All lithium-ion charges must shut off charging once the cell is "full". They actually have to manage to the limitations of the least capable individual cell in a pack, so it's a little less than that for laptop packs.
Because lithium is subject to thermal runaway (i.e. the pack can burst into flames if not managed properly) you cannot just dump power into it without detecting full charge and shutting off.
You actually have to watch heat build up as well, and most (if not all) cells have a thermal sensor that reports to the charging circuit to avoid overheating the cell during charge or discharge.
On 10/09/2011 03:03 PM, Dazed_75 wrote:
> On Sun, Oct 9, 2011 at 2:47 PM, Joseph Sinclair
> <plug-discussion@stcaz.net>wrote:
>
> <snip>
>
>> Modern charging circuitry could account for this by discharging the battery
>> periodically, but laptops and other consumer-oriented devices generally do
>> not in order to maintain immediate readiness for on-battery use while
>> charging.
>>
>> ==Joseph++
>>
>> <snip>
> That makes me wonder if any laptop charge circuits actually do this and/or
> even shut off charging at some level.
>
> I know that my Lenovo x220's charge light goes out approximately when it
> reaches a full charge. I usually disconnect the charge once I notice that
> so I don't know if it is actually disconnecting the charger or if it is only
> indicating the charging is "complete".
>
>
>
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