How to improve the battery life of laptops?

Though laptops ensure us complete portability, they somehow have this innate ability to run out of power just when we require them the most, like when taking a long ride on the bus or the train, or taking out to a coffee shop or even when casually browsing on the couch. But the battery life of laptops is not that short lived, at least when you take good care of them. So here are a few tips that you can utilize to improve the battery life of your laptop and also the performance of your system in general as well.

Turn off the wireless connection when you don’t require it

Wi-Fi is obviously something you can’t turn off when it is available for free, but you don’t have to keep it turned on all the time. We mean, why you would require Wi-Fi, when you are just watching stored movies on a moving train? Just switch it off when you don’t require it or when you have no signal. Also unplug your wireless data card in a similar way when you are not browsing the internet. These things can drain the battery real quick. Bluetooth is another thing you want switched off on your laptop if you’re hoping to improve its battery life.

Use basic laptop functionalities within your comfort zone

We usually have the tendency to keep the brightness of the display of the laptop to a maximum, even though we would be very comfortable watching it on a lower screen brightness. And it’s the same case with the volume as well. Though you may not have considered these as major energy consumers, in truth they very much are. So reduce the screen brightness to the level that you can comfortably see, not to the level that it lights up a complete room. Also mute the volume or keep it to a bare minimum when you’re just casually browsing or doing stuff that does not require sound like reading or checking mails.

Ditch the external devices and CD ROMs

This is actually a no brainer, but just so that you should now, external devices drain the battery faster than any other application you might be using. External devices such as USB mouse, USB keyboards and external hard disks drain a lot of energy from the laptop even when not in use. So unless it is absolutely required or if you’re actually using it, it is highly advisable to remove them when not in use. And the same thing goes with CD ROMs and DVDs as well. If you eject your disk drive right now, we are pretty sure you would find a disk that you may have used for installing something eons ago. But these sneaky things take a lot of power as well, so remove them unless you need them.

Learn to use your laptop optimally

Multi-tasking is the reason behind you buying a laptop, but multi-tasking kills the battery quicker than anything else as well. So learn to single task, when there is no requirement for multitasking. So if you’re watching a movie or typing a document, just quit all the applications running in the background such as the web browser, Bit torrent, Skype or whatever. This can really reduce the battery consumption. Also when on batteries, try to use software that requires a lesser RAM usage. So if you’re planning on editing a movie or decoding an international secret code, do it when in charge, not when on batteries.

Take care of the battery

No matter how advanced your battery of laptop may be, in essence they are still normal batteries that work on the same principle as your car battery, so it requires maintenance too. So here are a few tips to take care of your battery.

• Clean the contact of your batteries regularly with cleaning alcohol and make sure that the contacts are tightly placed.
• Operate the battery at the optimal room temperature, as at extreme temperatures the batteries run out quicker. Try using a cooling pad when you use the laptop outdoors.
• Use the battery as soon as it is charged and empty. Charging it for later will only make it weaker. Also charge the battery only when it’s totally dry, don’t try to overfeed it.

So there you have it, the simple steps to improve the life of your battery. Use them and enjoy uninterrupted performance from your laptop.