Here are some tips on how you can make your laptop battery last longer. Some of these tips will help you keep your laptop going as long as you need when working. Some of the tips are simply meant for keeping your laptop battery from getting “old” over time.
1. Try not to play computer games, DVD movies, music or do any multimedia activities when you’re out with your laptop and using its battery. Remember that such activities are great battery drainers.
2. If you do not plan to use your laptop for long time periods, make sure to take out the battery pack.
3. Dim the brightness of your laptop’s screen as adjusting the brightness helps save power from your laptop battery.
4. Make sure not to expose your laptop battery to tremendous high heat or cold freezing temperatures. For instance, ensure that you don’t leave your laptop battery inside your car during summer. Remember that hot batteries discharge fast whilst cold batteries cannot produce power.
5. Power off your laptop’s Bluetooth and Wi-Fi (if you don’t need them).
6. Always plug your laptop charger onto a UPS (whenever available) and not to a direct surge protector or power outlet.
7. PC Card modems, optical drives, firewire and other USB devices or external device must be disconnected. Also, do not use an external mouse and opt to utilize the notebook touch pad. While you might not like it, for achieving longer work hours, At least keep this option in mind.
8. You can copy programs from CDs or DVDs onto your hard drive as doing so consumes less power compared to an optical drive.
9. When selecting a power scheme for your laptop, select one that powers off the screen monitor and hard disk whenever the laptop is not used or is inactive for 5-10 minutes.
10. When not in use, make sure the laptop is not plugged in an electrical outlet for long time periods as doing so keeps the battery in a state of constant charging up thereby reducing the laptop battery’s life cycle.
11. Laptop batteries made of nickel-metal hydride need to be drained completely at least once every month in order to maximize its capacity to store up a charge.
12. It is important for laptops to work as efficiently as they could. Take note that the quicker your hard drive functions, the less demand you will place on your hard drive and battery. Regular “defragging” helps the hard drive perform better.
13. The metal contacts of the battery need to be cleaned every few months using a rubbing-alcohol-moistened cloth. Doing so keeps the power transfer from your battery a lot more effective.
All in all, laptop batteries also need to be exercised. As much as possible, don’t leave a battery dormant for long time periods after charging. Make sure to at least utilize the battery once in 2-3 weeks. Li-On laptop batteries do not need to be discharged completely. Remember that discharging only applies to old batteries with memory effects.
