While netbooks may be ultra portable and you can conveniently carry with you where ever you go, their batteries can only last for a certain number of hours. Have you ever wondered if extending netbook battery life is possible?
Many users are not aware of manufacturers’ claim of battery life can only be achieved when you use it in the most ideal conditions. Often our own experience proves that the battery life falls short of their claim. The reason is simple. We don’t know how to use it judiciously to prolong its life.
Netbooks typically come with a 3-cell, 6-cell or 9-cell lithium ion batteries. 3-cell lithium ion batteries are the standard batteries in the basic netbook models and they typically last from 2 to 3 hours. A 6-cell netbook battery typically weighs one pound and can last up 5.5 to 6 hours. A 9-cell netbook battery, meanwhile, is built for ultra-high performance, and can last for up to nine hours although the price is higher than a six-cell pack.
Obviously, higher-celled batteries pack more power and can allow a netbook to run for longer periods of time. If you do not travel so much and are just depending on netbooks for your home office needs, 3-cell batteries will do. In most cases you will just be plugging your netbook to an AC outlet anyway. Buying a 6-cell or 9-cell pack really is a decision to be made by frequent travelers and netbook users on the go.
An important point to remember is that irrespective of the type of batteries used the actual battery life of your netbook battery really varies according to the netbook’s settings, usage, and environmental conditions. Here are ten tips on extending netbook battery life;
1. Use Power Saving Settings
Use the “Power Options” applet in the Control Panel to set power schemes to shut off components like the monitor and/or the hard drive after specified intervals.
2. Dim the Backlight
The most power hungry component of your netbook is the screen. By dimming the screen while running on the battery to where you can comfortably read it, you can potentially add at least 30 – 45 mins to your useful battery life if not more.
3. Minimize the use of external devices
USB devices are the biggest drainers of battery power and devices like the USB mouse, keyboards, and entertainments appliances such as DVDs and CD players hamper the life of a battery. Do not connect devices to USB ports when you are on battery mode. Use the inbuilt keyboard and touchpad. Watch a movie directly from the hard drive only. Also using headphones saves more energy than using a speaker.
4. Disable your wireless connection
You can disable the wireless connection by toggling the wireless card on and off switch. While this is something you may loathe to disable and is becoming less and less relevant as newer wireless cards draw less and less power, it’s still worth knowing. If your netbook is Bluetooth enabled, disable that when you’re not using Bluetooth to avoid wasting power.
5. Avoid multi-tasking
Do one task at a time and close unused programs. Infrequently used programs like email client, desktop search,and Windows Media Player drain battery life as fast as frequently used programs like Excel do. Close these programs while you are on battery mode.
6. Shut-down unncessary processes
You are not required to use all the processes while operating your netbook. So close down all the processes which bring an unwanted load on the netbook. Vistas needs no more than 48 switched-on processes for a smooth operation. Also do you know that you can use Microsoft XP closing down all but 18 processes?
7. Add more RAM Memory
Adequate RAM reduces the load on Virtual memory which by default resides on the hard drive. Though every extra bit of RAM uses up more power, it increases overall savings by short cutting access to the power hungry hard drive.
8. Defrag Your Hard Drive Regularly
Regular defragmentation helps to arrange data more efficiently thus making the hard drive work less to access the data. The lesser the hard drive works the lesser is the load placed on the battery.
9. Hibernate is better than Standby
In the Standby mode, the computer turns of the hard drive and the display but memory remains active while the CPU slows down. This draws on the battery. In contrast, hibernation mode is better because the computer saves the current state and shuts itself down completely thus saving power.
10. Use It or Lose It
Your netbook battery will deteriorate over time whether you use it or not. Although the li-ion industry does not publicize this fact, your battery’s clock began ticking the moment it was assembled. The elements inside your battery slowly react with each other, eventually rendering the battery unable to supply the required power to your netbook. A typical netbook lithium ion battery has an overall average life of 2-3 years. With some care and caution, its mortality can be delayed. If you don’t plan to use the netbook on batteries for quite some time – ensure that the charge is nearly 40 percent – remove the batteries and store it in a cool place. Some experts recommend you place the battery in your refrigerator. Use a sealed plastic bag to keep moisture out if you do this.
A Note on Generic Batteries
Netbook manufacturers always carry the warning against using unapproved batteries in their netbooks. There are good reasons for this.
Firstly, there are subtle differences in design, manufacture, and the operation of generic and official batteries. Generic low-cost batteries are not made with the high safety standards of official batteries. Official batteries are made to the exact specifications of the systems they are designed for and use only approved safety circuits in their battery packs.
Secondly, all netbooks powered by li-ion batteries have a predefined threshold set to shut down at certain levels of discharge. If the thresholds of the system and battery do not match, there is a risk of power cutting off at the wrong moment. This may lead to unsaved work being lost, data corruption, or irreversible battery damage.
These are the reasons why batteries from another system or low-cost generic batteries may not be compatible. For every person that has had problems using generic batteries, there is another who has had no problems whatsoever. You must decide if saving a little money on a replacement battery is worth the potential risks.
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