Q: Best way to charge your cel phone? (always keep it 20%-80%?)

I bought a Walmart Acer laptop in 2007 for $250 and used it for 10 years. I also purchased a cheap, but legitimate, copy of Windows 7 and then later upgraded to Windows 10. The laptop still works today.

I've also taken several older Dell computers and done a few cheap upgrades, like CPU and RAM, and then installed Windows 10 on them and they all work fine. This includes 3 Dell Inspirons (1545 with Windows 7, E1705 with Windows Vista, 1501 with Windows XP) and a desktop Dell XPS Studio something-or-other that came with Windows XP. Actually the desktop I didn't do anything except find the right drivers for the Intel RST to fix a latency problem. These four Dells work quite fine without a hitch for things like streaming 1080P video off the web.

Apple is good, but there was one thing that drove me nuts about their portables: sharing files. I had a couple videos that were made specifically to share with others for helping other people in other languages or for learning them. Sending these videos to anything Android or Windows was easy. I could plug a USB cable into my laptop and transfer a video over, or put it on an SD card and slap it in their device or even send it over Bluetooth. And if none of that worked, I could always direct them to our website where they could download the videos onto their device.

But iOS?!?! Forget it! Back then I don't think Airdrop even existed, and I didn't have anything Apple anyway, so Bluetooth was out of the question. Nothing Apple accepts an SD card. And pluggin it into my computer and downloading iTunes would throw up a warning that everything on the phone or iPad would be erased if it was to be synced with my computer. And on top of that, anyone could view the videos online as long as they were connected to the web, but they couldn't download it onto their device because... Apple.

 

Yeah, back in my Windows days, I was a serious tinkerer. My 1st PC was in 1995, a Dell 486 with Windows 95. When I fired Microsoft in early 2010, I was still using the same computer ... sort of. It was on its 3rd case, probably 4th motherboard. Lost track of how many processors, hard drives, and video cards I'd upgraded. At the end it was a Core i5 running XP.

Those were frustrating times, indeed! It's much easier now, but to continue creating challenges for the users, Apple has removed all the ports from their laptops except USB-C.

 

TL ; DR
Don't sweat it, because it really does not matter.

For most cell phone users the battery will last longer than the phone....which is sorta the whole point.
Most of the apple worshipers could not tolerate being seen in last year's phone, and the cell phone providers usually will usually provide a reduced-price last year's model for the less ardent or more frugal new phone buyers.

Even Droids are abandoning user-replicable batteries since it's easier to keep a phone water resistant if it's all buttoned up.

Interestingly enough, since Android has successfully democratized the cell phone market, one can buy some almost reasonably priced new IOS phones (SE) in the middle of the market, and their new watches are actually competitively priced if you shop the sales and stay away from the pricier case material and SJW options.

These all use batteries that are more or less designed for a 3-4 year service life and they are software protected from over charging and excessive depletion....and since IOS doesn't have a "B" mode there's not much you can do to put more amps in the can, or take them back out.

.......There is nothing wrong with your television set. Do not attempt to adjust the picture. We are controlling transmission. If we wish to make it louder, we will bring up the volume. If we wish to make it softer, we will tune it to a whisper. We will control the horizontal. We will control the vertical. We can roll the image, make it flutter. We can change the focus to a soft blur, or sharpen it to crystal clarity. For the next hour, sit quietly and we will control all that you see and hear. We repeat: There is nothing wrong with your television set. You are about to participate in a great adventure. You are about to experience the awe and mystery which reaches from the inner mind to... The Outer Limits.

Note to millennials:
Next time you come up from the basement, ask your parents what a television set is.....


PC's are a different thing!
THEY do not have to maintain an IP6x standard.
They're not usually sat upon, drooled on by toddlers, left running in a car, or routinely dropped.

Since most people are leaning away from computers these days, Apple is still incentivized to maintain their planned obsolescence philosophy.
If your macbook needs a new battery?
They are HOPING that you drop in to a brick and mortar (where they sell NEW macbooks) or a veeeery handy web site for a battery replacement that is juuuuuuuust difficult enough for the average user not to want to DIY.
Outliers can (and do!) buy kits or pay a college grad working in a kiosk to replace the battery.

