental organizations.