Being fully charged and plugged in question...

[jtuck82]

I want to start by saying I've owned the SP1, SP2, and now have the SP3. On my SP3, when I'm fully charged is it ok to leave it plugged in or is it overcharging the battery, and I need to unplug? I ask this because I got really nice battery life on my SP2 in sleep and it would last for like a month at a time. There is no way my SP3 is getting this kind of battery life while in sleep mode. It's not horrible, but I guess its this connected standby stuff that I don't know if I like or not lol. Anyways... I really am enjoying my SP3 and was just curious about leaving it plugged in. Whats everyone else do, especially just sitting at home browsing and such?

 

[malberttoo]

I'm waiting until Microsoft gets the WiFi issues resolved. I think that has a lot to do with getting poor battery life while in sleep mode.

 

[jnjroach]

You can leave it plugged in as long as you allow them to discharge to 10% once a month....

http://www.microsoft.com/surface/en-ie/support/hardware-and-drivers/battery-and-power-pro

 

[jtuck82]

You can leave it plugged in as long as you allow them to discharge to 10% once a month....

http://www.microsoft.com/surface/en-ie/support/hardware-and-drivers/battery-and-power-pro

Wow thank you! I had no idea, I thought I needed to let it drain every time to around 10% or so then re-charge. Didn't know that I could just do that once a month. Very nice!

 

[TunaSurface]

Thanks for the information.

 

[wynand32]

I always find it fascinating how many different theories there are about how best to maximize the lifespan of lithium ion batteries. It's interesting that Microsoft says to discharge once a month--Apple used to say that about their MacBook batteries, but stopped and now say that no discharges are required.

I do follow Apple's general advice, though, and try not to discharge my devices (including the SP3) lower than 60% or so before plugging in. They say to use them daily on battery power for some decent amount of time (don't let them sit in a fully or partially charged state for too long), but then otherwise it's fine to keep them plugged in (while using or idle). Batteries today should be intelligent enough not to continue charging once they hit 100% (or, like Apple does on some devices, to run down to below 95% and then charge up again).

Otherwise, I say don't fret it. Your battery won't last for decades without degrading no matter what you do, and if one spends one's time worrying about the battery, then they won't enjoy using the devices.