How to Get the Most Out of Your Laptop Computer Batteries

1. Turn down the brightness on your monitor. - Seriously, your computer is not a sunlamp. I've seen people using laptops where the monitor is turned all the way up until they're getting a tan from using it. Your screen should have the brightness turned down until you can just read the text.

2. Minimize external devices. - Whenever you aren't using something external, unplug it. This goes for USB and PC-Cards, EVDO cards, USB mouse and printer, and anything else plugged in. It pulls power, even when you're not using it.

3. Strip unnecessary processes and programs. - Today's computer manufacturers are more extravagant with their pre-installed services than ever, but all of this extra functionality adds up to using more power. You can shut down tray icons you're not using, turn off WiFi if you aren't using a wireless connection, shut down the camera if you aren't recording or video-chatting, and close instant messengers, e-mail notifiers, and other extra background processes.

4. Defrag your hard drive on Windows. - This doesn't affect non-Microsoft systems, but Winodws still needs to be defragged at least once a week. Defragmenting the hard drive will result in quicker access times for all of your programs.

5. Cut back on the pretty graphics. - For instance, you can run hibernate instead of a screen-saver, and you can set the desktop to work in 16-bit color mode. Set your window style and theme to something simpler like a solid black background and plain styling. Yes, your machine will not look as fancy, but after all, you need it for work, don't you? When you're just doing something like editing text, you really don't need anything but a text window open anyway.

6. Consider running Linux. - Many laptops are now being sold with the Linux operating system, which has advanced to the point where any child can run it. The best distributions of Linux for beginners are Ubuntu, Linspire, and Suse, and these are all available from major computer dealers. What is the benefit of Linux? It's smaller, more efficient, more secure, and faster, which adds up to using about one-tenth the memory that Microsoft Windows uses! In fact, Linux is typically deployed in cell phones and GPS devices, so small are its requirements. Linux won't be for you if you're a heavy gamer or Photoshop user, but for plain web, office, web design, and email use it can't be beat.

7. Choose light programs. - Even if you don't run Linux, you can still use Free and Open Source Software which often runs much lighter on memory requirements, even on Windows. Use Firefox for web browsing, ABIWord for word processing, Inkscape and Gimp for graphic design, and if you're really feeling frisky... try out vi or Emacs for text processing! You'd also be amazed at what you can do from a command line, and the Services For Unix (SFU) suite of tools allow you to do just that. Even learning a DOS command or two for moving and copying files will save you a few minutes starting and navigating in Explorer.

8. Keep your battery in good shape. - Check the manufacturer's recommendation for charging cycles. Rechargeable batteries often need to be fully drained before they recharge, or they wear out faster. To prevent this, keep two sets of batteries and when you switch to a fresh pair, leave the old pair aside for a day to fully discharge.

9. Use your AC adapter! - This is so obvious, but so few people think of it. Whenever you're near an outlet, plug in and save your battery.

Filed Under: Batteries