Other PC castoffs are buying <$200 chromebooks or going to the dark side with new Linux distros that are getting to be VERY intuitive to install and maintain.
For my own personal use I prefer Linux on "repurposed" equipment, although I plan to throw an $800 macbook at my CFO (military discount ) that she will be forced to use because.....it's $800.

I still use a Dell at work that I call the GTMO Special....one that I bought before a deployment there in 2002.
Of course....it's an off-web PC that I only use as a test set.

The original batteries have long since been......REPLACED.

 

True. But I still feel that the only perk to having a smartphone, besides being able to carry around bragging rights, is the portability. Other than that they're a worse deal than a computer, period.

Dollar for dollar, the tech specs between phones and computers are pretty similar, but phones don't last, not just for physical reasons, but for software reasons. They could make military grade unbreakable phones that would be two or three times the thickness, but people want something thin and therefore don't care if their +$1,000 phone only lasts a couple years.

They also have a horrible interface in my opinion. The screen is way too small even on the biggest of phablets. I get dizzy reading much on my phone because of the constant scrolling. Also a using a touch screen to type is not near as efficient as an actual keyboard and mouse. And voice to text makes little to no sense to me. Texting is for when I'm in a place it's best not to talk.

And then there's the productivity. I started out in the 8 bit era when you had to make your own applications. Windows is still very versatile. But even though there's a bijillion apps in smartphone app stores there are still things I can't do on a phone that are possible on a computer. What if I need to hook up any old scanner or printer, for an example?

 

That's why the computer market hasn't gone the way of the Allosaurus......quite yet.

Cell phone users justify their 3-4 digit prices (when you can get a Chromebook for $150) because they CAN surf, print, send and receive emails, video conference, take photos and vids, work apps...all on the fly....AND sometimes you can even use them as.....a phone.
One of the other things that I hate to love about the company that I love to hate is the fact that for many if not MOST people, a tablet WILL fulfill 90-percent of most people's computing needs....IF they are honest about what they spend 90-percent of the time doing on their computers.
Interestingly enough, tablets almost universally have "non-replaceable" (replaceable) batteries and they also have NO formal protection against dust and moisture. Like their cellphone cousins though, they DO use active battery management.
In the case of Apple....sometimes VERY active....
This SHOULD mean that the battery will last about as long as the tablet - especially given their gossamer-like construction.

Unless you buy your computer from a greedy evil company that's hellbent on squeezing every single dollar out of you that they can---BECAUSE they can, then as far as the original post question is concerned, PCs battery charging strategeries are moot because (a) most home computers spend much of their lives on A/C power or where it is available and (2) their batteries are easily replaceable because the computer does not have to maintain a dust or moisture resistant, nor a wafer-thin hull form.
If you live in a third world nation where power is unreliable and/or rolling blackouts are a thing, the battery only has to keep the computer alive until you save your work and bail out.

 

I think this is why there's a push for foldables, and some companies even are trying augmented reality glasses.

If you could make a true all-in-one device -one that's portable, does everything and does everything very well without drawbacks due to physical constraints- then you'd have the future product that will replace the smartphone, tablet and computer.

I like the idea of the Surface Duo, with the exception of the price.

 

Pretty sure I can't do this even on my iPhone 11 Pro Max! It's how I spend most of my day if I work from home. At the office I can fit it fairly well onto the 27" 5K screen I have there.

 

Agreed. My galaxy S20+ can do a lot of things that my home computers can't but conversely, my home setup can do a heck of a lot more than any smart phone. It's all about the right tool for the job.

 

Exactly. It just amazes me how so many of my wife's friends spend $1k on a hand held computer with built in phone and camera and don't have a clue how to copy & paste text on them.

 

LOL, so true.

It's also hard to boot your phone with a new distro on disc like Knoppix or Slackware, etc., to play or do hard drive drive forensics, etc., etc. ad nauseam.

 

Anything you can or can't do on one but you can on the other usually boils down to lack of software, or at times hardware. After all, all smartphones and tablets are just as much a computer as laptops and desktops are.

Picture taking, NFC, wireless charging and the like are all possible on a laptop. Printing, multiple displays, alternative operating systems and running disk drives are all possible on phones and tablets. It all boils down to what hardware and software is available.

