20 Ways To Increase Laptop’s Battery Life

Modern graphic intensive operating systems and resource hungry applications are cutting down the life of your laptop's battery every day. The average battery life per continuous use still stands at a maximum of three to four hours. So, a fast depleting battery could very swiftly put the crutches on your 'mobile' road trip.Mobile computing has got better with lighter components, better chips and faster processors. But the Achilles heel of a laptop has remained its battery. So here are we are going to look at ways to increase laptop battery life.

Falling just short of carrying an extra pack of batteries in the back-pack, are several ways to keep the juice flowing through the batteries.

1. Ship shape with a defrag

Regular defragmentation helps to arrange data more efficiently thus making the hard drive work less to access the data. The quicker the moving hard drive works lesser is the load placed on the battery. Thus, your batter can last longer. The effect is minimal, but this efficiency goes hand in glove with hard drive maintenance.

2. Kill the resource gobblers

End the background processes that are not vital. Monitor the resource usage through a"˜Ctrl-Alt-Del' which brings up the Windows Task Manager (in Windows). If you're not on the internet, it is safe to shut down the immediate non-essential programs running in the taskbar like the antivirus and the firewall. Weed out unnecessary programs running as start-ups by launching the System Configuration Utility from Run "" Msconfig "" Tab: Startup. Uncheck the programs which you don't want to launch and reboot the computer once.

3. Pause the scheduled tasks

It may be a defrag or a virus scan, but make sure it is scheduled for a time when you are near a power outlet. If not then nix them for the moment.

4. Unplug external devices

USB devices are the biggest drainers of battery power. Unplug all external devices like an external mouse, PC cards, Wi-Fi, external speakers, Bluetooth and even an attached iPod.

5. Empty the CD/DVD Drives

Even if you don't intend to use it, don't leave any CD/DVDs as leftovers in the drives. A spinning drive sucks battery power like a sponge.

6. Go local

Desist using the DVD/external drives while running on batteries. Shift the content to the hard drive or run using (free) virtual drives like Pismo File Mount or even Microsoft's Virtual CD ROM Control Panel.

7. Lower the lights

The LCD screen of a laptop is another huge power sink. Calibrate the brightness to the lowest level you can tolerate using the Function key toggles or using the Display Settings applet in the Control Panel.

8. Kill the sounds

Mute the speakers and try avoiding the use of multimedia software to maximize the battery life. Installed sound schemes also drain a battery perceptibly.

9. Rid the screensaver

To maximize battery life by a little, switch off the screensaver.

10. Visit Power Options

Get familiar with power management through the "˜Power Options' applet in the Control Panel. Both XP and Vista come with advanced power management features which shut off components like the monitor and/or the hard drive after specified intervals. This again depends on the chosen "˜Power Schemes' (for XP) in the same applet. For instance in XP, "˜Max Battery' under Power Schemes can be selected for maximum battery optimization.

Similar settings can be found under "˜Mobile PC' in the Control Panel of Vista.

11. Turn off the looks

Today's OS's like Windows Vista come with features like "˜Aero Glass' which are resource guzzlers. One can turn it off and go for the "˜Classic' appearance which consumes less power. In Vista, click on Desktop – Preferences – View Colour – Appearance – Classic Appearance and Windows Basic graphical interface. In XP it's – Display Properties – Theme – Windows Classic.

Linux and even Macintosh are better optimized for longer battery life.

12. Hibernate is better than Sleep

In the Stand By mode (or sleep 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.

13. Get the most…work on the least

Working on too many programs while on the battery is a sure fire power drainer. Keep use of graphic intensive applications to a minimum. Working on a spreadsheet consumes much less than playing your favourite game. To increase the life of the battery open just one or two programs concurrently.

14. Ram in more RAM

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.

15. Keep it clean

A laptop with blocked air vents will generate more heat thus reducing the life of the battery. Clean the air vents regularly to keep operating temperatures low. Allow for open space around the vents for air to circulate freely. Keep the area around the laptop clean to avoid entry of dust.

16. Temperature is a silent killer

Undue heat kills off a battery slowly but surely. Avoid leaving the laptop under direct sunlight or inside a closed car.

17. Avoid the memory effect

A problem more for the older Ni-MH batteries than for Li-Ion batteries on which most modern laptops run. Memory effect relates to the loss of battery charge when they are repeatedly recharged after being only partially discharged. It can be prevented by discharging the battery fully and then completely recharging it. Li-Ion batteries on the other hand have no problems with partial discharges and re-charges and complete discharge is never recommended for this type.

18. Update software and drivers

This sounds a bit incongruous but then newer drivers and software are often designed to be more efficient (and hopefully less resource hungry).

19. Use the right adapter

Ensure that the adapter you use to charge the laptop battery is an original one or one with the correct specifications. A mismatch in the wattage could cause an overload thus damaging the laptop and the battery.

20. Pack it up

If you don't plan to use the laptop on batteries for quite some time, ensure that the charge is nearly 40 percent – remove the batteries and store it in a cool place.

A typical lithium ion battery has an overall average life of 2-3 years. With some care and caution, its mortality can be delayed.

Have you found your own way to increase battery life of your laptop? Share the "˜life giving' tips with us in the comments.

