Monday, July 28, 2008

Have Laptop, Will Travel...But How to Keep the Battery Going.

I usually take my laptop with me on my travels, allowing me to write and stay in touch with family and friends at the click of the mouse. But more often or not, I fnd that the battery runs dry long before my words do.

Hopefully, these Seven Tips for Better Notebook Battery Life from Laptop Mag will stop this from happening.

Here's a summary of what they recommend...

1. Sleep is good for the laptop so let it hibernate when inactive.
2. Don't be performance hungry - use the power saver feature.
3. Dim the lights.
4. Banish Non-Essential components.
5. run scheduled tasks only when plugged in.
6. lay off the multimedia.
7. get more juice.

To find out how to do all the above and let your laptop live longer on battery, check out the full article.

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14 comments:

Mio said...

I just bought a new battery in June and it's like it's dead already! It doesn't last the full 3 hours it is supposed to go and I do everything to save the battery.... dim the LCD, power saver, less applications.

Does a universal battery work on Dell's?

Vanessa said...

doesn't it also help to allow the battery to fully die again before charging it? might be tough to do, but i have been doing it and it seems to be working far better.. or perhaps that's just a myth

Erin Maher said...

This post made me laugh. I moved my laptop from my desk for the first time today, since September, and forgot to turn it off for my commute. It actually died by the time I reached my destination! In just over an hour.

I'll definitely be taking those tips into account in the future. Thanks!

Nomadic Matt said...

i've had to upgrade to a 6 cell battery so i can get more than just two hours. that's another (more costly) way to get more juice.....

Kurt Kuden said...

i think i have to get a new one..

it cant hold for more than 5 mins..

Lars Shalom said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Anonymous said...

Indeed!

rei ann said...

maybe using old tech (pen and paper and keeping those memories in the head) will work...

and then use your laptop when you are in your hotel ... I cannot imagine traveling with a laptop along with you.

Liz Lewis said...

glad to see I'm not the only one with battery probs...

mio, sorry - no idea about the universal battery...might pay to check with Dell.

vanessa, good point about letting battery empty first -- I learned that after i killed our first cordless phone..

matt, thanks for the tip about the 6 cell battery -- might have to look into that.

mt goat, as you say pen and notebook might be the easier way to go...

rei ann said...

Thank you Kiwiwriter.

We tried bringing laptops (for fun and we are in a group to make our backpacks heavier)during some of our backpacking trips... well ... it is fun for showing off photos to kids in the villages where we are visiting.

As for writing and sharing, I think it is still safer to do so(just like others do) in a place with an electrical outlet or an internet cafe wherever country you will be.

Perhaps inspiration will also come while sitting at starbucks etc. It will even safe you from ruining a laptop in case of rains. :-)

rei ann said...

Sorry I meant "save"...

Liz Lewis said...

I love the idea of using the laptop to share photos with villagers etc but the idea of lugging a laptop around in a backpack doesn't sound quite as appealing.

Anonymous said...

>>the idea of lugging a laptop around in a backpack doesn't sound quite as appealing<<

Try the Asüs eee ... bigger than a PDA, smaller than a laptop, weighs about the same as a paperback and does everything I want it to.

Keith

UK Freight said...

Very interesting. I do a lot of business travel and it frustates me a lot the whole battery life issue. I would have thought that in this day and age we coul duse olsar power or something more to get say 24 battery life.
maybe rain power would work well here in England LOL.

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