It's kind of like having two pickup trucks, one Ford and one Chevy, but having a grill guard for the Chevy and a snow plow for the Ford. With enough fabrication you could get one to work on the other. Or if some company would specifically make a grill guard or snow plow for your particular truck.

The main difference between portables and "full fledged" computers is usually how the manufacturers portray them. Apple, for an example, plans on using the kind of chips they put in their smart phones and tablets into their laptops and desktops. Basically an iPhone an iPad and a Mac will basically be the same thing, just in different sizes. But, for an example, WhatsApp will only work on the iPhone. Why? Because it's a software lock. They intend to make the iPhone different. If they made them all capable of the same things then people would likely not see the need to own all three.

 

Agreed.

I prefer the comparison between my EV and my 4Runner TEP that we use all over the Ouray, Silverton, Telluride, Lake City, Somerset, Marble, Crested Butte, and everything in between area. Now if I could just get the 4Runner in hybrid or full EV (no the Cyber truck is too ugly)

I started testing and breaking software/hardware (with an invite and permission) when it was still just dial-up BBS's like Compuserve and Genie.

 

After 37 years spent deep in operating systems and building computers for myself and hundreds of others from boards and chips, I use three devices. My current job title is "Very Retired".

A 2-3 year old computer with a solid state hard disk, Windows latest and Office latest, and more storage than I'll ever need or use. This is my basement machine, It uses a keyboard and mouse. It has a high speed connection and doesn't move. Printer by its side. In 5 years, I'll replace. And perhaps its huge monitor. I don't play games on it. But for reading legal documents, doing surveying map research, examining multi page spreadsheets, maintaining my net worth spreadsheet, etc it is, for ease of reading and general use, the preferred hardware. Backup is in the cloud and everything is stored on its hard disk and copied as whim strikes to a memory stick. It sits across from a 75" TV.

A 4 or 5 year old Samsung Tab A 10" tablet. That is my easy chair machine. I read news articles, sort through email, read fiction, etc. on it. Maybe 3 years old. Sometimes I'll answer emails. I take it on trips. It has the same email, calendar, contacts that the PC does. Google/gmail/Office. Plugged in every night or when I'm finished with it. I do play brain games on it, not graphics intensive. Handy as my PC is on the other floor.

And for my pocket, a A50 phone that cost maybe $200 (provided only by financing by Verizon bought at Walmart). It is not the latest and greatest, bought last year when it was that year's budget model. It is certainly more than adequate for maintaining gmail, contacts, calendar. I take maybe a picture a week. Resolution better than the $900 digital camera I bought 5 years ago before a trip overseas. I don't bother to even carry the camera now. I snap most often to remember the label of the wine bottle whose taste I happened to like so I can remember to buy it again. It does not have a replaceable battery but its battery, in normal use, lasts two days. Always charged overnight. I'll read and cull/delete emails when away from the other two platforms, play solitaire while waiting in the doctors office, etc. Small keyboard, big hands. Long replies wait till I have at least the tablet. Big downloads till I have the PC. When it fails, I'll buy another cheap phone which will be more than enough for the way I use the phone. If it expires in two or three years, it only costs $15 a month for the new improved version. Actually mine cost about $8 a month for two years, my wife's is the this year's A51 $15 one.

A tool appropriate to its task FOR ME. Nice to be able to afford all 3.

I don't worry about the batteries. I charge them to suit my needs, I treat the tablet and phone as disposable items.

 

In a 'FAQ' on Samsung's website they say that you can charge their phones all the way every time without worrying about its effect on battery deterioration because their software protects the battery. So I'm guessing they aren't charging the phone to 100% either.

It may be that the NYT article may not be up to date with what the cell phone manufacturers are doing.

 

I'm stunned....

 

Remember too though, that the goal for manufacturers is to keep it running for two years, maybe three. Most people have moved on to another phone by the third year.

However, that trend is starting to change. More and more people are holding onto their phones for longer. If you're like me and want togto 6 years out of a phone (2014 LG G3 that I just retired in favor of a Pixel 4a) then it's best to take things a step farther.