How to Maintain your Laptop Battery

Battery is the essential part of the Laptop since it is a portable device. In the absence of AC availability, the battery should backup the Laptop for a desirable time to do the work. Usually, the backup time ranges between 30 minutes to 1 ½ hours depending on the make of the Laptop and its battery. NiCd batteries are the oldest technology and are the least commonly used now days due to its memory effect and its non Eco-friendly nature. NiMH (Nickel Metal Hydride) batteries and Li-Ion (Lithium Ion) batteries are now commonly used in Laptops due to their better performance and charge retaining property. They are also devoid of toxic chemicals like Cadmium and less prone to Memory effect. More over the power to weight ratio of these batteries is higher than that of the NiCd batteries. Li-Ion batteries outperform other batteries because they do not have the tendency to lose charge quickly towards the end of their life span. By properly maintaining the Laptop batteries it is possible to increase its life span.

Best Tips to Buy Laptop Battery:

1. Identify the part number, make and model of the battery first. Use only the make as one used in the Laptop at the time of its purchase.
2. Most laptops require Li-Ion Battery chemistry, so try to use Li-Ion battery.
3. Capacity of the battery is the most important aspect which is the run time battery capacity quantifies the total energy stored in the battery. It is represented as mAh ( Milli Ampere Hour). So check the battery capacity before its purchase and confirm its capacity as shown in the original battery of the Laptop. You can increase the capacity to get more backup time if required.
4. Voltage is another factor that is to be considered. For the Laptop batteries the common voltage measurements are 7.2V,9.6V,10.8V,11.1V, 14.4V, 18.2V, 22 V etc. Use one exactly similar to the voltage requirements of the Laptop.

How to Increase Laptop Battery Life:

1. De-fragment the Hard drive regularly to make it faster. This increases the efficiency of the hard drive and decreases the power consumption.
2. Use the Dim mode in its lowest range so as to reduce the brightness of the screen. This considerably reduces the power consumption. If the CPU Fan control is available, reduce it to minimum.
3. Reduce the programmes running in the back ground. They will run at boot up and will increase the CPU load and battery consumption.
4. Deactivate the programmes running automatically, when the Laptop is using in battery.
5. Reduce the number of external devices connected to the battery when using in battery power. For example, USB devices, WiFi etc. These devices are powered by the Laptop and use the battery power considerably.
6. Increase the RAM of the Laptop by adding an additional RAM which allows to process more and fast rather than relying on virtual memory. Virtual memory increases the hard drive use and increases the power consumption. But the use of additional RAM will increases the power consumption slightly, so use only if memory intensive programmes are used.
7. Reduce the use of CD drive when the Laptop is in battery power.
8. Do not store much data especially Audio and Video files in the Desktop since it is running in C drive. Save data in other drives.
9. Clean the drives to remove unnecessary files using the Disk cleaner option in the Performance and Maintenance of the Control panel.
10. Always keep the battery contacts clean. Inspect the battery once in a month. If the contacts are dirty, clean it with sand paper or file.
11. Do not keep the charged battery for long time without using. Once charged, it should be used at least once every two to three weeks.
12. Hibernate the Laptop when not in use so that, it can be run very quickly and avoids the boot up.
13. Laptop runs smoothly when it is cool. The heat vent is placed on the sides and back. So place the Laptop in a well ventilated place during use.
14. Optimize the Power option through the control panel option. Select maximum battery for maximum effect.
15. Do only one thing at a time when the Laptop is running in battery. For example avoid combining the job of Typing and browsing. Stop all other programmes and do only one at a time.
16. Avoid playing games and playing a DVD in battery power.
17. Stop the auto save option of Word and Excel while running the Laptop in battery. Since the auto save is working at regular intervals, it increases the hard drive activity and increases the power consumption.
18. Reduce the use of Graphic in the Laptop while running in battery. Graphic and Video cards use much power similar to the Hard drive.