Tech reviews often focus on smartphone battery life, but majority of laptops do not provide 24- hour battery life, either. Instead of perpetually connecting your laptop to a power outlet, here are a number of ways to pull more life from your laptop’s battery.
Experts who sell electronics note that not one of these tips can turn your laptop with little power into an all-day work machine, but they can help you go without a power outlet for quite some time.
Minimize Screen Brightness
The primary battery drain culprit on any portable device – regardless if it’s a laptop, a smartphone, or a tablet – is the unit´s display screen. Lowering your screen’s brightness is an easy approach to slow down the consumption of your laptop’s battery.
On a standard notebook, you just hold the Function key and tap the brightness control keys on your keyboard. The lower the brightness level, the longer you can go without the need to connect your laptop to an outlet.
You may also take advantage of the Windows Mobility Center to easily regulate screen brightness. For Windows 7, launch it by hitting Windows Key + X. For Windows 8, open it directly from the Control Panel.
Automatically Turn Off the Display
If you’re AFK (away from the keyboard) for a couple of minutes, it’s likely the screen is still on, depleting power. It is possible to set more decisive display screen power configurations to get the laptop to dim and eventually turn the display off when you’re not using it.
In the Control Panel, launch the Power Options dialog. Set your display screen to dim and automatically switch it off after some time. To turn it on, simply move your mouse or press any key. Media players such as VLC set the display screen to automatically remain on while they’re
running, making certain you can watch a video without having to constantly move your mouse or modify your power configuration.
Turn off Bluetooth and Other Hardware Units
Your notebook likely features a Bluetooth radio and may also come with an infrared (IR) port. These devices work with battery power merely by being powered on. It helps you save battery power by turning them off when they're unused. To disable Bluetooth, simply press the Function key and tap the key with the Bluetooth icon. Disconnecting the Wi-Fi can also help if you don't need to use the internet.
Fine-tune Your Power Plan
Windows presents power plans that can easily improve your laptop’s power settings for various profiles. For instance, you could have your notebook in Balanced Mode on a regular basis and change to Power Saver Mode when you really need every bit of power available. Every power plan’s configuration can be individually modified. You can find the power plans in the Power
Options window via the Control Panel. To switch on the advanced power options, simply click the link for the Change Plan settings and choose Change Advanced Power configurations.
If your laptop is several years old and the battery offers significantly less power than it used to, replace it with an original battery for an extended battery life.
