# Using laptop without battery?



## Smudge

I just got a new laptop (Dell Inspiron 1420).  I primarily use my laptop at my desk, but will be taking it away from my desk on occassion to use wirelessly.  When I am going to be at my desk should I use my laptop plugged into an outlet without the battery in it (provided that I have a full charged battery)?  And then use the battery only when I am not going to be near an outlet?  I sometimes go several days with just using my laptop at my desk.  Will I damage the battery if I always keep it in the laptop with the laptop plugged into an outlet?  Thanks


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## adarsh

Hi!
No it will not damage your laptop. Plugging it in and using it does not harm it in any way.


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## chriskmee

Well, i think what happens when you plug in your laptop is that it charges the battery up, but uses the wall outlet as power. If your worried about harming your battery, you can run your laptop without the battery in (at least i can with my hp dv9500t) if it is plugged into the wall. The nice thing about leaving the battery in is that if a power surge happens, you still have power. I think that is your battery is charged the laptop will simply "bypass" the battery. You should have a battery light on your laptop to let you know if it is charging.


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## Smudge

chriskmee said:


> Well, i think what happens when you plug in your laptop is that it charges the battery up, but uses the wall outlet as power. If your worried about harming your battery, you can run your laptop without the battery in (at least i can with my hp dv9500t) if it is plugged into the wall. The nice thing about leaving the battery in is that if a power surge happens, you still have power. I think that is your battery is charged the laptop will simply "bypass" the battery. You should have a battery light on your laptop to let you know if it is charging.




What is recommended to do in my case is what I am trying to ask (having a laptop that is primarily used in an office next to a wall outlet and only using it on the road on occassion)?  My current Dell, which is a few years old, will not hold a battery charge for more than 30 minutes when I unplug it from the wall.  My thinking is that I have "cooked" the battery by always keeping the laptop plugged in with the battery connected.  Thanks for your response!


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## chriskmee

Here is my suggestion. I don't know how leaving the battery plugged in all the time will affect it, but if something like a power surge happened at your office and you didn't have the battery in, i bet you would probably regret it. Also note that batteries do wear out. eventually all batteries will get old and not work well. You said the old battery in your dell is a few years old, so although leaving it plugged in all the time may have harmed it, it is also and old battery and may just need to be replaced.

my overall suggestion would be to leave the battery in and just buy another battery when the time comes. This way, if something like a power surge happens, you wont loose anything. If you are not worried about this loss of data risk, then i think you can just leave the battery out of the laptop and put it back in when needed, personally i like being safe, so i keep mine in all the time even though my laptop rarely needs to run on battery only.


Or, have one battery for the laptop when its plugged into the wall, and one for portability when not plugged in. That way you get the best of both sides =)


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## JamesBart

if im at my desk, ihave it plugged in and no battery and when im out and about etc i use the battery


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## Smudge

JamesBart said:


> if im at my desk, ihave it plugged in and no battery and when im out and about etc i use the battery



So do I have to power off the machine when inserting and taking out the battery?


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## speedyink

Smudge said:


> So do I have to power off the machine when inserting and taking out the battery?



I haven't been and there hasn't been any troubles yet.


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## Le GoogelGuRu

Smudge said:


> So do I have to power off the machine when inserting and taking out the battery?


I take mine out and put it in with the laptop on and I haven't experienced any problems. My laptop has been running for 13 days, 20 hours, 13 minutes and 48 seconds now.


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