Working with the Surface pluged to the wall (Electricity) all the time

[iGalileo]

Hello,
I'm using my surface in lieu of my work issued notebook, and I'm loving it. My notebook stays off must of the time. As I am working on the surface in a desk all the time, I found that once I connect the charger to the wall, I leave the connector plugged to the surface, like any other PC. I was wondering if this is harmful to the battery, as some phones that when they reach 100% they stop charging until 95% and then continue to 100% and so on. In this case its not good to leave them connected. But in the case of notebooks, they simply stop charging and get their energy from the charger directly. In this last scenario, it is good for the battery to keep the notebook plugged as the battery will not waste cycles.
I know this is a touchy topic to many People and everybody has a different opinion, Is there any body out there with specific knowledge pertaining the Surface?
Thanks,
Galileo

 

[J515OP]

Good question and I don't think the Surface has been out long enough for anybody to know. I am not aware of anything in the specs to indicate either way, so I have a more philosophical answer for you. The main purpose of the Surface is to use it the way that is most useful to you. If that happens be plugged in and degrades the battery, so be it. Whether you are using the battery plugged in or unplugged it is going to degrade over time anyway. As long as you are happy with getting use out of your Surface go for it. I suspect that either way the hardware of the Surface will feel outdated before the battery is no longer useful.

JP

 

[MSurfaceWA]

I can't say with the Surface with 100% certainty, but other tabs (iPad, Kindle Fire, Nexus) all have technology that when the battery reaches "full" the monitoring circuits cut off the power to the batteries. If its always plugged in it will go from this state of power on and off to the batteries, to stop them from being overcharged. I would be very surprised if Microsoft doesn't do something along the same lines to protect the battery, so I would assume you are safe. I think as a good precaution, you should always fully charge the unit and fully drain it at least once a month. My 2 cents.

 

[Russ]

Galileo --

That is the battery myth that refuses to die. There were problems like that with the old rechargeable NiCad batteries, but no more. I leave mine plugged in all the time unless I'm carrying it around. As MSurface pointed out above, the monitoring circuits keep the battery from being overcharged.

Regards,
Russ

 

[ctitanic]

As far as I know that's a myth. Nothing will happen to your RT. I have been using my iPad in the way you are describing for more than a year and it still a happy camper.
Sent from my Windows 8 device using Board Express Pro

 

[iGalileo]

Great, thanks everybody for your answers.
Like JP said, I will use it plugged or unplugged and not worry about it.
Galileo.

 

[archapacman]

The only thing you have to worry about is it heating up. I was playing a game with it plugged in and it heated up after 3 hours so I stopped.

 

[joemader]

This has been a big worry for me too. I used to use my laptop all the time plugged in and now it will shut down if you unplug it. I'm been nervously charging my surface for an hour or two and then unplugging before bed.

I will now charge it all night like my iphone. Thanks for this post!