New Delhi, Nov. 19 -- Think keeping your laptop plugged in all day quietly ruins the battery? You are not the only one. Many of us were told to unplug on time, avoid leaving it on charge and let the battery "breathe." Then real life happened, and the charger stayed in from morning to evening. Ask this question online and you will see the same pattern. One camp is convinced that constant charging kills batteries. The other says modern laptops are built for desk use and the charger is not the villain. The truth, as usual, sits in between.

The old fear comes from a different time. Earlier laptops could keep pushing power into a full battery for longer than needed, which is how the idea of "overcharging" really started. On today's machines, ...