Can I leave my battery attached even if my X220 were to serve as a desktop replacement?

[alanbrenton]

My X220 is running Windows 7 and I noticed that if I set the start charging threshold low enough, the battery doesn't get charged when plugged in.  Kudos to Lenovo as I believe only Sony has a similar battery care feature on its Vaio line up.

If I only take this laptop out ocassionally, will it make sense for me to just take the battery off?  My only concern with this arrangement is that dust could get into the rear portion of the laptop because the battery housing is empty.

Or should I just leave the battery in hoping that the charge cycle don't add up over time and the battery quality will remain as if I had taken out the battery?

Again, my only concern about having left the battery out of the laptop is the dust that could get.  I'm using a docking station with it but this set up still leaves the rear exposed.

Thank you for any advice.

[jiv · Accepted solution]

No, do no take the battery out. Unless you are using the laptop for light tasks or using a 90W adaptor, the battery is necessary to allow the CPU to perform at it's maximum. The standard 65W adaptor that ships with the X220 is not enough to power the CPU at maximum speed. I'm not sure if this applies to the entire range of processors that the X220 ships with, but I now it is applicable to the i7 X220.

[alanbrenton]

Thanks Jiv. Mine only comes with an i3 and yes, I'm using the 90w adapter that came with the docking station.

What you mentioned makes sense but I doubt that leaving the battery will not take toll eventually unless Lenovo's power manager as well as hardware is really smart enough to bypass and prevent the battery from being trickled charged by the ac adapter.

[jiv]

This is a very old debate. Many people have said it does not affect the battery and just as many have said it does. I have not managed to find conclusive proof of either. If you ask me though, I'd say it does. Since you have a 90W adaptor, I don't see any harm in removing the battery as long as your AC supply is reliable.