Pre-set discharging of batteries

A portable personal computer comprising:

• a power connector configured to be coupled to an AC-to-DC power adaptor and to receive power therefrom;
• a motherboard switching regulator coupled to the power connector and to a motherboard of the personal computer;
• a charging regulator coupled to the power connector;
• a battery coupled to the charging regulator;
• a processor configured to execute program instructions;
• memory configured to store program instructions and data;
• computer-readable data in the memory which is configurable to indicate whether pre-set discharging is enabled for the personal computer;
• and
• processor-executable instructions in the memory which are configured to control the charging regulator such that (a) the battery is charged until a fully-charged level is reached, (b) a time at the fully-charged level is tracked, (c) if the preset discharging is enabled, then the charging of the battery is halted after a maximum full-charge time period is elapsed, and the charging of the battery is restarted after a pre-set charge level is reached, wherein the pre-set charge level is in a range of 10% to 25% of the fully-charged level.

A portable battery-powered computing apparatus comprising:

• power connector means, on the portable battery-powered computing apparatus, for coupling to a power adaptor and for receiving power therefrom;
• charging regulator means, in the portable battery-powered computing apparatus, for coupling to the power connector;
• battery means, in the portable battery-powered computing apparatus and being coupled to the charging regulator means;
• processor means, in the portable battery-powered computing apparatus, for executing program instructions;
• memory means, In the portable battery-powered computing apparatus, for storing program instructions and data;
• and
• means for controlling the charging regulator means such that (a) the battery means is charged until a fully-charged level is reached, (b) a time at the fully-charged level is tracked, (c) the charging of the battery means is halted after a maximum full-charge time period is elapsed, and (d) the charging of the battery means is restarted after a pre-set charge level is reached, wherein the pre-set charge level is in a range of 10% to 25% of the fully-charged level so as to achieve battery conditioning.