Live long and happy -- extend your laptop battery life
While many of us now use a laptop as our primary computer, it's also true that even as our primary computer, we find ourselves using them away from a power outlet, which means we're running on its battery. Here are a few tips to help your battery last longer:
- Defrag regularly. By defragmenting regularly, your hard drive will do what it needs to faster, and that means less work on the battery. Better still, optimize your drive with SMARTPlacement (part of PerfectDisk) because that, along with single-pass defrag, will result in even faster subsequent defrag runs.
- Add RAM. Adding more RAM allows your laptop to use its own real memory, rather than virtual memory, which results in hard drive use and more power.
- Dim the screen. Dim your screen so it's just bright enough for you to read it without straining your eyes! This will result in less power being consumed.
- Reduce background programs. All those programs that can run in the background (Itunes, etc.) add to the CPU load and cut down battery life. If you're not using a program when you're running on battery, shut it down.
- Use your battery. If you leave your charged battery dormant and do not use it, you'll lose battery life. Don't go more than a few weeks without using its battery.
We'll take a look at some more battery-saving tips in the future. For now, start with these tips and keep your battery in top shape.
