A question about rechargeable batteries

[davy]

I've been wondering this for ages. Somebody enlighten me.

Take an iPod for example. It's got an internal rechargeable battery that has a large but limited number of recharges in it. Will that battery last longer if I a) keep it plugged in whenever possible, or b) let each charge exhaust itself before fully recharging again?

[diesel_powered]

Apple says you shouldn't keep your laptop plugged in all the time, but nothing else. It used to be that with the old ni-cad batteries, you had to run them down completely, but I think the new li-ion batteries are much more forgiving. Basically, as long as you keep usin it normally, all should be well.

[FreddyKnuckles]

yeah 24/7 plug in is a sure way to destroy it.

[dieblucasdie]

What d_p said.  With something like an iPod or a phone, it definitely does not matter.  Any difference is going to be negligible. 

[donblood]

Depends on the smartness of the power management software/firmware managing the charge.  If the power manager is bad, you probably want to let it drain as much as possible.

But you don't know whether it's bad or not, so you should probably not care.