Getting the most out of your Laptop Battery
Every laptop owner wants longer battery life. Most laptop batteries will give you between one and two hours of computer use, some as much as 3+ hours. Getting the most out of your laptop battery requires using common sense and some slight adjustment of various settings on your laptop. With proper charging cycles, initial calibration, and other battery maintenance habits you can increase those times.
Here are a few factors that determine battery performance:
Battery Technology. Batteries for laptops (and Cell Phones, etc.) come in three main types:
Nickel cadmium (NiCad)
Nickel metal hydride (NiMH)
Lithium ion (Li-Ion)
Battery specs also are a factor. Some laptops have battery choices to allow the user an option to save weight at the sacrifice of battery life. Battery life is actually rated in “milliamp hours” (mah). An Apple Mac Book Pro battery is rated at 5400mah. A Dell Inspiron XPS battery is rated at 6600mah. Though both Apple and Dell have vastly differing 'mah' ratings, in theory, if Apple has a more efficient power consumption design, it could outlast the Dell.
Charging Habits. Continuously using the AC Adaptor for long (weeks/months) periods will shorten battery performance. Draining the battery regularly, followed by a complete charging cycle will help to extend the battery life.
Battery Age and Usage. An old battery just won’t hold a charge as well as a new battery. They do get tired and worn out and are easily replaced, in most cases.
5 Tips to help you get the longest battery life possible
Keep Your Screen as Dim as Possible – LCD screens are one of the biggest battery drainers. Adjust your setting so you have enough brightness for comfortable computing. During an overnight flight, for example, you can dim your brightness yet still see clearly. Most laptops have simple applications you can use to control LCD brightness; consult your user’s manual. Or look on your keyboard for symbols that indicate brightness.
Use Power Wisely – Turn off unused devices; each of them drains power. Bluetooth, Wireless are usually easy to disable. All Mac and PC laptops have power-management or energy saver options. When you’re not using your laptop, you should have it on sleep mode, or hibernate. This mode keeps enough power running to maintain minimal function, so you can resume full power with very little delay when you’re ready to return to your work or play.
Cut Down on HD Activity - You can cut down on how hard your hard drive must work by defragmenting it regularly. This can be done automatically at selected regular intervals once you’ve located the Disk Defagmenter in the Start/Programs/Accessories/System Tools menu and follow the prompts. On Macs, running Mac OS X, defragmenting is not an issue.
Disable Startup Items – Every time you boot up (on Windows), startup items load into memory, causing other open programs to add to your CPU’s power load. You can easily disable startup options simply by clicking Start/Run, entering C:\MSCONFIG and selecting the Startup tab, then uncheck things you don’t need. If you’re not sure if you should turn off something or not in MSCONFIG, go to the website 'sysinfo.org' and look it up. When you’re done with MSCONFIG, restart your computer. On a Mac, Go to System Preferences, select Accounts, then select your Account and click on the Login Items. Don’t forget to log out then log back in.
Keep Your Battery Fit! - Yes, you can actually "condition" your battery. In the first couple of weeks after you get your laptop, charge the battery to its full capacity, then discharge it completely, not just until the screen goes black…but discharge it to the point where absolutely nothing works. It is a good idea to make sure hibernation, sleep, and other 'power related' settings are configured to not interfere with the discharging of your laptop. Next, fully charge it again and don’t unplug the charger until it is fully charged. This way your battery actually learns how much electrical charge it can hold. Always make sure when you charge your battery that it reaches 100 percent.
* Many of these tips apply to other similarly-fitted batteries, such as cell-phones, portable DVD Players, etc.
