15 Ways to Increase Laptop Battery Life

Thu Jul 12, 2007 12:32PM EDT

See Comments (2081)

While laptop chips have become better and better at saving power, other changes, like more powerful laptop graphics cards, faster hard drives, and Windows Vista, have erased many of those gains.

So, you'll need to take it upon yourself to improve your laptop's battery life if you really want to go the extra mile. And while that can be a confusing and tricky process, this blog post offers some helpful advice so you don't have to go it alone. Among the 15 suggestions offered at Friedbeef's Tech (hey, I didn't name it), here are the ones that will really impact your battery the most.

Add more RAM - More RAM means the computer will access the hard drive less frequently, and the hard drive uses much more power than your RAM sticks. 

Dim your screen - Those big, "ultra-bright" displays really suck down the power. Dimming your screen just 20 percent can add a good chunk of time to your battery life.

Unplug external devices - Anything plugged in via USB, FireWire, or PC Card/ExpressCard draws power from your computer. Yes, even your mouse. And of course, turn off your Wi-Fi radio when you don't need it.

Minimize CD/DVD use - Optical drives are probably the worst offender on your notebook when it comes to battery use. Unless you're watching a movie, don't even leave a disc in the optical drive, as Windows loves to occasionally read it, just to check on things...

The post doesn't exactly mention it, but don't forget about the Power Options control panel in Windows, which will let you manage hard drive auto-spin-down, screen brightness, and other settings in one central location. It's a great first place to start... then check out Friedbeef's 11 other tips!

LINK: Top 15 Ways to Extend Your Laptop's Battery Life 

UPDATE: Looks like y'all killed the poor site. Here's a cached version 

Comments on 15 Ways to Increase Laptop Battery Life

Post a Comment

Join in the discussion. Here you'll see the comments in the order they were posted.

  • 26 Posted by esim1988 on Thu Sep 3, 2009 3:56PM EDT Report Abuse

    they said there was 15 ways.. there is only 4 -.-"

  • 27 Posted by ejmcclary on Thu Sep 3, 2009 3:52PM EDT Report Abuse

    Actually, depending on the battery, it can increase lifetime to completely drain the battery regularly. Many lithium batteries have instructions to do so, although many also do not require this to maintain their battery lives. Draining a rechargable battery all the way is usually not worse than keeping it allways plugged in. The four life cycles thing must have been a practical joke. Four life cycles is not acceptable in any battery. Notebook batteries are made to last years.

  • 28 Posted by pritchard.colin on Thu Sep 3, 2009 8:19PM EDT Report Abuse

    i've heard that to help prolong the life of your battery every month or so you should charge it to full, completely drain the battery and then while it is off let it charge full again without using it. mac is definitely better for battery life on 60% i still have 4 hours left :)

  • 29 Posted by ut1bebe on Thu Sep 3, 2009 10:29PM EDT Report Abuse

    and only fools make blanket statements about those they don't know. I am FAR from a yuppie, yet I tote my G4 all over the place. It's my studio, my darkroom, my editing bay - it's my lifeline. But I guess i'm not real.

  • 30 Posted by cranialwiz on Thu Sep 3, 2009 3:30PM EDT Report Abuse

    The post "remove battery when on AC is true. Lithium-ion batteries hate heat. Heat will reduce the useful life of your battery. Some folks say storing in a frige will increase life-span. I know that from the first time you use it a lithium-ion battery begins to age no matter what. Here's a link to more info. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lithium-Ion

  • 32 Posted by gingeronfire on Thu Sep 3, 2009 4:09PM EDT Report Abuse

    that link didn't work for me. it's not very helpful to call it a list of 15 things, then show only 4 of them and post a broken link. feh.

