By: Eve Larson
As more and more people are becoming part of the mobile
workforce and using laptop or tablet PC's battery life is often
a primary concern. Today's portable computers use lithium-ion
batteries instead of older style nickel-cadmium power sources.
In addition to being able to hold a greater charge, lithium is
also very light weight, another important concern for portable
computers.
When you are purchasing your computer investigate if a long-life
battery is available. While it will add to the cost it can give
up to double the usage of a normal battery. To get the most
usage out of your battery you'll need to understand a little bit
about how batteries work. Each battery has a limited number of
charge cycles. If your battery lasts for 4 hours and on the
first day you use it for 2 hours and then recharge it fully and
the next day you use it for 2 hours again and then fully
recharge it again, you will have completed one charge cycle.
Each battery has a limited number of charge cycles before it
starts losing it's the charge it can hold.
If you aren't using your wireless connection to connect to the
internet or network turn off the wireless connection it will
extend the life of your battery. The same holds true for
Bluetooth connections. Another way to extend your battery life
is to lower the brightness of your monitor. Lastly bear in mind
that using your portable computer to play a DVD movie uses more
power than using a spreadsheet.
If you find that you are often using the computer with the
battery at full charge while connected to the main power supply
you may want to remove the battery. Keeping the battery fully
charged while it's at a high temperature, which is typical of
conditions of a laptop that is always plugged into the main
power supply, will dramatically shorten its lifespan.
Discharging the battery regularly is also conducive to long
battery life. Under optimal conditions laptop batteries will
last 24 to 36 months, under less than optimal conditions you may
shorten the lifespan down to 12 to 18 months.
To help keep your battery operating at optimal conditions try to
fully discharge it once a month. Many people find it helpful to
set a calendar reminder so they don't forget. If you find your
battery lasts less than 60 minutes, try fully discharging it
several days in a row. Just leave your computer on overnight
with no applications running. Be sure to turn off any alarm or
lower power warnings that are associated with your power
settings. If this fails to work you will need to replace the
battery.
© Copyright TabletPC.6LN.com, All Rights Reserved.
About the author:
Eve Larson is the senior author for Tablet PC News and Reviews
(http://tabletpc.6ln.com) where she provides information that
help you get the most out mobile computing platforms.
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