Batteryuniversity.com has written a detailed piece explaining ways to prolong lithium-based batteries. These are the key points one can take out of this write-up.
1) A lithium-ion battery in use typically lasts between 2-3 years. Avoid frequent full discharges because this puts additional strain on the battery. Several partial discharges with frequent recharges are better for lithium-ion than one deep one.
2) The question is often asked, should the laptop be disconnected from the main when not in use? Under normal circumstances, it should not matter with lithium-ion. Once the battery is fully charged, no further charge is applied. 3) Avoid keeping the battery at full charge and high temperature. This is the case when placing a cell phone or spare battery in a hot car. Running a laptop computer on the mains has a similar temperature problem. While the battery is kept fully charged, the inside temperature during operation rises to 45″ C (113″ F).
4) Removing the battery from the laptop when running on fixed power protects the battery from heat.
The entire article can be read here.
