Maximizing Battery Life?

J_E

Right now, I'm using a Dell Studio 17 with a 9-cell (85Wh) battery, and although I've heard reports of people getting around 6 hours with it, I seem to only get around 3 hours with Power Saver turned on. I don't think the fact I have dedicated graphics has anything to do with the major power loss. Is there a way I can significantly increase power life, even by an hour or so? It can be a drag having to charge up so soon when I have to lug around the bulky battery that's supposed to be extending my battery life.

Alanstrainor

It all depends on what you're doing. If you're gaming on it the battery life will die. If you're just web browsing you sohuld be able to get some life out of it. Only run essential apps, turn the screen brightness right down, turn off bluetooth if you have it, if you're running vista, turn off aero....there's other thigs but doing the above should improve things.

Greenman

Thats my bugbear with laptops, the batteries seem to degrade quickly. I wonder were the nicad batteries better?

If you leave the power supply plugged in all the time is that a bad practice??

I wonder is there better technology coming down the track?

J_E

Greenman wrote: »

Thats my bugbear with laptops, the batteries seem to degrade quickly. I wonder were the nicad batteries better?

If you leave the power supply plugged in all the time is that a bad practice??

I wonder is there better technology coming down the track?

Well, when my power cable is plugged in, the battery cuts off when it's charged and runs purely off AC, so it shouldn't affect life. This is a newish laptop though and I know I can squeeze more out of it.

vinniew09

the battery life on your laptop is similar to the battery in a mobile phone when it comes to maximising your batteries life span. as 9/10 people will keep their battery in their laptops while its plugged in the whole time your constently charging the battery and NOT letting the battery run down flat.this affects the battery dramatically when your not giving it a chance

Doyler92

Can I just say don't use your laptop on a bed or sofa etc. This does not allow the fan to work properly and as efficient. Use a tray or such object and rest the laptop on it.

vinniew09

aye the heat released is mad!!!especially with oldler laptops are new ones with small amounts of ram.but still on the issue of battery life take out your battery when its plugged in and store it in your carrier bag

Overheal

vinniew09 wrote: »

aye the heat released is mad!!!especially with oldler laptops are new ones with small amounts of ram.but still on the issue of battery life take out your battery when its plugged in and store it in your carrier bag

Its really less of an issue these days, with the batteries and the AC Power. They just simply have a finite number of cycles (charge/discharge). Leaving it on, as far as I have experienced, does little to affect the battery life. But its been 2 years, and I know that at some point soon, this battery will reach the end of its effective life because of the sheer number of cycles I have subjected it to.

OP, dedicated Graphics are a huge factor. Even with my 12-cell, the most I ever got out of this battery when it was new was 4-5 hours, tops. 2 years on, I still leave it on the plug, and I still can get 4+ hours out of it. Thats on a 15.4" with Dedicated Graphics.

Voodu Child

I got good improvement in battery life using Win7 (compared to Vista). I would say something like 10% better.

It is a myth that the battery 'keeps charging' when plugged in, and that this somehow damages it. The charging circuit is intelligent, it stops charging the battery when it is at 100%.

Li-ion batteries have a short-shelf life, no matter what you do to them. The minute they come out of the factory they start degrading (losing capacity); they will lose around 20% every year just sat around doing nothing (at room temp). Using the battery (charge/discharge cycles) speeds this up even more , but that is just the way it goes, the only way to avoid it is to not use it, and then what is the point?

It is true that you can help prolong the life of the battery by removing it from your laptop and storing it somewhere cool, but if you crunch the numbers it's pretty negligible over the life of the battery, unless you are storing it somewhere very cool like a fridge, or storing it for a very long period of time.

dazberry

There is a utility called The Rightmark CPU Clock Utility that includes a battery information page, reporting discharge rate, reported capacity, fully charged capacity. Might be worth a look notably if some of the battery cells have failed.

D.