Battery myth?

I have an older laptop, im going to be getting a new AlienWare m9700 soon though.

The first initial usage, drain the battery completely. Then charge it up fully. Then it doesnt really matter what you do. I usually have it plugged in if Im in the house, couch, bed or whatever unless im lazy. If im outside or at a friends house I usually run it without A/C adaptor and then plug it back in when im in the house.

Depends.

Look at the battery, see why type it is.

If it's Li-ion (Lithium Ion), they last longest the fuller the battery stays, so plug it in whenever you can (1)

If it's Ni-Cd (Nickel Cadmium), then buy a new laptop, because it must be over 10 years old. Even so, drain the battery as much as you can each time you use it before plugging it in (and make sure it charges fully each time) (3)

If it's Ni-MH (Nickel Metal Hydride), then either 1, 2, or 3, depending on how good the laptop battery circuitry is. Most damage to batteries comes from overcharging, so if your laptop doesn't cut off the trickle charge once the battery is full, i'd suggest 3, or even 2 (but that means that a power cut will kill your work.)

Also, some laptops won't let you run without the battery out and the AC in, i know my gf's dell 1150 won't. That's probably a sign that it doesn't cut off the trickle charge when the battery's full. So, ironically, if you can run your laptop without the battery, you don't have to.

hope that helps.