Remove battery from iBook when not in use? (iBook)

[One Sick Puppy]

I will only be using my battery power when I'm at school, and even then sometimes I can sometimes sit beside a power outlet.

I've heard that these rechargeable batteries degrade sustantially in the course of a year or two of regular use. I was wondering what kinds of habits I can get into to prevent this.

I'll almost never use the battery when I'm at home since there is always an outlet nearby, and even at school sometimes I can sit beside an outlet. I wonder if I would do well to remove the battery when I don't need it.

As impractical as this might turn out to be, I'm a bit worried about getting to the end of my first year of owning my iBook and having to replace the battery because it no longer keeps a good charge, so I wonder if 1) this is something I should be concerned about and, 2) if so, what can I do to prevent the degredation of the battery.

Thanks!

 

[Cheryl]

Your battery should last 3 to 4 years with regular use. You can not run the book without the battery inserted, even if you are using the power adaptor.

What is suggested is that you pull the battery out when you are storing it for long periods of time - like the summer months.

 

[DeltaMac]

The main battery in any iBook maintains storage of time and date, and a few other settings for your system. If the battery is left out, you get to re-enter a few settings each time you boot up. Also, you lose the wonderful 'sleep' function, where you can leave an iBook asleep for days at a time, waking up in only a few seconds, without a minute or two for a full boot from power off.
The battery is a consumable device, eventually losing the ability to hold a charge. Apple may not replace one that won't hold a charge after the first year, AppleCare or not, so why not use a portable as a portable?

There are external battery packs, but less portability with that, too.