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Friday, May 6, 2011

How to Maximize Laptop Battery Backup

Laptops are important as they can be used anywhere and without power source available. But a laptop can soon become uninteresting if it gives you improper battery backup. So here are the tips to improve laptop battery backup:

•    Dim your screen - Most laptops come with the ability to dim your laptop screen. Some even come with ways to modify CPU and cooling performance. Cut them down to the lowest level you can tolerate to squeeze out some extra battery juice.

•    Cut down on programs running in the background - ITunes, Desktop Search, etc. All these add to the CPU load and cut down battery life. Shut down everything that isn’t crucial when you’re on battery.

•    Cut down external devices - USB devices (including your mouse) & WIFI drain down your laptop battery.

•    Run off a hard drive rather than CD/DVD – battery consumed when run on a CD/DVD is higher than that of disk.

•    Hibernate not standby - Although placing a laptop in standby mode saves some power and you can instantly resume where you left off, it doesn’t save anywhere as much power as the hibernate function does.

•    Keep operating temperature down - Your laptop operates more efficiently when it’s cooler. Clean out your air vents with a cloth or keyboard cleaner.

•    Optimize your power options – set power options from the control panel and see your laptop run more on battery as compared to earlier.

•    Exercise the Battery - Do not leave a charged battery dormant for long periods of time. Once charged, you should use the battery at least once every two to three weeks.