# Using the laptop while charging?



## Devon68 (Sep 6, 2018)

I want to ask the laptop users on their charging habits. Do you just leave it overnight to charge or do you continue to use it while it's charging?


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## eidairaman1 (Sep 6, 2018)

When they are unplugged their performance is reduced because it's trying to save the battery from draining too quickly when they are plugged in they just run off of AC power and it has no adverse effects on it at all also you get maximum performance when running on AC


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## BadFrog (Sep 6, 2018)

When I'm at my desk, it's docked into my docking station which is plugged into the wall 24/7. I have a Dell Precision M4800. Seems to work fine but my laptop isn't known for a long battery life. When I can plug it in, I prefer that as I can use maximum performance.


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## 27MaD (Sep 6, 2018)

If u r gaming , just keep it plug in , it won't last more than 2-4 hours anyway.


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## theFOoL (Sep 6, 2018)

You can use it while charging but it's not ideal to do so. Like with phones. You *Can but it'll slow the charging (Best to have screen off or laptop off while charging for it to charge quicker). Having it charged overnight should not harm anything as there's a chip that says stop when reached to 100%


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## Devon68 (Sep 6, 2018)

I was afraid it would ruin the battery while it's charging and being used at the same time.


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## theFOoL (Sep 6, 2018)

No No your good


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## eidairaman1 (Sep 6, 2018)

Devon68 said:


> I was afraid it would ruin the battery while it's charging and being used at the same time.



No, once plugged in it runs off of AC and at the same time charges the battery. AC is the primary circuit, battery is secondary.


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## Bill_Bright (Sep 7, 2018)

When all else fails RTFM (read the... errr... "fine" manual)! 

Any decent notebook charger is fully capable of charging the battery and running the notebook at the same time. At best, you will notice no difference. At worst (assuming battery and charger and notebook are working properly) as rk3066 suggested, it may take a little longer to fully charge the battery.


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## theFOoL (Sep 7, 2018)




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## John Naylor (Sep 7, 2018)

Devon68 said:


> I was afraid it would ruin the battery while it's charging and being used at the same time.



No not at all.

Most laptop charging circuits charge the battery at a quick charge setting and then taper off the charge as it nears 100%.    Newer laptop batteries don't have the memory effect that older ones did.  However, it is important that you periodically discharge you battery almost to a point where it is fully discharged.  This is a nevessary step to calibrating your battery to the charging system such that circuit know when it is getting close to a full charge and tapers off the last few % when 'topping off" where the use of the higher charging rate can reduce battery capacity.

Good reading and a great laptop utility here.

https://batterycare.net/en/guide.html


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## eidairaman1 (Sep 7, 2018)

John Naylor said:


> No not at all.
> 
> Most laptop charging circuits charge the battery at a quick charge setting and then taper off the charge as it nears 100%.    Newer laptop batteries don't have the memory effect that older ones did.  However, it is important that you periodically discharge you battery almost to a point where it is fully discharged.  This is a nevessary step to calibrating your battery to the charging system such that circuit know when it is getting close to a full charge and tapers off the last few % when 'topping off" where the use of the higher charging rate can reduce battery capacity.
> 
> ...



If equipped there is battery calibration, do note not all laptops have that. Known Brand that does- Panasonic


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## cucker tarlson (Sep 7, 2018)

I use my laptop as hat weight mostly, but when I do need it I keep it on charger as long as I can and keep using it.


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## John Naylor (Sep 7, 2018)

eidairaman1 said:


> If equipped there is battery calibration, do note not all laptops have that. Known Brand that does- Panasonic



Yes, that's why I always say "most".   In this day and age most do, and, given the audience here, it would be odd for an "enthusiats's" laptop not to ... back when i was paying attention, the low budget models would typically not invest the $0.79 in making this feature available.  We have had all our lappies custom built for at least 12 years and the instructions were incuded in the manual ... well the were back when we actually got a manual .

MSI does
https://www.howtogeek.com/172271/ho...-battery-for-accurate-battery-life-estimates/

Windows 10 has battery calibraion built in  so I would assume it's more of "a universal thang" with lappies that came with Win 10 ... but again, at that low budget price point, who knows ?  You can sometimes find the feature in the BIOS.


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## Bill_Bright (Sep 7, 2018)

I wish whoever decided to call it "calibration" didn't. It really doesn't calibrate anything. It just "synchronizes" the battery's charge and time remaining to the notebook's monitoring and status display. It does not affect the charge rate in any way - the battery's own internal circuits do that (as happens with all batteries). 

