battery usage

[cgorac]

My T61p is always on my desk, so I see no reason to disconnect it from the power. However, I'm wondering what would be best way to handle battery in alike arrangement. With my previous Thinkpad, an R51, I had battery removed, and kept in my desk, but that appeared not to be very smart decision because battery is now (after 2 years sitting in the desk) unable to charge, and on the other side when battery removed, there are small holes on the back left uncovered that I guess are introducing dust into the case... So - would it hurt the battery if I keep it attached all the time (with power attached all the time too), or should I let it drain occasionally (how often?), or should I have it removed and recharge it occasionally (again - how often?)...

Thanks.

[aaa]

There are battery threshold settings in the IBM software. That lets you keep the battery charge at a certan percentage continuously.

Keeping at full charge hurts the battery. Ideally you'd want to keep it at 40%. If this is not practical for you, feel free to set it a 60% or 80%, as even those still help alot.

[cgorac]

There are battery threshold settings in the IBM software. That lets you keep the battery charge at a certan percentage continuously.

Thanks for the reply; what kind of software you mentioned above? (I'm on Linux with this machine...)

[Ivan Ivankovic]

There are battery threshold settings in the IBM software. That lets you keep the battery charge at a certan percentage continuously.

Thanks for the reply; what kind of software you mentioned above? (I'm on Linux with this machine...)

Thinkvantage Power Manager.
not sure if it's available on Linux though....

[aaa]

Under linux it's the tp_smapi driver. If you're on kernel 2.6.24 it's there already, otherwise you have to install it.