Tuesday, June 16th, 2009

Simple Tips on how to increase the battery life of your Laptop

One of the biggest advantages of having a laptop is the ability to be mobile and with your important files and applications. You can do a lot of stuff with your laptop and carry it wherever you wanted to. Since your laptop runs on battery when there’s no power outlet available its battery can only last over an hour or two. So here’s an easy to follow tips that you can follow so that you can save energy and make your laptop battery last longer.

1. Disable unnecessary features: Windows Vista has got new cool features, but some of those features are unnecessary especially if you are just an ordinary user. Switching those application or special features when you don’t need it or use it can help you save a small amount of power and will also make your laptop run faster.

2. Computer hardware investment: If you have six cell-battery laptops maybe its time for you to upgrade your laptop. There are many makers today that provides eight or even 12-cell battery upgrades which will surely give you more power. Just by investing on the right piece of computer hardware for your laptop can boost your laptop’s power or energy.

3. RAM upgrade: Another good hardware investment is to upgrade your laptop RAM. Most laptops can be upgraded today and you can ask your dealer for some assistance if you don’t know how to upgrade it by yourself. When your laptop has low memory it will rely on virtual memory that uses the hard drive of your laptop. Once your laptop relies on virtual memory it becomes less power efficient. Although adding more RAM will consume more energy, it is still advisable to get more RAM especially when you often use memory intensive applications and software.

4. Disconnect peripheral devices when not in use: USB sticks, mouse and webcams are some USB devices that can drain your batteries life especially when you use it always. Disconnect these peripheral devices when you are not using it can help conserve your laptop’s precious power.

5. Turn off Wi-Fi: Wi-Fi or Wireless Fidelity is one of the greatest battery power drainers. When you don’t have any plan to go online you should disable it because it will constantly weaken your laptop’s power even if you’re not online. Turning your Wi-Fi off can save a lot of power that you can use for more important stuff.

6. Power setting modification: If you are running on Windows Vista you should take advantage of its outstanding power features. Tweak it according to your need and it can help you make your laptop more proficient not only in performance but also its life when you are on the move.

7. Set your screen on dim: One of the biggest power drainer components of your laptop is its screen because it needs large amount of battery power to maintain its clear and luminous display. By setting your screen a little dim alone can save you a lot of battery life. Set the brightness of your laptop screen to a low level just good enough to our eyes.

8. Clean your laptop’s battery contacts: To make sure that the transfer of power from the batter to your laptop more efficient you should clean the battery’s metal contacts every couple of months. Using a cloth moistened with rubbing alcohol will do the trick.

9. Set your laptop to Hibernate not standby – You can save more power when you set your laptop to hibernate compare to standby mode. In standby mode, you can instantly resume where you left off that means it still uses power while it is still on standby mode. Compare to hibernating your laptop which save your laptop’s state as it is, and completely shut itself down.

10. Keep the temperature of your laptop down – We all know that laptop and desktop operates more efficiently when it’s cooler. So it’s best to use laptop coolers and clean out the air vents of your laptop by using cloth or keyboard cleaner.


Category: Computer Parts
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