subject: How To Obtain The Most Out Of Your Laptop Battery [print this page] How To Obtain The Most Out Of Your Laptop Battery
If you have a laptop, then you know how convenient it is. You can take it anywhere, and do some work, play some games, or chat with your friends. One of the good things about many places you see people using laptops these days is that you can usually find an electrical outlet to plug into. That's great if you can find it, but sometimes you can't. For those time that you do need to depend on your battery, you need to pay careful attention to your battery life. If your battery dies while you are in the middle of an important conversation, or if you have several files open that aren't saved, then it can cause some serious trouble. And if you happen to be talking to somebody and get cut off, they may take it the wrong way and get angry at you. There are a couple of things you can do to keep your battery from letting you down. Keeping these in mind can reduce the chances of this happening. Sure, there's that little battery in the bottom corner of your screen, but just like the gas gauge on your car, sometimes it can be easy to forget to check it. One thing you can do right away is check your power settings through the control panel. There are several options, designed for several situations. For using the battery, you can check the one that maximizes your battery life, or at least balances out your battery life with your processor speed. The fastest processor speed would give you the shortest battery life, and vice-versa. Just be sure to switch back into maximum processor speed when you are plugged in. An additional way to extend your battery life is to refrain from using software that requires a lot of memory or processor use. These are programs like video streaming, video conferencing, music streaming, and graphic intense video games. While these are enjoyable and entertaining, they will suck your battery dry in under an hour if you aren't careful. And also try to keep a minimum amount of programs open at once. As soon as you are finished using a program, close it. One thing you should be aware of is that every time you drain and recharge your battery, the amount of time you'll get per charge will be reduced a little bit. Most batteries are good for about a year or so of continued use before you'll need to replace them. They aren't that expensive, and one option is to keep an extra on hand if you plan on doing some heavy computing away from any power sources, like on an airplane or large lecture hall. By practicing these simple ideas, you'll find your battery life maximized, and the chance of you experiencing an unexpected shutdown minimized. You won't get in trouble, your data will be secure, and you won't have anything to worry about.