I am a little confused on charging the ipad, i have read so many posts and then the next poster disagrees. Seems like quite a few have said once a month completely discharge it, not so much for battery life but more for accuracy in battery display. Other than that i have just been using it and taking it down to 5 - 20% and charging when its convenient. Is that what the rest of you are doing?

Here's a couple of articles from Apple that will help:

Apple - Batteries

Apple - Batteries - iPad

I think what Apple is saying is that you can do whatever you want - and complete draining is not necessary - just make sure you're sanely managing your power.

With that having been said I'm one of those who is always plugging my iPad into a charger - why I don't know. I think there's some insane worry that I'll run out of power.

I can't comment on the accuracy issue, but periodically (once a month?) you probably should let your iPad completely run down, but you won't hurt anything by "topping it off" as required. They really haven't been out long enough for anyone to give conclusive long-term evaluations about the best way to get the maximum longevity.

According to Apple, "A properly maintained iPad battery is designed to retain 80 percent or more of its original capacity during a lifespan of up to 1,000 recharge cycles"

Of course they fail to say what a "properly maintained" battery is! The iPad hit the streets (in the US) on April 3 which means it has only been out a little over 110 days. Even if you fully charged your iPad every day, it would still be nearly 3 years before you hit 1000 cycles. Even when you hit that magic number, it won't instantly stop working but will only (theoretically) keep losing its ability to hold a charge over time.

I have said this in other posts, but in 3 years, I am pretty sure I won't even be using the iPad I have now so I am not really going to sweat it!

The Apple link above says:
"Use Your iPad Regularly
For proper reporting of the battery’s state of charge, be sure to go through at least one charge cycle per month (charging the battery to 100% and then completely running it down)."
I usually don't worry about charging till it hits 20% unless I know I'll be out away from power for the day. I do run it down close to zero about once a month.
These are habits formed from iPhone use, but had to carry spare battery for that powereater, though iPad is relatively conservative

C4, I always like you posts. Thanks.

I am just charging it as I get back to my desk. I prefer to have it topped off at all times, but out of habit from my old laptops I will most likely let it run down every once in a while.

New batteries do not suffer from memory issues like in the old days. Just like screens do not burn in anymore thanks to digital displays. But people still like screen savers. I say do what you prefer when it comes to charging. I will say that I do enjoy having actually having a device that lives up to its battery life claim!

I usually wait until the iPad gets between 50% to 25% based on usage to charge it up. I'll also top off if I know I'll be away from an outlet for a while.

One factor from the Apple literature no one mentioned is temperature. They make a strong case to use, charge and STORE the ipad at or near 72 degrees. Specifically, don't leave it in a hot car, and don't charge it in a case which would retain the heat.

Can't point to any studies, but I've always felt that more batteries get their lives shortened thru overcharging than any other factor. Charging unavoidably generates heat, especially once the battery is maxxed out. And the internal heat has a drying effect on electrolytes. Smart chargers are supposed to limit the degradation of overcharging, but nothing's perfect.