Indeed. But not the evil way. I'm very pleased with my N900 If I had made such a device the result would be: plug-in, switch-on, explode! So I'm very happy with what nokia shipped me.

Thanks for that, Comment 29 was especially helpful.

And keeps it cool! If it feels warm to touch, NOT GOOD.

bun

That happend to me after a "cat /dev/mem" or "cat /dev/kmem" (DON'T EVER DO THIS!!! JUST DON'T!!!). The device crashed, restarted and drained the battery so fast it was getting hot -_-

If this ever happens to you, just be on the safe side and switch it off, pull the battery out, leave it for 5 seconds, put it in and start normal.

The Li-ion batteries lose capacity with time, even if you don't use them. After about 2 years, they generally hold about half what they did new, so considering they are quite cheap, it's good to replace every so often.

It's interesting what's said about not discharging completely, That makes sense, although they won't be discharged completely even if you let the phone switch itself off - it keeps a bit of charge so it can still ring the alarm (I believe not doing that was one of the bugs fixed in PR1.1 (correction: bug #7893 has been reopened, it is not fixed)), and can still boot into a controlled recharging state. However, that is likely to get less reliable when the battery is a few years old, and may tend to discharge completely by then just due to inaccuracy.

My older Nokias actually say in the manual to discharge and recharge the battery fully a few times with a new device, as this is good for the battery. But it only says to do so for the first few cycles - afterwards it is not needed - and those phones shipped with an empty battery.

The N900 ships half-charged and may already be well conditioned from the factory, not needing anything. I did the full cycle thing the first times anyway, and it doesn't seem to have harmed, at least. I get 12-36 hours, depending on heavy or light usage.

I don't use the fast charger. I use a Nokia 950mA charger with small jack from another phone, and the jack-to-USB adapter which came with the N900. Someone else said slower charging may be better, and this is my operating theory too.

The "memory effect" is weak in Li-ion batteries (e.g. compared with some other types), but to the extent it is present, it makes sense to begin charge and begin discharge at a variety of charge levels. In other words, just do it when you feel like.

When storing it without using it for a long time, it is a good idea to have some charge in it rather than none, while being switched off.

A hot battery is not good. If it gets hot to touch, and it's the battery not the phone getting hot, it may be dangerously faulty.

Very cold is not good either (but safe) - they hold less charge when very cold, So if you leave it out in ice often, that probably lowers battery capacity. Consider keeping it indoors, and in a pocket when outdoors in cold places

There are simpler ways to put it in maximum power drain mode :-)

By the way, when you're very cold, a 100% CPU app + active 3G data turns the device into a great hand warmer. It's the perfect size and only a little warmth is needed to remove the chill, especially in a pocket. I was thinking of writing a "hand warmer" app, but then realised a trivial shell script ought to be enough when needed

L-ion batteries are all the same, so follow the general advice
http://blogs.techrepublic.com.com/helpdesk/?p=124

Avoid deep discharges.

Of course, if it is so cold that it freeze, it may bust the battery. But on the long run, a battery fanatic would store his/her battery in the fridge (NOT freezer!!!) to keep a longer life, I practice that too if I am NOT using the N900 for a week or so.

bun