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How To Make Your Laptop Battery Last Longer
When on the go, it can be a
struggle finding anywhere to recharge your laptop battery. Any power points at
a hotel or airport are usually already in use and you may not even have an
adapter handy. Because of this we have compiled a list of useful tips that you
should put into practice that will help your laptop battery last for an extended
period of time.
- Alternate between the power
sources of the laptop. Avoid running it off the battery or adapter 100% of the
time. Use each method at least once a week.
- Look over the power options
in the Control Panel of the computer. Set the choices to a setting that will
turn off the screen and place the computer in sleep mode within 10 minutes of
not being used.
- Disable the Wi-Fi feature
when Internet is not being used on the computer. The wireless network card can
also be deactivated at this time. Keeping these on will allow the computer to
periodically search for Internet service, pointlessly wasting the battery
power.
- Choose a high quality
battery. Cheap batteries that provide a lower power capacity tend to stop
working faster than a high capacity one.
- Reduce the brightness of
the screen as low as possible. This can be changed depending on your location
however you should never use the full brightness setting if you wish to
conserve the battery.
- Limit the amount of time
you spend listening to music or playing computer games etc. Both of these
activities can drain a laptop battery quickly. Also, muting the speakers when
you are on a website that contains audio is also helpful.
- Recharge the battery
frequently. You should put it on the charger before it is completely drained.
Allowing it to go no less than 10% of power left will allow it to last much
longer.
- Do not allow programs to
run when they are not needed. Messengers, media players, and anti-virus
software can all eat at the life of the battery. Turn these off or exit out of
them as often as possible.
- Copy any programs that
normally use a CD to run straight to your hard drive. This will use less power
when the laptop can automatically run the program rather than waiting to be
able to read the disc from the CD-ROM.
- Remove all external
equipment when you are not using it. For example use the touch pad to control
the cursor rather than an external mouse.
Making small adjustments to
the way you use your laptop can contribute significantly to a longer battery
life. Practice these techniques when you are unable to charge your battery for
an extended period of time so that you will be able to lengthen the battery
life of your laptop. However if you find that the battery runs out too quickly
despite your best efforts you may have a faulty laptop which is why you should
take out laptop insurance to protect yourself in the these situations.
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