6 ways to extend your laptop battery
As I sit on this 5-hour flight from Toronto to San Francisco, trying to decide what I want to write about today for this Sync blog, I figured it would be a good time to quickly go over some things you can do to extend the life of your laptop battery.
As I sit on this 5-hour flight from Toronto to San Francisco, trying to decide what I want to write about today for this Sync blog, I figured it would be a good time to quickly go over some things you can do to extend the life of your laptop battery.
So if you find you’re not getting a lot of time out of your laptop battery, here’s some quick tips you can try:
1. See if your laptop has a “power saver” mode, which might turn off some features such as wireless technology (Bluetooth, Wi-Fi) and will turn your monitor to black if you leave it idle for a minute or two. In Windows Vista, right mouse-click on the little picture of a battery (or plug) near the clock and explore your options.
2. Turn down the brightness of your monitor as this can seriously eat away at battery life. Also, be aware the general rule of thumb is the bigger the laptop screen (e.g. 17-inch versus 12-inches), the more it will drain the battery.
3. Try not to use the DVD-ROM drive or use up valuable system resources (such as when playing a game) as they will reduce your battery life considerably. Want to get more out of your laptop? Play with Microsoft Word instead of Half-Life 2.
4. Unplug devices you might have attached to your laptop, such as an external mouse, webcam, USB Flash drive and so on.
5. While dual-core processors from Intel offer considerably more power than past processors, they are also miraculously better at power management, too (up to 40 percent, says the company). If you are in the market for a new laptop, consider picking up a PC with this technology under the hood.
6. If you like your existing laptop, however, then you might want to buy a spare battery. Many laptops ship with a regular 6-cell battery, which can result in up to 4 hours of battery life (depending on the application) but you might be able to buy an “ultra capacity” Lithium-ion battery, such as a 12-cell battery, that could extend your laptop’s life to just under 16 hours, says HP.
Have any tips of your own? We’d love to hear them!
I also have a comment. Don't use the laptop. That way, it won't drain the battery.
To: Not telling,
Not practical advise in this day and age, where mobility is essential to so many businesses and IT developers.
take the battery out if you're using AC power.
Most important for maintaining a good battery life – Cycle it!!! that means, once a month let it drain completely then charge it fully (overnight) before using it – do this regularly you will have a happy battery that gives you the max time it can
ABC, how will the battery charge if you take it out when the machine is using AC power?
Regular batteries do not need to be drained to keep their life, that's a myth. You can continuously charge your battery without first letting it die.
I use two laptops..One PC (junk) and the other a Macbook.. I let the battery drain down to nothing then charge it…Will this work for most? prob not, but it may help some folks… don't leave your charged PC on the charger all the time..It doesn't know to stop charging not like a MAC which shuts off the charger when fully charged..Exspecially over night..helpful?
oops sorry, i meant that if the battery's half used and u plug it into AC power, don't leave it in there cuz the battery gets used to using a fraction of the power it has and runs out quicker. recharge when its empty.
The easiest way i believe is to carry spare batteries around with you, incase one dies, personally, i carry 3 extra, i know that it is at times pricy to buy them, but if you want to use your laptop that much, then pay the price.
You do NOT need to do any of the following:
- fully drain the battery before fully recharging it
- remove the battery from the charger once it is fully charged
- remove the battery once you switch to AC power
Batteries are electrochemical cells – they do NOT have a "memory". I repeat, THEY DO NOT HAVE A MEMORY. Chemically speaking, they react (generate power) at the same rate time and time again, because the chemical composition remains the same.
Sigh…I am as confused as when I forst read the article – My son's laptop continues to run out and shut down shortly after use when not plugged into and outlet – frustrating – I understand that DVD's and game discs use a lot of power but the mystery continues…Alas!
Curtis, yes, batteries are electro-chemical cells. However, that means the more times you charge them, the less "life" (or ability to retain the charge in the chemicals) there is. It loses a little each time. THAT is why it is recommended that you use up your battery before charging.
It says so in my manual. And I think that would not be a myth…otherwise, why would that in my manual?
John, I hope that answers your question.
And for the person who said not to use the laptop…why buy one then?
Thank you for the straight forward answer…it has been an adventure following the many suggestions – not being that saavy I was hooked to each one until reading the next – The allowing tha battery to run down before recharging seems to be a common thread here – I will try that and hope for the best results!
Thanks!
if you know your batteries Lithium based batteries don't have memoory, nuckel based batteriesdo have memories.
For lithium based batteries you should consider removing the battery from a laptop when running on fixed power. (Some laptop manufacturers are concerned about dust and moisture accumulating inside the battery casing.)Avoid frequent full discharges because this puts additional strain on the battery. Several partial discharges with frequent recharges are better for lithium-ion than one deep one. Recharging a partially charged lithium-ion does not cause harm because there is no memory. (In this respect, lithium-ion differs from nickel-based batteries.) Short battery life in a laptop is mainly cause by heat rather than charge / discharge patterns.
For Nikel based Batteries nickel-based batteries prefer fast-charge. Lingering slow charges cause crystalline formation (memory).
A charger for nickel-metal-hydride can also accommodate nickel-cadmium, but not the other way around. A charger designed for nickel-cadmium would overcharge the nickel-metal-hydride battery.
nickel- and lithium-based batteries require different charge algorithms. The two chemistries can normally not be interchanged in the same charger.
I have found using higher capacity batteries is a good way to go, that way you dont have to comprimise your laptops performance.
1. if li-poly batteries dont have memory then why do the tend to not hold a charge after a couple of years… thats b/c they do have some memory and do need to be cycled every now and then.
2. you want good battery life do two things, I. see if they make a extended battery for your laptop (lots of hp's can have one), II. buy a external battery. using these two powersources (always drain external first) you can get over 12hrs+ battery life.
Thanks alot to all of you guys, those who knows and those who doesnt know what they are talkng about, cause without them some would not have replyed right? ^^
Special thanks to cleebie, it realy helped. :)