10 Tips to prolong laptop battery life.

Battery is one of the most important parts of laptop computers. However, it's also the biggest issues current laptop computers in the market have. If your laptop computer's battery is not functioning as it should, you will have to "exercise" more to look for the nearest power outlet, and unable to enjoy while travelling.

Ever have your laptop go dead, at the worst possible moment? This is something that we always try to avoid from happening but yet a common occurrence with laptop batteries. How do you keep your battery going for as long as possible?  Here are 10 easy tips to do so.

1. Use the A/C adapter via power outlet whenever possible - Many peoples thought that by plugin the adapter while having the battery attached have the tendency to spoil the battery. However, every battery has its own lifespan. The clock starts ticking even when it is still lying in the warehouse. Therefore, it's good to take the advantage of having your battery fully charged while using it with adapter.

2. Dim your screen – Laptop screen is one of the higher power consumption unit in laptop. Make sure that you dim your laptop screen when you are on battery. Cut them down to the lowest level you can tolerate to squeeze out some extra battery juice.

3. Take care of your battery - Use the  battery whenever necessary. Once charged, you should at least use the battery at least once every two weeks. Also, remember not to discharge Li-On battery completely   (Discharging is only required for older batteries with memory effects)

4. Reduce number of background program -Run only the programs you are using at the time of use. To monitor what is running in the background, you may check the processes in task manager for more.At the least, reduce the visual effect in your system. Programs that run in the background use more system resources and drain laptop battery life.

5. Run off a hard drive than CD/DVD -  The spin of CD/DVD is consuming more power than the harddisk spinning. Remember not to watch movies using CD/DVD, especially when your laptop is running on battery.

6. Keep your laptop temperature down- Clean the air vents regularly.Dust is one of the reason that laptop computers heat up faster. If possible, using the laptop in air-conditioned room will give you longer battery life.

7. Cut down external drives - Uploading songs from IPod or using portable harddisk while running the laptop on battery is not a wise choice. All these devices will drain down your power in no time. Of course, it's a common sense not to charge your IPod or handphone with your laptop when you are on battery.

8. Defrag your hard disk regularly -  A more efficient harddisk will consume lesser power. (Caution: Don't do it when you are on battery!!!)

9. Keep the battery contacts clean - With a cloth moistened with rubbing alcohol, clean your battery’s metal contacts every few months. This keeps the transfer of power from your battery more efficient.

10. Power Saving Mode - Stand by mode uses power while hibernating your laptop will actually save your laptop’s state as it is, and completely shut itself down.If your laptop is with older model, shut down the laptop computer completely if feasible.

Thanks to some of the new inventions below, the battery life is claimed to last longer now.

1. LED LCD Screen, for which the athode/cfl based backlights is replaced by LED.

2. Solid-state drive (Still expensive nowadays), emulates a hard disk drive interface.