Ways to extend laptop battery life?

[dguy6789]

Hey guys, just wanted to get some ideas and knowledge on battery life extension for laptops.

Tell me the various ways to do it, via tweak programs, settings, burning in a battery, buying special batteries, etc...


Thanks

 

[CurseTheSky]

Turn the screen's brightness down as low as you can work with it comfortably. It might seem obvious, but I've talked with many people that don't take it into consideration.

 

[dguy6789]

Thanks. More tips please!

 

[postmortemIA]

do not use vista - if you have to, disable aero, superfetch and indexing
remove all software from start up
you can manually reduce voltage of CPU by some tool such as RMClock.

 

[Roguestar]

Originally posted by: CurseTheSky
Turn the screen's brightness down as low as you can work with it comfortably. It might seem obvious, but I've talked with many people that don't take it into consideration.

Good suggestion.

Try using sleep mode or hibernate when you're away from the PC instead of just leaving it. At the very least close the lid; this turns off the monitor. Turn off the wireless card at the hardware switch (if it has one) when you're not using the internet.

 

[0roo0roo]

universal battery packs are sold

more ram.

 

[dguy6789]

Could anyone link me to really high quality batteries that would extent laptop battery life?

 

[corkyg]

It's really not a rational pursuit. Any battery you find will always degrade with every charge. All the suggestions above are good - add to that avoid using the optical drive and audio. I.e., movies are battery busters. For longest life, get the battery with the most cells that will fit in your machine.

 

[dguy6789]

Originally posted by: corkyg
It's really not a rational pursuit. Any battery you find will always degrade with every charge. All the suggestions above are good - add to that avoid using the optical drive and audio. I.e., movies are battery busters. For longest life, get the battery with the most cells that will fit in your machine.

That's what I'm asking where to get. My laptop's website(Acer) doesn't seem to sell batteries.

 

[SparkyJJO]

Don't know about your laptop, but my older dell inspiron 9300 had a performance vs battery life slider in the video settings. By default it was set to max performance for both on AC and on battery I changed it to max battery life and games suffered horribly but hey shouldn't be running games on battery anyway and windows was fine. I could get almost 2 hours out of that little 6 cell battery, 2GHz pentium-M, gforce 6800, 17" screen (brightness a couple notches down from max).

 

[geokilla]

You can use Notebook Hardware Control to control your notebook's voltages. Some people have extended their laptop's battery life by 20 to 30 min using that program.

 

[AlgaeEater]

Originally posted by: dguy6789

Originally posted by: corkyg
It's really not a rational pursuit. Any battery you find will always degrade with every charge. All the suggestions above are good - add to that avoid using the optical drive and audio. I.e., movies are battery busters. For longest life, get the battery with the most cells that will fit in your machine.

That's what I'm asking where to get. My laptop's website(Acer) doesn't seem to sell batteries.

What type of Acer model do you have? I have an Acer Extensa myself, and I don't have issues finding spare batteries or AC adaptors online at all.

Note the universal rule of thumb that also applies here is that HEAT is your biggest enemy. The hotter your battery compartment may be (poor ventilation, left in the sun, etc), the shorter your run time. It's pretty much that simple. Educate yourself here:

http://www.batteryuniversity.com/parttwo-34.htm

The best solution is to always have a spare battery for your laptop and to swap batteries when low if you're referring to constant "I'm on the go without access to any outlet" situations.

Otherwise, just buy a spare AC adapter and juice in whenever you have the chance to sit down somewhere. Keep one at home so you don't go crazy putting away you AC adapter all the time, and you'll have both easily accessible power when you need it.

 

[dguy6789]

I don't need to go overboard or anything, I just want to get the most out of what I have. Lots of good advice, thanks guys.

 

[lenjack]

Also depends on how you use it. For example, my laptop is usually plugged in, but I keep the battery in it. Normally, this is not good since the battery will constantly be charging up to 100%, which keeps the battery hot, and uses up charge cycles. What makes this work well, is the fact that the laptop, a Lenovo, has a program in it that allows me to set whatever charge thresholds I desire. I have set it to only charge when the charge level drops to 60%, and stop charging at 96%. This way, the battery stays cool and only recharges every couple of weeks and is only in use when I unplug. Charge level on an unused battery will drop about 1/2-1% daily. I don't know if other makers have similar programs.

 

[0roo0roo]

Originally posted by: dguy6789

Originally posted by: corkyg
It's really not a rational pursuit. Any battery you find will always degrade with every charge. All the suggestions above are good - add to that avoid using the optical drive and audio. I.e., movies are battery busters. For longest life, get the battery with the most cells that will fit in your machine.

That's what I'm asking where to get. My laptop's website(Acer) doesn't seem to sell batteries.

just get an external universal battery pack, many are about the size of a small notebook.
google it.
they plug into the power socket of laptops.