How to (Properly) Charge Your Devices

Since there’s so much information out there about how to charge all of your devices, we have put together a few tips to help you get the best out of the life of your batteries.

Don’t leave your device plugged in for too long: while overcharging myths have been disproven with modern phones, iPods, and laptops, keeping the device dependent on a power source for extended periods of time will lower the maximum battery life eventually.  Keeping a laptop plugged in overnight twice a week won’t do much harm, but having it plugged in constantly will!

The Lenovo X1 Carbon ThinkPad only requires 30 minutes to fully charge.  If you need your laptop for a full day, plug it in when you get up in the morning and by the time you are ready for class, it is too!

Do turn your device off when you charge it: it is like a sleep cycle for the battery! All of the juice can be allocated to the battery instead of powering any activities being performed on the device at the time.  When a phone is being used while plugged in, the external source of power is what is running the phone, and the battery is only charged when the phone isn’t in use.

If you plan on falling asleep to an episode of Orange is the New Black on your tablet, plug it in!  This way, it won’t die on you in the middle of the show and can get a charge once the episode is over and it has “fallen asleep.”

Don’t wait until the device is very low to charge it: devices prefer charges throughout the battery life in order to “top off” and remain full. Plus, you will always be ready for a long time away from the charger if you take advantage of plugging in your device multiple times a day.

Stopping back at the dorm room for a 30 minute power nap to keep you going?  Give your phone one too and plug it in to “top it off.”

• bryant hercampus
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