Monday, May 20, 2013
Increase battery life
Increase battery life
Well, having a laptop with a poor battery is really a pain. People usually prefer laptops over desktop computer due to its mobility, and with a poor battery life, you will not be able to enjoy your laptop experience very much.
So, having a good battery life for your laptop is really important, as is knowing how to “increase” the battery life. It`s not actually “increase”, but you will be able to make the battery last for the maximum amount of time possible.
In this article, I will discuss some ways by which you can increase the battery life of your laptop. Normally, surfing the internet or using simple applications do not much impact in reducing the battery life at a quick rate, but graphically intensive applications and videos would cause the battery to run out more quickly.
I will try to list and explain some ways that you can use to modify some options of Windows to minimize the power drawn from the battery, and hence, try to increase the battery life to the maximum.
These Power Options that are available in the Windows operating system will allow you to make various tweaks to the way the laptop operates, allowing you to emphasize on either performance or battery life, and make changes to many features. Making changes to these power options of Windows to increase battery life and get the most out of it is quite simple, and does not require much technical skills.
However, in order to know how to increase the battery life of the laptop, you should have a good idea how and where the energy is being wasted so that you can make the appropriate changes to counter these. And that`s not a big deal. In fact, if you remember correctly, I have already discussed about this in a previous post. You can use the Windows` Energy Efficiency test to acquire this information (it`s the second of the tips and tricks).
After opening the report, be sure to check out the CPU Utilisation section to see the programs that are using the most amount of power, and close the unnecessary programs that you are not using to save power and increase the battery life of the laptop.
So, I`ll now list some if the tricks and tweaks that you can apply to the Windows` options to increase the power efficiency and battery life of the laptop so that you can use it for some extra time while away from the main supply.
This is the first way in which you can change some options to increase the battery life of the laptop. You need to go to the battery icon at the bottom-right of the screen, right-click and select power options. A window will open where you can choose the Power plan, and adjust the screen brightness. The brighter the screen, the more the battery life is used up.
I have selected the Power Saver power plan increase the battery life. As you can see, there is a recommend power plan (Balanced). You can also favor performance over battery life with the third additional option. Some laptops come with another option, namely the Customised power plan.
Once you have chosen the power plan you want (in my case, it`s Power Saver), and can make more adjustment by selecting the “Change Power settings” (underlined in the picture). So, take your time and make the changes you consider necessary for better battery life.
You can also go to the options in the grey rectangle in the first picture where you can configure additional details relating to the battery life and how you can reduce the power usage of the laptop in certain conditions. You should note that the Sleep mode allow the laptop to enter a low-power state, that logs the information that`s currently being used. However, this information is lost if the battery runs out completely.
Under the Battery options in the Advanced options for Power options, it is recommended to set the Critical battery action to Hibernate, instead of Sleep in order to favor the battery life.
Another way to increase the battery life and make the battery last longer would be to open the laptop, make some cleaning, remove the dust,… This should prevent the laptop from excessive heat that is said to lower the battery life of laptops. However, be sure what you are doing so that you do not break anything or do things wrong.
If you are not using the internet and Bluetooth, it would be wise to disable the WiFi and Bluetooth options to prevent unnecessary power usage and loss and increase the battery life of the laptop. This can normally be done by pressing some keys on the keyboard, or you also disable it on the Windows.
Keeping the operating system clean and the hard disk defragmented is also a good way to increase the battery life. Many unnecessary programs that tends to slow up the computer is not recommended as the longer the laptop is being used, the more battery life is wasted. So, a good, rapid system (under the Power Saver mode) is usually better for a longer battery life. Organizing the Windows in a way that you can quickly access anything (basically, I think Windows is based on this concept) is also good for a longer battery life.
Additionally, you could buy extra battery packs, such as PowerGorilla’s PowerTraveller or the Lenovo Slice battery for Lenovo laptops that would extend the battery life by some extra hours. You can visit powertraveller.com to see the latest technologies and products available in this field. This may add some extra weight, but you can be sure to obtain additional battery life and you will be able to operate longer when on the move.
Now, with these tweaks made to the system, you should obtain some extra battery life. However, you should understand that each battery has a specific battery life, and this tends to decrease after some time. There is not such a battery that would last forever, or has a battery life that stays constant forever. With these tweaks, you can maximize the time that the battery takes to reach its limits, but it will eventually decrease with time.
So, the best option then would be to buy another battery, and/or use a power pack to add more battery life. However, you would be able to do this only once or twice, as the laptop might already be unusable by then, or it would be too slow to operate the new applications…. Well, that`s only a suggest, and normally the usual routine of most people …. You may suggest additional methods if you know more.
