[Malicab]

Probably been discussed before but these things seem to change. Used to be the case that to prolong battery life it was better to let it almost drain but some of my newer devices (power drill) say it is better to keep it topped up at all times. Which one is best for the PlayBook?

[zorecati]

It depends on what the battery is made of. The general rule is, NiCads drain to empty and Lithium Ions keep charged up.

[BB_Phoenix]

On you PB it is best to avoid deep charges as these will shorten overall battery life. Heat is a negative factor for batteries. So avoid leaving it in hot areas or deep discharges which generate heat when charging. I use a charging dock and whenever I'm not using the PB it goes back on the dock even if I have only taken it off for a brief time. One should however do a deep discharge once a month because this will recalibrate the battery monitoring and level indicator. I have had my PB for almost a year and my battery life is at 98% as indicated by using Battery Guru.

NiCad batteries are an older technology and deep discharges were recommended for them because of the memory factor they developed on shallow charging cycles. People get confused with this when using todays battery technology as used in the Playbook.

[Archi2012]

Thanks for the question and for the answer, it's useful information.

[Malicab]

On you PB it is best to avoid deep charges as these will shorten overall battery life. Heat is a negative factor for batteries. So avoid leaving it in hot areas or deep discharges which generate heat when charging. I use a charging dock and whenever I'm not using the PB it goes back on the dock even if I have only taken it off for a brief time. One should however do a deep discharge once a month because this will recalibrate the battery monitoring and level indicator. I have had my PB for almost a year and my battery life is at 98% as indicated by using Battery Guru.

NiCad batteries are an older technology and deep discharges were recommended for them because of the memory factor they developed on shallow charging cycles. People get confused with this when using todays battery technology as used in the Playbook.

---------- Post Merged at 01:54 PM ---------- Previous Post was at 01:51 PM ----------

Thanks, perfect answer. Exactly the information I was looking for.

[Chaddface]

I'm probably just going to muddy the water but here it goes.
You can't really "deep discharge" the PB battery. The PB will shut down way before that happens.
Saying you shouldn't run the battery down to prevent heat on the charge cycle is like saying don't run multiple apps because it will shorten battery life.

[Wasp14]

I have had my PB for almost a year and my battery life is at 98% as indicated by using Battery Guru.

I've had my Playbook for two and a half weeks now and Battery guru indicates mine's at 91%. Not sure if I should be concerned or not.

As for OP's question, I usually charge it when the battery gets between 45-60%, while letting it get quite low once or twice a month. I used this same strategy for my iPod (which is lithium ion) and its somehow lasted seven years so far.

[madmackie2]

During some research on Dell laptop charging systems a battery engineer said that the best battery life for lithium-ion is a 20-40-20 recharge cycle.