Quote:
Originally Posted by kevinp
They say the new batteries don't have a "memory" like batteries of the past, but I'm not sure I believe that.
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Lithium batteries don't exhibit the "memory effect" which only occurred with Nickel Cadmium batteries and only in very specific cases. What everybody called the memory effect was actually misuse or natural aging/wear of the battery. The memory effect only occurred in NiCds if you discharged them to exactly the same point each time and then charged them back up to 100% precisely. This never happens in consumer electronics.
What will affect a Lithium battery whether it is Lithium Ion or Lithium Polymer is the number of full charge/discharge cycles, the age of the battery and if you leave it at 0% charge for an extended period of time i.e. weeks. A discharge to 50% would be roughly half a cycle etc... Once a Lithium battery has been manufactured, it will start aging. You can't reverse or stop this process so don't buy any Lithium batteries that have a manufacturing date a long time in the past even if it is new.
So basically, the answer to the question is no. You won't damage the battery. The only way you'd damage it is if you started charging it outside of the rated temperature range or if you leave it discharged for months.