Battery total lifespan

[Per Kjellqvist]

Batteries and charging has been on the agenda lately because of the known sleep problems with the new Intel chip used in among others the Surface Book. With the new bios update that is hopefully fixed.

This message is not about the battery charge cycle but about the overall lifespan of the batteries found in Surface devices.

In all other laptops I have had over the years I had to buy new batteries after sometimes as little as one year. My concern with my new Surface Book is that I can't just buy new batteries and easily swap them out.

Any comments, suggestions, answers to the following thoughts are most welcome:

Has Microsoft indicated any approximate total lifespan on the Surface batteries?

I use my Surface Book connected to power most of the time. With older laptops I would then just remove the batteries to prolong their lifetime. This is now not possible.
- Is it better to regularly unplug the power and run on battery to "cycle" the battery?
- If so, how much should they typically be discharged?

I have been a full time sailor for many years and with wet cell batteries I have found that you can make them last up to a decade by making sure that they very rarely fall below around 75% charge. The more they are further discharged the shorter their lifespan.

Is there a way to change the batteries in a Surface Book?

 

[zerospace-net]

Considering that the Surface is a sealed device, you're probably not going to be changing the battery yourself. The Surface Pro 3 got a horrible score from ifixit for repairability because it was so difficult to disassemble. That said, I have owned 4 Surface devices over the past few years -- Surface RT, Surface 2, Surface Pro 3 and now a Surface Book. On none have I ever experienced a problem with a significant decline in battery performance, even after a year of constant, daily use. My Pro 3 is probably the best example of this, since it was my primary PC until I got the Surface book and I had it for over a year with no significant decline in the lifespan of each charge of the battery (which is amazing, considering that almost every laptop I've ever owned has had the same issue you describe -- needing a new battery after a year or so). I don't know how long you intend to keep your Surface Book, but I would not be too worried about the battery lifespan, based on my previous Surface experiences, but someone else may disagree...

 

[worwig]

- Is it better to regularly unplug the power and run on battery to "cycle" the battery?
- If so, how much should they typically be discharged?

No, cycling a lithium battery is typically one of the things that wears and shortens the battery life.
Generally, if you discharge it, you wear it out.
BUT:
Heat really is bad for them. Do what you can to keep the battery cool.
And, sadly, they tend to deteriorate a bit faster if you keep them at 100%.

Since, there is no practical way to 'keep' the battery at closer to 50%, I just leave mine at 100%, on charge.

I have an original Surface Pro. It is on charge nearly full time. On charge at home. I have a portable external battery pack for when I use it away from home. And I have an extra charger at work which I keep it on. It is seldom running on battery. A few month back I did cycle the battery to test it, and it showed 4% wear. Not bad for a 3 year old battery.

So, I will be keeping my Surface Book on charge whenever practical. And I do believe that Microsoft has put some seriously good quality batteries in these devices.
Basically, use it for what you want to use it for. Avoid heat, and avoid intentionally cycling it.

When the battery does fail, it is going to take a chain saw to open it up and replace it.

 

[Zohar_Dreamers]

But i guess the good thing about the surface book owners is that they can just replace the batter in the keyboard case. probably much easier process than to change the one in the clipboard.

 

[Per Kjellqvist]

Good point.
Also, the main battery is in the keyboard section which does not have the CPU and thus should not really get very hot.

PS In fact, one reason my wife chose the Surface Book was that one of our cats used her old laptop keyboard as a bed because it was always nice and warm. This is not the case with the Surface Book.

 

[peter leung 10586]

Good point.
Also, the main battery is in the keyboard section which does not have the CPU and thus should not really get very hot.

PS In fact, one reason my wife chose the Surface Book was that one of our cats used her old laptop keyboard as a bed because it was always nice and warm. This is not the case with the Surface Book.

surface books don't get warm on the keyboard side but on the screen side..

 

[zerospace-net]

surface books don't get warm on the keyboard side but on the screen side..

dGPU models actually do get warm in the back/middle of the keyboard if you're doing anything intense that uses the dGPU (since this is where the dGPU is located). I have played Diablo 3 on mine with it in my lap, and it does get warm while gaming ... just FYI.

 

[peter leung 10586]

dGPU models actually do get warm in the back/middle of the keyboard if you're doing anything intense that uses the dGPU (since this is where the dGPU is located). I have played Diablo 3 on mine with it in my lap, and it does get warm while gaming ... just FYI.

oic mine doesn't have dGPU..^^"

 

[orlbuckeye]

I wouldn't consider the battery in the keyboard as the main battery since it's not used when the clipboard is detached. So the battery in the clipboard is used whether you attached or detached. Also the DGP can be turned off and on. In the Nvidia software there is a setting that allows you to set your default GPU if you have the Nvidia card (either the integrated Intel or Nvidia). You can also set each app if you want if different from the default. The clipboard won't detach if an app is using the DGP unless you close that app either inside the app or with the task manager.

 

[zerospace-net]

I wouldn't consider the battery in the keyboard as the main battery since it's not used when the clipboard is detached. So the battery in the clipboard is used whether you attached or detached. Also the DGP can be turned off and on. In the Nvidia software there is a setting that allows you to set your default GPU if you have the Nvidia card (either the integrated Intel or Nvidia). You can also set each app if you want if different from the default. The clipboard won't detach if an app is using the DGP unless you close that app either inside the app or with the task manager.

And yet the battery in the keyboard is far bigger than the one in the clipboard. To me, it is clearly intended to be the primary source of power for the surface book or the clipboard battery would last longer than 2-3 hours on its own (I mean really, who buys a tablet/laptop device with 2-3 hour battery life?).