http://live.pirillo.com – Michael Trimm asks "Chris, I’ve had a Dell laptop for about 3 years. The battery life was 4 hours when I first got it, but now it’s a little more than an hour – any idea why?"

There could be a lot of reasons why your battery only lasts an hour:

• Did you charge the battery when you first got it?
• Did you regularly fully discharge the battery or did you keep it plugged in all the time?
• Finally, the battery is three years old: it might be time that you get a new battery.

If it is time to get a new battery, you may want to consider what proper care of a Lithium-Ion Battery includes. Battery University has a great article on how you can prolong the life of your battery:

Lithium-ion has not yet fully matured and is being improved continuously. New metal and chemical combinations are being tried every six months to increase energy density and prolong service life. The improvements in longevity after each change will not be known for a few years.

A lithium-ion battery provides 300-500 discharge/charge cycles. The battery prefers a partial rather than a full discharge. Frequent full discharges should be avoided when possible. Instead, charge the battery more often or use a larger battery. There is no concern of memory when applying unscheduled charges.