  • 34 Posted by ccc951zzz on Thu Sep 3, 2009 3:20PM EDT Report Abuse

    Unless you've been living in a cave, even a caveman should have been able to figure these out without the help of a front page article. Are there no more useful suggestions that can extend battery life? For example, is it helpful to run your battery down to nothing before recharging or should you constantly recharge? Does room temperature matter? Does using your laptop on your lap or some other soft surface that increases heat near the battery effect battery performance? These are the types of questions we could be answering. This article rates a big DUH! Then a yawn.....

  • 35 Posted by nuiqueneilisa on Thu Sep 3, 2009 7:42PM EDT Report Abuse

    great but now my battery can hold only for 30minutes abck to it was when its new, it can hold 3 and half hours.. can i make my battery to it was without but new laptop battery?

  • 36 Posted by dawningdesigns2003dg on Thu Sep 3, 2009 3:38PM EDT Report Abuse

    Has anyone managed to access the link and get the other 11 tips? Obviously not working!

  • 37 Posted by wujewowoo on Thu Sep 3, 2009 10:51PM EDT Report Abuse

    to bad the link doesn't actually work

  • 38 Posted by dylan_p_d on Thu Sep 3, 2009 3:50PM EDT Report Abuse

    uhhh adding ram would cost just as much as gettin a bigger battery.....

  • 39 Posted by zullo2686 on Thu Sep 3, 2009 11:02PM EDT Report Abuse

    Run you battery as low as posibble before recharging, and let it fully recharge, complete cycles help you get the most ou of your battery life. Do not leave it pluged in when fully charged.

  • 40 Posted by bipin_sma on Thu Sep 3, 2009 3:08PM EDT Report Abuse

    Its not true that batteries die after 4 cycles. They do have a life though. When buying a laptop, try to get a battery with more than 6 cells. Also if you are using wireless, disable your ethernet card to save more power. Also another small trick is to change your machine to work for performance as opposed to appearance (For win XP you can find it in Computer properties Advanced, Performance)

  • 41 Posted by dougfromnortel on Thu Sep 3, 2009 3:47PM EDT Report Abuse

    They forgot the obvious... if you're not using wireless, turn it off. That provides a dramatic decrease in battery drain. And regarding the battery comment - it couldn't be more wrong. laptop batteries should be drained all the way down and then fully charged on a regular basis. The worst thing you can do is leave it plugged in all the time, which will reduce batter life. Over the course of a year or two of leaving your laptop constantly plugged into the charger, the battery will lose it's charge much more quickly, or possibly no longer hold a charge at all. Doug

  • 43 Posted by sabina_ahmed on Thu Sep 3, 2009 8:59PM EDT Report Abuse

    Amazing, the link takes you to an error page..http://www.friedbeef.com/2007/07/01/top-15-ways-to-extend-your-laptop-battery-life/

  • 44 Posted by dennismkane on Thu Sep 3, 2009 3:41PM EDT Report Abuse

    Clicking on the two hyperlinks gives me error messages. What's the real link?

  • 45 Posted by blazesax03 on Thu Sep 3, 2009 3:09PM EDT Report Abuse

    I heard that any rechargeable battery has a charge memory meaning if you stop recharging prematurely then the battery will only charge up to that point the next time, recognizing that as "100%". Obviously, this isn't completely true with a laptop but does it have some effect if you don't always charge your computer fully? Also, do all these tips apply to macs too?

Post a Comment

Sign In to Post a Comment

My Tech

Please enable your browser's cookies to activate the My Tech column.

Also on Yahoo! Tech

Computers Home Office Wi-Fi & Networking Phones & PDAs Cameras & Camcorders TV & Home Theater Portable Audio
 

Site Map | Tour | Subscribe to Yahoo! Tech

Question and Answer content at Yahoo! Tech is written by Yahoo! users at Yahoo! Answers. Yahoo! does not evaluate or guarantee the accuracy of any Yahoo! Answers content. For more information, read the Full Disclaimer.

Opinions expressed by the Advisors are their own and do not necessarily reflect the views of Yahoo! Inc. Yahoo! receives no compensation from any manufacturer or distributor nor does it compensate any Advisor for the coverage of any product or service in any Advisor's content.