Extending the Run Time of Your Laptop’s Battery Life
Wireless laptop computers are my favorite all time gadget. Sure I love my blackberry with its internet and email capabilities, but give me the big screen on my laptop any day. The only real complaint I have is that I often cannot go wireless as I need to plug in to recharge my battery. And I am not alone in this complaint.
Statistics say that the current average battery life for a rechargeable laptop battery life is 78 minutes. So after an hour, you need to start hunting for an outlet or you need to shut things down. This can be inconvenient to say the least. An hour is not very much time at all.
That 78 minutes is an average and can either be extended or shortened depending on what you are doing with your computer. If you are playing games, or watching a DVD or streaming video, you will use up more battery than if you are simply checking email. With that in mind, there are a few things you can do to extend the length of time you go between charges.
First, it is a good idea to keep your monitor as dim as you can. Brightness is one of the easiest things to adjust on your laptop. If your are outside during the day, you will need to have the brightness up pretty high to compete with the sun. However, if you are working indoors, you can usually adjust downward. You can also lower the resolution of your screen and limit your use of graphics.
External devices are another huge drain on battery power. Use your touchpad instead of a USB mouse. Any peripheral device will drain your battery power and it is never a good idea to charge your devices through your laptop when your laptop is on battery power.
Another thing to keep in mind is that multi-tasking uses more battery power than simply doing one thing at a time. Background programs also eat up battery power, so you should shut down anything that may be active in the background.
Easy to use programs like email and word processing or spreadsheet programs are more usable when you are trying to conserve battery than playing games. If you are using an application that has an auto-save option, turn that off. You will need to periodically save your work manually, especially as you get battery is running out of power.
Hibernate is a better option than standby if you are trying to preserve battery power. Newer computers also have options in the control panel which allow you to maximize your battery (max battery option).
Finally, if none of these things results in any real gain, or if you simply cannot stand it any longer, it may be time to consider a new laptop. Longer battery life is one of the key selling points today and some laptops promise as much as seven hours of cord-free time.