The problem is if the notebook thinks the battery is fully charged, it can shut down charging too early. That results in a reduced run time and/or the notebook shutting down when it still showed 20 - 30% (or more) charge left.

Note that batteries pull from the charger what they need, as limited by the charger's capability (just like a computer pulls from the PSU what it needs, not what the PSU can deliver). This is why a "trickle" charger can fully charge a battery to 100% as can a high capacity charger. A 100% charge is a 100% charge. It just takes longer with a trickle charger. It is the battery that prevents overcharging, not the charger. So if not properly "calibrated/synchronized" there is no danger of overcharging (assuming the battery is not defective). The only danger is your notebook running out of battery too early.

Here's a good explanation: http://www.rawinfopages.com/tips/20...p-battery-for-a-more-accurate-charge-display/


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## John Naylor (Sep 8, 2018)

Calibration is the correct term, it's the gauge that is being "calibrated".    This is no different from calibrating a thermometer or pressure gauge or any other measuring instrument which is "a means of adjusting a measurement device to get an accurate reading".   From above link ....



> Laptop batteries contain a capacity gauge that  allows us to know the exact amount of energy stored.    However, due to the charging/discharging cycles, this sensor tends to be inaccurate overtime.  Some laptops include in their BIOS   their BIOS, tools to  *recalibrate *this battery gauge, which is nothing more than a full discharge followed by a full charge.  So to *calibrate the gauge*, it should be performed, in every 30 discharge cycles, a full discharge non-stop , followed by a also, non-stop, full charge.
> 
> An inaccurate gauge can lead to the fact that the the battery capacity values are are wrong. The  battery may report that it still has 10% of capacity when in fact it has a much lower value, and this causes the computer to shutdown unexpectedly.



Additional information here
https://batteryuniversity.com/index.php/learn/article/inner_workings_of_a_smart_battery
https://batteryuniversity.com/learn/article/battery_calibration


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## Vayra86 (Sep 8, 2018)

Devon68 said:


> I was afraid it would ruin the battery while it's charging and being used at the same time.



No, but what CAN happen, is that your battery drains faster than you can charge it when it is in use. Gaming is notorious for that. If that happens it is extremely bad design.


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## Bill_Bright (Sep 8, 2018)

John Naylor said:


> Calibration is the correct term, it's the gauge that is being "calibrated". This is no different from calibrating a thermometer or pressure gauge or any other measuring instrument which is "a means of adjusting a measurement device to get an accurate reading". From above link ....


I agree that is how it is supposed to work, but it doesn't. And that's the problem. When you "calibrate" a thermometer, pressure gauge, a set of scales, speedometer, volt meter, ruler or some other measuring device, you compare this measuring device with a "reference standard", then you tweak/adjust the device to ensure 1 inch is exactly 1.00 inch, 19VDC is exactly 19.00VDC and 50°C is exactly 50.00°C, plus or minus what ever the allowed tolerances may be. 

Look at CPU and motherboard voltage and temperature sensors. Even on quality CPUs and boards, those sensors are cheap, low tech devices that cost a couple cents each - if that. Then monitor those sensors with HWiNFO64, AIDA, the BIOS, Speccy or [fill in the blank] and you will get different results with each. Why? Because none are "calibrated" to a reference standard.


John Naylor said:


> it's the gauge that is being "calibrated".


So what reference standard is that gauge being calibrated against? Some sensor that cost 2¢ to make? What reference standard was that sensor "calibrated" against? The gauge is not being "calibrated". It is just being reset and "synchronized" to reflect some other *un*calibrated value. 

When I am using my notebook, I want to know exactly how much battery run time I have left - especially now that my notebook battery is 8 years old! Yes, I realize that will vary depending on the task(s) I am performing now, but I'm okay with that. I also want to know exactly how long before I reach 100% charge - which, if I am idle should be fairly easy to accurately foretell. 

It may be more a matter of semantics but that illustrates the bigger problem - marketing weenies  using technically incorrect terminology in user manuals and product promotion materials - again.  

Calibration suggests some type of precision. Nothing precise is going on here. 

I accept that the expression "_battery calibration_" is a term that is here to stay. But just like "_wireless router_" it is technically inaccurate. The battery is NOT being calibrated, just as there is technically no such thing as a router that is wireless.


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## remixedcat (Sep 8, 2018)

Mine are mostly plugged in, I have 2 that are allocated for moving around the house and 2 that are more fixed workstations.


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