All modern laptops have battery charge level indicators.  Re-charge it only WHEN the battery charge is about to empty

12 Easy Ways to Extend Mobile Phone Battery Life

How to increase yourmobile phone battery life? Most of the modern mobile phones come with good batteries, which last for years if used according to the manufacturer instructions. Nowadays most of the mobile phones can support various applications and programs that are useful to us. However, we must note that these applications are energy hungry and use up the battery power faster, adding to this, most of the people ignore to turn off some of the functions in the mobile phone that use power.

Usually modern lithium-ion battery can power your phone for days in standby mode but all the unwanted applications and functions drain battery power quickly, decreasing the efficiency of the battery and its lifespan. To improve your battery's performance and its lifespan, following are some simple and handy tips.

Extend Mobile Phone Battery Life

1. Turn-off wireless connection like Wi-Fi if you are not using them. Most of the people leave Wi-Fi on even in the areas where there is no Wi-Fi network.
2. Nowadays third generation phones are making their presence in the market. Mobile devices like iPhone 3G, Blackberry and other models have a 3G feature that is useful for fast browsing experience. Turn off 3G feature if you do not use it or if there is no 3G service. You can still browse internet using the GPRS and EDGE services with your phone.
3. Vibrating alert is another big power hungry feature in the mobile phone. Using vibrating alert is good when you are in meetings or in a library, otherwise you can turn off vibrating alert. Moreover, there isno need of keypad tones and you can reduce ringing volume of the phone if you are not working in a sound polluted environment.
4. Your mobile phone display also uses lot of power to illuminate. Reduce screen brightness to the lowest level possible where you can see things on the screen clearly. Moreover, all the phones have this time out feature: set the display light out time to low values such that the display will turn off quickly after your use.
5. Keep your phone screen as simple as possible, using screensavers and animated wallpapers may look pretty but you must remember that they use up the battery power to stay running. If you want your battery to last longer, then you can turn off screensavers and stick to a simple wallpaper.
6. In most of the smart phones, you can load number of applications and utilize them. Terminate applications as soon as you finished working on them. Pressing end key does not terminate the application, they still remain running in the background using up the battery power. You can see all the background applications running on your phone by long pressing the menu key and terminate all the applications that you do not need.
7. Games are other power hungry applications, they use lot of power and most of the games do not allow the screen to dim or turn off. Play games less to save more on the battery. Even listening to songs and radio on the phone also uses lot of power. So think before you start playing games or listening to songs if you are on low battery.
8. If your phone supports automatic updates of emails or browser then change the update intervals let us say every 1 hour or so to save more on the battery power. Try using few email accounts anddisable automatic update feature if you do not really need it.
9. Network coverage in another important factor that comes into picture when speaking about battery power. If your phone is in weak network coverage area or in no network area then switch off your phone or keep it in the flight mode to save on the battery. In the less or no network area phone uses lot of battery power to stay connected or to establish a connection with the network.
10. Turn off BlueTooth when you are not using it. Most of the people ignore to turn off BlueTooth even if they are not using any BlueTooth devices.
11. Recharge your battery every now and then to ensure that all the electrons in the battery move freely. Modern Lithium-ion batteries work well even if you recharge them before they discharge completely but it is good habit to recharge it after three fourth of the battery is discharged. This will not only improve battery's performance but also improves its lifespan.
12. Avoid over heating of the battery to prevent damage to the mobile phone and to the battery. Keep your phone away from the direct Sun heat and any other radiations. Your phone battery works fine in the temperature range of 10 – 35 C.

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Fwd: [♥] Google map mystery of giant lines spotted by satellite in Gobi desert

 

 

 

Google map mystery of giant lines spotted by satellite in Gobi desert

 

A Google Maps satellite has spotted a series of bizarre structures during a sweep of the Gobi desert in China.

The internet is buzzing with theories about what their purpose is, with suggestions ranging from giant QR readers to practise targets for military satellites.

To add to the intrigue, they are located on the borders of Gansu province and Xinjiang in northwestern China - an area that the superpower uses to build military, space and nuclear equipment.

Unidentified: This bizarre structure was spotted by a Google Maps satellite on the borders of Gansu province and Xinjiang

In fact, some of the sites are less than 100 miles from Jiuquan, where China's space programme headquarters and launch pads can be found.

Some internet users have been trying to overlay one of the strange structures on to various U.S. city maps, worried that there may be a sinister military purpose behind them.

Others have pointed out that if China wanted to attack a U.S. city, it doesn't need a practise map in the desert.

 

 

What's also fuelling the mystery is that it's just too difficult to tell what the structures are made of – whether they are painted on or dug into the landscape.

However, upon zooming in, planes and burnt-out trucks can be seen on some of the photographs, which hints that they may indeed be targets of some kind.

Mysterious: At the centre of this structure you can make out planes and trucks, less than 100 miles from Jiuquan where China's space programme can be found

Speculation: Some internet users have been overlaying the strange structures over maps of U.S cities while a closer view shows burnt out vehicles (right) which have raised questions about whether the desert has been used for military purposes

This is the second time in a number of days that the search giant has published photographs of possibly secret facilities.

Last week it published pictures of Iranian facilities which the UN says may be used to develop nuclear weapons.

Satellite images of Arak and Natanz show changes to the facilities in the areas when compared with images taken in October 2010.

The overhead pictures were released by Google following a report by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) which expressed 'serious concerns regarding possible military dimensions to Iran's nuclear programme'.

Close-up: A zoomed in version of the grid has fulled speculation over the purpose of the structures

 

 

 

 

 

 

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