Laptop battery longevity -- how to extend battery lifetime?

[theblue1]

When I was taking my laptop out everyday I made a point of letting it discharge completely before charging the battery -- and I was rewarded by battery sessions around 3 hours (down from 4.5 hrs when it was new two years ago, but still respectable, I think).


BUT... now that I'm at home more and not taking the notebook out every day I've noticed that -- if I haven't been through a discharge/charge cycle recently (ie, the notebook's been plugged in for days or even a week or two) that my first time out the battery life may be very short, indeed. Even under an hour, though usually closer to 2. But a big jump down.

If I put it through a discharge/charge cycle or two, everything's rosy until the next time it sits plugged in for the better part of a week [or more].


ANYHOW... now I'm bringing a new desktop box into my equation (it's under the desk, but you know) and so the laptop will be getting even less use, eventually.


I have two concerns, not surprisingly:

1) finding a way to make sure it's got a 'good' charge on it [of course, there's the option of simply running it through a discharge/charge cycle every couple days... that may be what has to be done]

2) extending the battery's lifetime, if possible [I've still got a year of paid warranty that I've never really tapped -- but, without checking the fine print, I'm pretty positive that batteries are excluded after a certain period.]



Any ideas?



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PS... now that I'm using my old 19" CRT again on the tower, I have to say I REALLY HATE the shiny glass on it -- as well as the convex surface which seems DESIGNED to catch glare at ANY angle... And THAT begs the question of what on EARTH the laptop makers are doing putting glass covers on newer laptops. It may help sell them in the store when Joe Double-Digit-IQ goes in and says, "Oooh, it's shiny and pretty," but, damn have you ever tried using one of those in daylight/outdoors? Meh. Even in my darkened room, the glare on this CRT is driving me bananas, already. Now I know why the laptop -- which I'd never thought would become my primary -- took overy from my tower and its 'big, beautiful' 19" CRT...