To summarize a few things about laptop batteries: 1. It is a good idea (not mandatory) to charge your laptop when it gets to around 10%. This way, you\'re getting the most out of a full charge or charge cycle. Newer (Li-on) batteries should never be completely discharged. 2. It\'s OK to unplug the laptop when it\'s done charging and is at 100%. This is standard practice. 3. Try not to leave a charged battery dormant or unused for long periods of time. This can actually cause the battery to degrade slowly. 4. Ensure that your laptop stays cool or at least room temperature. Excess heat or temperatures can add stress to the battery and lower its efficiency. 5. It takes the same amount of time to charge a laptop battery, irrespective of whether the laptop is turned on or turned off. Circling back to your concern, when the laptop battery is being charged and the laptop is in use, the battery is not providing the power for the laptop. It\'s the power supply from the wall socket that\'s powering the laptop, and charging the battery at the same time. In other words, this doesn\'t ruin the battery in any way and is perfectly normal. Also, the charging time depends on the current battery charge. The maximum charge time is typically specified by your laptop manufacturer. Hope this helps. Let us know if you have any further questions. James

Great question! Your boyfriend is right. Batteries are only designed to have a certain amount of \'cycles\'. A cycle is a charging cycle. So the more often you charge it the quicker the batter gets towards the end of its usable life. The same goes for if you leave your laptop plugged in all the time. When the battery gets to 100% charge while still plugged in it will continually be depleting and then replenishing the battery until unplugged. Some newer computers have technology that manages this process better but not all. You can definitely use your computer while it is charging, it will just charge slower because you are using power while it is charging. This should not impact the life of your battery. Really it is up to you on what is important to you. Even if you leave your laptop plugged in for days on end and don\'t monitor its charge level it you should get a couple years out of the battery. So if you don\'t mind jumping through some extra hoops to get some extra battery life then great. But if you find that replacing the battery is cheap and even with not paying much attention to best practices with charging it then you might just choose to replace it every couple years.