How to get the most from your laptop battery

While laptops have got faster, thinner, and smarter, batteries remain inadequate – here’s how to compensate

Low battery on your laptop, minus a charging option, is annoying at the least – so what can you do to make it last longer? There are quite a few simple steps to save battery and even make your laptop last longer. Here’s how.

Getting off

Turn the lights off, has been a staple power saving statement for years, and it applies to laptops too. The screen is a huge power drain and by turning down the brightness you not only conserve battery but add life to your screen by avoiding burnout. And while we’re on the subject of turning off, background applications are a big no-no. If you’re not listening to iTunes, shut it down. All open programs use up precious processing power even if you can’t see them working.

Speed cleaner

One juice-saving method, which most people don’t employ, is to keep the battery connectors clean. That’s right, a bit of spit shine can save battery. Alright not spit shine, unless you’re a drunk, you’ll need some rubbing alcohol and a cloth. Keeping the connectors clean, by rubbing them once every few months, can make power transmission more efficient saving you in the long run.

Drive smooth

Your hard drive, especially if it’s not solid state, uses lots of power while being accessed – so cutting that to a minimum is a big help. The first way to do this is by defragging your hard dive regularly so there’s less search time when accessing files. Another method is to add more RAM. This speeds up your computer, plus adds storage by minimising the use of virtual memory on the hard drive. That means it’s accessed less giving longer battery life.

Less wireless

An obvious tip is to turn off Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and disconnect USB juice suckers, but that’s not always possible. If you can’t then be sure to turn off devices connected when not in use like a wireless mouse, external hard drive, mobile, or printer.

Know your juice

The old fallacy that a battery needs to be totally discharged before recharging is just that, irrelevant. Batteries that aren’t Lithium-ion need to be totally discharged to avoid battery memory but modern Li-ion batteries are actually best not fully discharged. They also work better when used more. Never leave a charged battery without use for more than a week. Also make sure to let a battery run down, being sure to disconnect the charger once it’s full.

Cool runnings

Last but not least, keep you laptop cool. The right temperature means more efficient operation and less battery consumption. And if all else fails buy a spare battery, or solar charger, to keep you going until super batteriesland.

How Do I Know When to Replace My Laptop Battery?

The most obvious sign that it's time to replace your laptop battery is if your battery is completely drained and unable to hold any charge whatsoever. It doesn't have to get that far, however, as there are ways to tell beforehand that the time has come to find an adequate replacement. In fact, here are 4 specific tell-tale signs that it is indeed time to replace your laptop battery

1)	The Runtime/Capacity Has Significantly Diminished: Does it seem like you're battery isn't allowing you to use your laptop as long as it used to? Are you finding yourself charging your laptop more frequently? If so, it's very likely that the performance of your laptop battery is slipping and it's time to find a replacement.
2)	You've Charged Your Laptop Battery More Than 300 Times: While chances are most people won't be keeping track of each and every time they charge their laptop, it's not hard to come up with a rough estimate. Simply take the average number of times you charge your laptop each week and multiply it by the number of weeks you've been using the battery. If that number turns out to be greater than 300, it looks like it's time to start searching for a new battery.
3)	You've Been Using the Battery for Over 18 Months: It's a fact, all rechargeable batteries wear out with time and usage. For the typical user, noticeable reduction in run time generally will be observed after 18 to 24 months. The more you use your laptop, the sooner you'll start to notice a dip in the performance of its battery. Keep this in mind once you've been using a particular laptop battery longer than 18 months. If it just isn't performing like it used to, you know it's time for a new one.
4)	Battery Check Utility Says It's Time: Almost every laptop comes with a Battery Check utility that will indicate when it's time to replace your battery, or when the storage capacity has reached a "Low" state. At that point, it's pretty clear that the time has come to replace your laptop battery.

So while the most obvious sign that it's time to replace your laptop battery is when it's dead and unable to charge, paying attention to the signs above will help prevent ever having to reach that point. If any of the above applies to you and your laptop battery, you may want to start looking for a replacement as soon as possible.