How can I extend the battery life on my laptop?

December 1st, 2016

If you travel and like to work on the road.......

 

Today’s post is by Troy Lowe; Vice President of Development at SafeSourcing. Troy asks

If you travel and like to work on the road, you probably have run into the issue of battery life with your laptop. Although batteries are getting more efficient, this is still one big complaint for laptop users.  There are settings that can be changed on the laptop to help reduce the drain.

One of the biggest drains on the laptop is the display. Reducing the screen brightness in low light situations can have a big effect.  This can be done on most laptops by holding down the Function Key (FN) and pressing the brightness buttons located on the laptop’s keyboard.  This can also be done by using Windows Mobility Center within the operating system.  For example on Windows 7 this can be done by holding down the Windows Key and pressing the X key.  Other options for controlling the display are to have your display dim automatically or turn off automatically.  This is good practice if you step away from your laptop periodically throughout the day.  This can be done by adjusting your settings within the Power Options Screen.  To access Power Options click start, click Control Panel and then click Power Options.  From here you can adjust the times for dimming the display, turning off the display or putting the computer to sleep.

Another way save battery life is to disable or unplug any devices that are not being used. For example, if you are not using your Wi-Fi or Bluetooth then disable it.  These devices use power when they are enabled.  So, if you are in situations where Wi-Fi is unavailable then simply disable it by holding down the Function Key (FN) and pressing the Wi-Fi button located on the Laptop’s keyboard.

Below are some other tips for extending battery life.

  • Reduce the number of open programs
  • Turn off unused Ports
  • Add more RAM
  • Keep out of extreme hot or cold
  • Upgrade Hard Drive with a Solid-State Drive
  • Replace old battery

If you frequently use your laptop where there is no power available you may consider purchasing a second battery.   If you would like some help finding the right solutions, we can gather all the necessary information for you and help you decide what will meet your needs.  If you would like more information on how SafeSourcing can help you, please contact a SafeSourcing Customer Service Representative.  We have an entire team ready to assist you today.

We look forward to your comments.

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