Conserving battery power

Laptop battery lasts for about 1-hour to 4-hour depending upon the model. With better and efficient battery usage, an hour or two can significantly enhance the battery usage time. All notebook computers come with battery-saving sleep modes of Stand By or Hibernate.

• Standby battery-saving mode. In this mode, when you are away from the computer for a short time while working, open applications are stored temporarily in the RAM, and then the hard disks power down. The monitor switches off and the notebook goes into standby battery-saving mode. When the monitor is again used, it comes out of the standby mode quickly, the hard disks power on, the data from the RAM is activated, the monitor switches on, and the laptop notebook is restored exactly as you left it.
• Hibernation mode. This mode is to be utilized when you plan to remain a long time away from the laptop while working. The laptop stores the settings on your hard disk including all the open applications, turns down the hard disk, turns off the monitor, turns off the processor and goes for hibernation. The laptop wakes up on restart (soft reboot) of the laptop. The same settings are restored, and the computer comes to the same state as when you left it.

Few tips to conserve battery power

1. Adjust the monitor controls like color, brightness, and contrast. Dimming the brightness saves battery power.
2. Auto-save features in applications should be disabled, as they start in the background and consume a lot of battery power.
3. Avoid external devices like mice, monitors, keyboards, modems, optical drives, camcorders, digital cameras, and all other devices that connect via the PC Card slot, USB port, VGA port, and FireWire port. Attaching external devices is a sure way to drain battery power.
4. Avoid games. Games are multimedia intensive utilizing the maximum battery power.
5. Avoid music/ movie CD/DVD. Multimedia applications like music and movies consume a lot of battery power.
6. Desktop Replacement laptops need their batteries to be fully discharged and reinstalled every month.
7. Do not toss, drop, open, expose, mutilate or incinerate the battery pack. Do not expose it to water, rain, or moisture.
8. If the laptop is in use by an electrical outlet, then the battery constantly remains in a state of charging, and this reduces the life cycle of the battery. Hence, discharging the battery by using it may be done regularly.
9. Increase RAM memory, if an expansion slot is provided. This reduces the burden on the hard disk, which is power exhaustive.
10. New battery packs need to be charged and drained repeatedly (cycling/ conditioning), to improve their performance.
11. Nickel-metal hydride batteries need to be completely drained off and then recharged to maximize performance. Lithium-Ion batteries do not need conditioning and they do not suffer from "memory effects".
12. Play CD/DVD from the hard drive instead of the optical drive. You can copy the CD/DVD onto your hard disk and then run them. It consumes less power.
13. Remove the battery pack from your laptop, if the laptop is not in use for an extended period to conserve battery power and battery leakage. Store a battery pack in a fully charged state.
14. Switch off Wireless Networking like WiFi and Bluetooth. Laptops have shortcut keys by which the wireless networking features can be disabled.
15. Take care not to store your battery pack with metal parts, as this short-circuits the battery.
16. Turn off built-in wireless card. Latest laptops come with a wireless card that may be disabled to conserve battery power.
17. Turn off or decrease sound. Mute the laptop speaker volume.
18. Turn off scheduled tasks. Preprogrammed scheduled tasks run on time and consume battery power.
19. Unused software may be closed to save power. Similarly, unused PC Cards or USB devices may be removed from your notebook computer.
20. Utilize windows power options like standby or hibernate mode. Select a suitable laptop power scheme that switches off the monitor and hard disk of the laptop after few minutes of inactivity.
21. In case of refurbished notebooks or used notebooks, a new battery pack should be used.