Hey all just bought a Laptop Hp PAVILLION it's a good one! But one question this is my first laptop not to familiar witht them...

is it ok to have it plugged into tha ac outlet and still use it..? another words is it ok to keep it plugged in the wall outlet while its charging the battery while i use it?

and once the batttery is fully charged is it ok to still have it plugged in the ac outlet to the wall while i use it..?

Yes and yes.

To add to what frenat has said, I'd charge it fully first and then disconnect it and drain the battery without connecting it to AC. Then charge it again and do the same again, then connect it to AC as and when you need to, leave it connected for example it doesn't matter. You will get better battery life this way.

Yes thats what i was told to do charge it fully then recharge...only thing is no matter how fully charged it is it goes dead so quick im usually adding songs to my ipod..which the USB takes out more energy that way... if I run it just off the battey it can go dead SO QUICK!!

That's why I was wondering is it ok just to run it off the AC outlet..but do i have to keep battery in ya know...

2Pac, both my laptop's batteries get low VERY quickly if I just use them without plugging into the AC. I think a hell of a lot of energy is used so quickly that way.

I always use my laptops whilst they are plugged into AC and they have always been fine, on batteries alone it is quite a bit slower otherwise.

Not sure about just running it off the AC with no battery mind - tsk now you got me thinking

Nah I am not gonna try it....

No....

My laptop batteries (I have 2) are almost two years old. They are almost always plugged in but I run them both down to 15-20% once every month or two. After I recharge one I throw in the other. They still keep about the same charge as when I got them. Keeping them plugged in for the most part hasn't seemed to do any harm. I've actually gotten some older laptops in at the shop with windows 98 that still have original working batteries! I always want to ask them how they used their laptops but usually don't get the chance.



Usually people avoid it, not generally dangerous, but it can cause problems. Windows won't shut down properly if you lose power - say the cord pulls out or the lights flicker. The battery won't kick in. Files won't be saved. It's like *gasp* using a DESKTOP!

What, so you really can use them without the battery at all? I had no idea that could be done

Me neither, I figured the battery was needed to complete the circuit. Makes sense though I suppose.

I'm shocked about the Windows 98 laptops with working batteries, Episteme. Makes me question all the dire warnings we're flooded with about Li-ions losing capacity over time. Of course the dire warnings are warranted in some cases - like how spectacularly they'll explode if mistreated.

Yeah I have to call the HP 800 number.. just to confirm I suppose.. I fully charged my battery.. and the day is not over and it's at 15%...

So I have to run it off the AC outlet to the wall.. now

you'd think these battery life would last longer!

I guess you're referring to the battery memory effect, where you need to completely discharge then recharge a battery in order for it to attain full capacity.

I just did a quick search on google and it looks like the Pavillion uses a lithium-ion battery (if you want to check, look on the label underneath the laptop, to see if it says Li-Ion anywhere). Well, they don't suffer from the memory effect, so there's no need to do that. You can charge and discharge it however you like, it won't effect the quality of the battery at all.



How many hours can you get out of it? If you think it's faulty you should always be able to get a replacement pretty easily if you contact wherever you bought it, or some times a form is given to you along with the manual which you can mail to the manufacturer to request a replacement from them.

I guess I should say only that all of them that I've tried without batteries have worked. After the big Sony battery scare many of the laptops we got in had none, waiting for the replacement to arrive, fears of fires and all that.


It's crazy. I would have thought they were replacements, but they were equally faded and beat up to match the laptops! From what we get in of the older laptops only maybe four or five out of probably thirty in the last few years have survived, not a bad ratio really. They're all Compaqs (old HP)... not a surprise considering they were flooding the market about that time. I think sometimes people just get lucky. Hope I do. I know heat is a major factor when it comes to the longevity, and compaqs are very cool machines.


I'm just not sure what to believe when it comes to this one!

I learned all about the memory effect with the older batteries back in the day. But then learned the newer batteries don't have this effect at all. Yet we hear over and over when you get a new L-ion battery, charge it fully the first time - even from apparently good sources - places like pcworld, zdnet, etc. I don't get why the first charge would be any different and would love to hear a solid scientific reasoning behind this. Until then I guess I'll do it because it doesn't hurt... but I'll still roll my eyes and feel like I'm wasting my time!

If it wasn't a new battery I'd say it had run into a state of deep discharge, which would cause that kind of thing.

It's definitely defective though.

Regarding batteries and laptops: don't run your laptop plugged in without a battery. The battery acts as a stabilizer for any transients that come through the line and power supply, sucking the major part of the transient and moderating it. So, if you run with no battery during a lightning storm, you stand a very good chance of screwing your laptop.
I personally will not run my "*gasp*" desktop (laughs heartily to himself as he replaces parts and adds new things and takes things out and adds cheap memory and very large disks and on and on) without using a UPS, and I know most people think that's a joke. But, being an electronics engineer, I've seen and done a lot of research into transients, since my stuff must be stable and as long lasting as possible, I protect against everything possible. Your laptop power supply will do an adequate job of protection, but only if you have that battery within.

Lead acid (gel cell) batteries generally will outlast NiCd if kept charged. Gel cells will deteriorate more quickly if you actually use them, so it's better to keep your machine plugged in if you have gel cells. NiCd batteries are the ones that have memory, and you should discharge them fully every six months or so. I've done this with various electrical equipment, such as razors, phones, etc, and I have a TI SR50 calculator I got in college (1973, I think) that is still operational on the same NiCd batteries it came with, believe it or not. I've discharged the thing fully at least every six months.
The newer technology batteries seem to have less problems with memory and keeping them charged. Lithium batteries have a high energy density and should last for years with little problem, but if you use your laptop primarily at home or where you can plug it in, you can save yourself money by not replacing the battery if you don't need it. However, keep it in your computer for the reasons outlined above. The cost is small beside replacing the computer itself.

Absolutely incorrect. L-ION batteries do lose effectiveness over time (believe me I have had enough of them to realise this over the years they have been used in notebooks). If you use the notebook plugged in to the mains with the battery in situ, you will notice that after a couple of months or so, the power span of the battery drops significantly. As an example, most of the notebooks I use are Toshiba's all using L-ION batteries. On initial charge, battery life is over 3 hours with normal use. After 2 months of being used on mains power only with battery in situ, the power span has dropped to under 2 hours (using maximum power saving). Less than 40 minutes on full performance settings.

Manufacturers only offer a 6 month warranty on batteries because of this were the rest of the notebook components are warranteed for at least a year (usually 2 now in the UK).

I wasn't incorrect. I'm talking about the battery memory effect, which is when the life span is reduced as a result of the charge/discharge cycle; lithium ion batteries don't experience this effect.

I didn't say anything about their life span in general.