I want to maximize my battery life in Road Warriors, Notebooks & Distance http://www.dslreports.com/forum/r22209253 en Fri, 27 Nov 2009 16:05:46 EDT Fri, 27 Nov 2009 16:05:46 EDT Re: I want to maximize my battery life http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,22286271 PeteC2 :
said by Tursiops_G See Profile :

Another thing that will help to maximize a Laptop Battery's SERVICE Life, is to just Keep it COOL.. ;)

If you use a Laptop at your Desk for extended periods, Consider getting a Laptop Cooler base unit to provide better air circulation under the laptop.

-Tursiops_G.
Roger that! That is really the only reason that some recommend not having the battery plugged in during extended AC use, heat.
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Deeds, not words]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,22286271 Thu, 23 Apr 2009 18:22:59 EDT Re: I want to maximize my battery life http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,22286215 Tursiops_G : Another thing that will help to maximize a Laptop Battery's SERVICE Life, is to just Keep it COOL.. ;)

If you use a Laptop at your Desk for extended periods, Consider getting a Laptop Cooler base unit to provide better air circulation under the laptop.

-Tursiops_G.
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If You're Unsure, "RTFM"... If You're SURE, "RTFM" Anyway. ;)]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,22286215 Thu, 23 Apr 2009 18:13:03 EDT Re: I want to maximize my battery life http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,22282986 stenman : big difference between NiCads, NiMh, and Lithium Ion batteries. With NiCad they had to be periodically discharged or would get a memory effect and their capacity reduced greatly over a relatively short period of time. With NiMh and Lithium Ion batteries there is no memory effect. Lithium present a much greater fire danger but hold their charge with much less loss of power when not used than a NiMh battery.

The only advantage to minimizing the use of the battery is if you live in a outage prone area as I do and want to have the use of your laptop until power is restored.

What is interesting is that just as notebook battery life is being doubled or even tripled the airports are starting to put in wall plugs everywhere. I have stopped carrying around a 15 foot extension cord on my travels (lighter than a second battery).]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,22282986 Thu, 23 Apr 2009 03:46:02 EDT Re: I want to maximize my battery life http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,22278404 T_Wrecks : Thanks for the help, all.]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,22278404 Wed, 22 Apr 2009 11:50:55 EDT Re: I want to maximize my battery life http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,22278149 dadkins : I think... the OP is asking about life, not runtime.
Life as in how many years to expect/hope the battery to last before replacement.

*Most* machines have their own power management software/add-ons for runtime.
Performance/Adaptive/Battery Life
Some even allow fan speed management.
The software above was used to show battery wear in percentages.

Thanks for the input!
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Think outside the Fox... Opera]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,22278149 Wed, 22 Apr 2009 11:04:01 EDT Re: I want to maximize my battery life http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,22267239 tipstir : Well all of this depends on the number of cells you have?

3 Cell is rated at 3 hrs
6 Cell is rated at 6 hrs
12 Cell is rated at 12 hrs

Now not at top speed, so all those dual/quad core would have to be reduce in speed to get better battery life. That's while so many PIII Mobile had better battery life than the P4 laptops.

The software shown here is okay to me it's bloated and some features can be dangerous to most users like over clocking the GPU.

AMD has there own smaller software that run in XP/Vista. I am sure Intel as one too. Still thus reducing the CPU by less than 1.8GHz to 800Mhz will increase the battery.

I use 12 Cell I can get 2.6 hours on max speed. Reduce it to max battery then it's 4+hours with standby it's more like 6 hours.]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,22267239 Mon, 20 Apr 2009 15:35:41 EDT Re: I want to maximize my battery life http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,22214555 T_Wrecks : Good call, guys. That's ultimately what I did w/ my MacBook -- I just used it. And while the battery is starting to deteriorate now, it's had a pretty good run.

Thanks, all.
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My photostream.]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,22214555 Fri, 10 Apr 2009 09:26:44 EDT Re: I want to maximize my battery life http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,22211721 PeteC2 : I absolutely agree with dadkins. You can, and will find all sorts of theories on maximizing notebook battery life, and in the end, it is as much a matter of "luck of the draw" as it is any particular way of running your laptop.

Most notebook batteries fare well fro 3 to 4 years, with some hitting up to 7 years...and some crapping out after a year and a half! :o Even within the same brands and models of battery, life span can vary quite a bit!

Supposedly, the current popular school of thought is that you initially charge, and fully run down the notebook a couple of times, but after that, you should try to avoid running the battery too far down. Also, that when plugged in to AC, to remove the battery to avoid the heat.

My wife's last notebook, a sony, she did just about everything "wrong"...and got a bit over 4 years useful life from the battery. My brother, who is a battery life "fanatic", got about 3.5 years on his last Dell notebook's original battery...all that effort for the same or less time? I don't see it.

Frankly, life is too damn short to have to be too anal about how you run you notebook, in terms of battery life.

I run my notebook...I did not buy it to run me! :D
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Deeds, not words]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,22211721 Thu, 09 Apr 2009 18:10:24 EDT Re: I want to maximize my battery life http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,22209443 dadkins : *FOR ME*, on this particular Full Fledged 17" monster laptop - I have never done any of the preached battery protection schemes.

5 years later, and on the original battery, I still get over 2 hours without power management.
Currently at 9% wear(91% of original capacity).

The battery has only been removed for me to see the part number.
Machine has sat here or in it's docking station on AC most of it's life.

My VAIO hasn't seemed to mind, neither has the battery.
This is what *I* have done with this machine, and so far, with my other machines as well.
They aren't as old, but they also get remarkable runtimes without management.

Your Milage May Vary
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Think outside the Fox... Opera

Not too shabby
]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,22209443 Thu, 09 Apr 2009 11:09:39 EDT I want to maximize my battery life http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,22209253 T_Wrecks : Sorry. I'm sure you get this question a lot in this forum. But I searched and couldn't find anything.

Anyway, I bought an Acer Aspire One last week. Great little netbook. I'm really pleased.

I love the battery life (3 cell model not 6 cell). Compared to my 3-year-old MacBook, it seems to last forever...and I'd like to keep it that way.

So, what's the philosophy on maximizing battery life? Is it okay to leave it plugged in 90% of the time? Or am I better off letting it charge, then run down, charge, run down, etc.

Thanks in advance for your expert advice.
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My photostream.]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,22209253 Thu, 09 Apr 2009 10:31:08 EDT