Question about Laptop and Battery

[Nee]

So I recently purchased my mother a laptop as her first computer and she's been doing well with it. Learning how to navigate the youtubes, browse, shop, etc. I keep a close eye on it when it comes to maintenance and all that but there's one thing I also do that I'm not sure I should do...

When i first gave her the laptop, I made sure the battery was full and then removed it from the laptop and told her not to use the battery at all unless she was traveling or going somewhere with it. I pretty much bought her the laptop as a desktop. She's listened so far and only uses the battery when she needs to, all other times she's on dc power. Now the question is.. Is this a bad thing? She hasn't used the battery in a long time, so will the battery die eventually despite it not being used? Should she use it every once in a while to keep it "in shape"? Any tips or advice on laptops? Or rage at me teaching my mother how to do things incorrectly? lol

Anything would help! It's just something that's been on my mind for a while.

Edit: For reference, this is the laptop: http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/searchtools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=2008030

[WaspishVyper]

Is the battery still in the laptop, if not a friend of mines laptop was damaged because when pluged in it was drawing enough power to charge the battery and the rest of the laptop at the same time. He never found out if that was the actual reason but it's what he told me and has since never removed the battery and has not had any problems with his new laptop (exactly the same model), first may have been a faulty unit I dont know. I have never plugged my laptop in without a battery and have had no problems with battery life over the last 16-18 months and its plugged in nearly 24 hours a day and survives 5-6 hours without being plugged its only really unplugged if i need it for school or when I travel, maybe twice a month maximum..

[Nee]

Hmm, interesting. The laptop isn't having problems so far but I didn't think of it that way.

Thanks for your input. I'd like to hear what others have to say as well.

[Guest]

You need to use the battery. At least 3 times a month you need to drain the cycle or in other words go from 100% to dead flat. Batteries aren't something magical - they're a chemical reaction. If you say only use 100%-80% or don't even use it at all what is happening is that other 80% is slowly loosing it's ability to hold a charge. So you go from having a battery with 5000mAh to one only 1000mAh because you let the lower 80% of the battery loose it's charge which cannot be replaced. It may still show that you've got 100% battery but in reality that could be 100% of 1000mAh, not 100% of 5000mAh.

Basically; 3 times a month - consume your battery and this is the same for smart phones, tablets and any other rechargeable device.

[glutesontheloose]

If what windspeed said would happen to your battery then you should try and do a Battery Calibration from time to time.

Battery Calibration is done by charging the battery to its 100% Capacity then let it drain until the laptop shuts down by itself and enters sleep mode. After that, you wait for atleast 5 hours for the remaining charge to drain (until the PC can't really turn on at all). Once done, you can now charge the laptop back to 100%. This won't increase the charge lifespan of your battery rather it would calibrate the chip that calculates the remaining capacity your battery has and would help you get accurate readings. You don't want your battery saying it is 100% when in reality its just 60% charged. You may do this kind of calibration in any rechargeable devices if you feel that your battery is already "fooling" you with its readings.

You should still use your battery from time to time to prevent it from degrading itself. Just don't overcharge it keep/use it in a cool environment.

[Nee]

Appreciate all the answers. Calibrated the battery like GTR suggested and will do it every once in a while to give it a work out.

Thanks, everyone!