Laptop Battery FAQ

The question all laptop/notebook owners ask, how do you get the most out of your battery? How can I make it last a very long time?

Nothing lasts forever, especially when it comes to batteries, even Lithium Ion batteries. Lithium ion batteries degrade or deteriorate continuously. Even when not in use they will deteriorate, at a smaller pace. The battery loses about 15% of its capacity every 100 cycles. A cycle is a discharger, charge event. After about 3 - 5 years, the battery will end up with very low capacity and this renders the battery unusable.

Listed below are tips to ensure an optimal battery life:

1. Use the AC Adapter whenever possible, but not all the time, let the battery do some work as well. It does not hurt to exercise now and then!!


2. Lower the brightness setting on the screen backlight


3. Remove all devices, cards that are not being used, like Wireless LAN cards, modems. If they do need to be plugged in then make sure that they are switched off in software.


4. Minimize the number of programs running at the same time.


5. Stop unnecessary programs that may be running in the background.


6. Add more memory, RAM, to lower disk access time.


7. Set the Windows Power Management settings to maximum savings.


8. Powersave settings in the BIOS needs to be enabled for the Windows Power Management to work properly.


9. If you have a second battery, use it in rotation with the current battery.


10. Fully discharge and recharge your battery about once every 3 months. This is simply because, the smart electronics gets a bit confused as to capacity. (Not very smart....)


11. If you are taking the battery out to store it, make sure it is only has about 40 - 50% charge. (NOT FULLY CHARGED!!)