Laptops are extremely convenient to use. You can take them anywhere and get some work done, or spend some time surfing the Net, or even watching some videos or chatting to your friends. Many places today are laptop friendly, in that they have power outlets available as well as WiFi sources. However, sometimes you can't find an outlet, or can't reach the closest one to where you happen to be sitting.
For those time that you do need to depend on your battery, you need to pay careful attention to your battery life. If your battery dies while you are in the middle of an important conversation, or if you have several files open that aren't saved, then it can cause some serious trouble. And if you happen to be talking to somebody and get cut off, they may take it the wrong way and get angry at you.
There are few things you can do to maximize your battery life. These can help you avoid those embarrassing situations, and keep you from losing any unsaved work. Of course, there's that little battery monitor in the bottom corner of your screen, but it's easy to forget about it until your screen goes blank.
One thing you can do right away is check your power settings through the control panel. There are several options, designed for several situations. For using the battery, you can check the one that maximizes your battery life, or at least balances out your battery life with your processor speed. The fastest processor speed would give you the shortest battery life, and vice-versa. Just be sure to switch back into maximum processor speed when you are plugged in.
Another way to save battery time is to go easy on the processor and memory dependent software. Try and keep as few applications open as possible, and try to avoid using video at all costs. Video is a huge drain on system resources, and eats up your battery in a hurry. Streaming video, streaming music, and games are all resource intensive activities that should be minimized.
You should also keep in mind that every time you drain and charge your battery, the amount of time you get out of a full charge decreases a little bit each time. After about a year of intensive use, you will likely need to switch your battery. They are pretty cheap, so you may consider buying a couple of backups if you are going to be doing some extended work where AC is unavailable, like on an airplane or in an extended lecture.
With these simple tips you can be sure to extend your battery life, and make sure you don't suffer any unexpected blackouts. Your data will be safe, and your conversation partners won't be annoyed.
How To Make Best Use Of Your Laptop Battery Life
by: George Hutton
