To Plug or Not to Plug

[Nish]

That is the question.
Random thought while working today. IT replaced most workstations with Laptops and I think probably everyone leaves them plugged in all the time unless taking it to a meeting.

How often do you have your laptop plugged in versus not plugged in?

[Jonnydread]

I try to unplug it once I'm at 90% or so, but I often forget and when I'm at the office it generally stays plugged in the whole time.

[BLachance75]

My work laptop has a big empty space where the battery was so it will only work if it's sitting on its dock. The battery puffed up a few years ago and I never bothered to get a new one.

[briaschu1]

A lot of new laptops and phones have options to limit charging to a certain percentage to help with battery life. I have my phone is limited to 85% and my work laptop limited to 75%.
My laptop stays docked the majority of the time and even when I do have to disconnect I tend to get a good 5-6 hrs of use even from the 75% charge.

[scottieb]

I say leave it plugged in. My laptop has been plugged in for 15 years and is still going strong. The battery isn't toasted either.

[Cdn_Cuda]

But… leave it plugged in. To avoid the one time you thought it was plugged in and dies in the middle of something important.

[coyote]

So,

I saw the title of this thread and thought William the Third was having an existential crisis over who he was going to ship his next "adult toy" too.

[Nish]

Funny... I may have done that on purpose

[k_obeastly]

Just got an idea for a unique barrel plug though I really dont want to make it on the lathe at work.

[William the Third]

I still wonder what the people who got one by mistake thought/did with it?

[Spider!]

Depends on the job and how nice the desk setup is. Before I retired I had two fat monitors and a docking station that made the desk the preferred work area. I had a lot of meetings.

When away from the desk, I would only plug in when I had to. If I had the monitors plugged directly into the laptop, I would have left it on the desk wherever possible.

[Cyberpyr8]

Mine stays plugged in all the time but it doesn't last on battery like it used to. But I rarely take it mobile so it stays plugged in and I hope that it lasts a few minutes if the power goes off.

[Grendel]

I leave mine plugged in 24/7 365 days a year (Dell Precision 5560 going on 2 years old) except when travelling. I do not get the battery life I did originally (maybe 70%) but it is still reasonable when I have to travel to the office.

[maggot]

I only plug when I need to, but my wife leaves hers plugged in all the time.

Wait, we still talking about butt plugs, or what?

[coyote]

I never stopped.

[rawbutter]

Leave it plugged in.

A lot of that old battery wisdom that we learned a while ago doesn't apply anymore. Most newer laptops have battery management software that handles that stuff for you (and if yours doesn't have that software I'm sure you can download it somewhere for free). So, leaving it plugged in or not shouldn't significantly affect the life of the battery.

Check your battery management software. Choose the option for max battery lifespan (if there is one) and then forget about it.

[Seajay]

If you leave it plugged in it should definitely last at least a year without issues.
Unplugging all the time is kind of a hassle but it could give you a solid 52 weeks before having any issues.

Heat is the killer, just keep your laptop elevated a little to let the fans actually work.

[William the Third]

Remember when batteries were actually easily removable? That was such a stupid idea, right? Thankfully Apple/Steve Jobs/Jony Ive were smart enough to take that horrible dilemma away from us, and everyone else was smart enough to copy that genius decision!

[JonM]

IT guy here. If IT set them up as workstations, I say just leave them plugged in. The batteries will inevitably swell and need replaced at some point in the next few years anyway. When that happens, let them deal with it. I deal with this kind of thing all the time at my job. Battery replacements are simple fixes when that time inevitably comes.