It goes as low as 80. Percentage might not be updated as needed, but the mV is, and the voltage (when unplugged) normalizes to about 80%. I routinely wake up to 85-86%

please do not advise to let lithium ion battery to drain empty, you might kill the battery

Draining a battery in a device is not the draining that kills it. Device limits the drain by itself. After that, the battery simply shuts down and refuses to provide power to the device until charged.

That's why old phones that shut down could be powered again for a while whereas Li can no longer do that.

The reason the device saves a few percent is so that it can still wake up on alarm and handle charging if battery is "dead".

If emptied to zero (battery cutoff at approx 7%) and the left discharged, then self-discharge will bring it below the threshold and destroy the internals.

You can't kill a battery by using until dead. You can kill it if left dead a long time, especially in a pocket, in heat.

that was my point. if you're using a more or less high quality product, you should have a hard time damaging the batteries.

Can we remove these "tips" that have no proper basis?

Or else...here's a great tip to get ONE YEAR out of your nokia n900 battery:

Turn it off.


Sigh..and they wonder about Internet usage and Darwin Awards...

the charge cycle thing i think only works with laptops cause most of them have multi cell batteries. but the N900 has a single cell so doing this charging thing might just do more harm then good.

You are correct in theory. However, unless you benchmark your new laptop, it will be equlized and calibrated in the first few cycles anyway, so, don't. You only knock cycles off your battery lifetyme.

btyers: most if not all the battery "tips" out there are bogus, hearsay and plain idiots. And I don't mean here, I mean in general, including "professionals" that work in battery stores. If you want decent advice, you have the following sources:

* Go to batteryuniversity (.com i believe, my battery is low). They have facts, tests, and data based on actual tests.

* Go to manufacturer sites and look for tips, making sure you have the right battery. There are tons of tips for old, mismatched, unused batteries. Panasonic, Energizer, etc had at some point very interesting white papers.

* Go to a site for people that deal in expensive chargers. Some have interesting info on test related to charge tactics, results from actual tests, trickle charge, etc. I like Maha, at some point they had charge algorythms listed.

* Scan forums. This is tricky, and you need your own sensor to filter stuff. Try to pay attention to documented, referenced posts, and stay away from one liners, lazy typing, hearsay. Too lazy to type means too lazy to research properly. As always with people, there are no rules. Sometimes there are diamonds in the dirt and sometimes useles homes with a frame around it.

* Finally, consider that the device you have is art. Many people tried their best to handle all situation, and tactics are adapted to normal usage. Don't expect miracles. Don't try tips that could harm the battery (heat, freeze, short, bypass, cycle, custom chargers, etc). If it ain't broke...

In closing, remeber this about generic commercial Lithium. A battery holds out for
* 10 years at 60% charge and 4 degrees Celsius
* 3 years for room temperature and low drain
* 1000 cycles
* 1 year at 35 degrees
* 3 monhs at 45 degrees

(all figures are approximate, have specific conditios and disclaimers, chemistry specifics apply)

So if you want to protect battery? Keep away from heat, count cycles and remeber that 3 years and 1000 cycles means about a charge day. That is your target.

Here's something interesting.

My N900 wouldn't charge on Tuesday - I left it on the whole night!

My N900 battery full bar status lasted almost 1 whole day on Thursday???*
*with a short charge from 6pm to 7pm just to test my wall charger. working condition since it did not charge on Tuesday night.

Which makes me wonder how inconsistent is the battery usage for the N900? Could we come up with an application to trick the N900 battery usage (since actual usage does not always equal battery status). Seems to be innefficient discharges somewhere???

I know how to make my battery last longer.
I take out the spent battery and replace it with a fully charged battery, Done.

I'm planning to buy a spare battery. Is there a higher capacity battery, and can we use on the N900?

I wonder who's smart idea to come up with so many different battery sizes
http://www.nokia.com.my/find-product...data/batteries