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Stretching your Notebook PC battery time
Tips and tools for getting the most bang for the buck |
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| It's pretty much a given that your Notebook PC battery will be drained empty at just about the worst possible moment. This could be five minutes before the end of a terrific movie you're watching on a long plane trip, or, even worse, while you are in the middle of editing a presentation you'll need upon arrival. |
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| There are a number of approaches that you can take to avoid this problem. Perhaps the most obvious is a battery swap. If you have an older laptop, one that uses Nickel-cadmium (Ni-Cad) or Nickel-metal-hydride (Ni-MH) rather than Lithium Ion (Li-ion) technology, which provides a greater energy density, and therefore longer run time, you might want to simply buy a new battery which provides an intrinsically longer run time. A spare battery, if you remember to charge it up before leaving, adds some weight and bulk to your travel kit, but effectively doubles your run time. |
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| If you frequently travel First or Business Class, consider a new power adapter. Many of the "universal" notebook power adapters come with a plug that lets you attach to a seat-side power supply. Not all airlines offer this capability, and even those that do might only provide this capability on certain models or routes, but it's worth considering. |
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| Another way to greatly extend your unplugged run time is to purchase an auxiliary battery. For instance, I use an HP Compaq nc6220 notebook with an auxiliary Li-ion battery mounted on the underside of the laptop itself. It gets me from New York to Los Angeles with time to spare, or just a leisurely day of working unwired on the outdoor deck at home. |
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| Before you spend any money on the above approaches, first make sure that you are practicing proper battery power management. If your laptop has Ni-Cad batteries, be careful to run them until they are fully discharged. Charging a Ni-Cad repeatedly before a full discharge can "fool" a battery into thinking it has less capacity than it actually does, called a "memory effect." Ni-MH and Li-ion batteries are not affected as much by this phenomenon, but it's still a good idea to run the battery completely down whenever possible. All batteries, regardless of chemistry, can only be recharged a finite number of times before they fail to hold a charge. With Li-ion batteries this is often around 500 charges or so, and after about 300 recharges, you will start to notice a gradual reduction in battery life from a charge. I make it a point to let the notebook battery discharge completely, usually by letting it run overnight, at least monthly. |
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| Good power management also requires making sure that your power settings, available through the Windows Control Panel, are correctly set. You can leave the screen on and the hard disk powered up while running on AC power, but when operating on batteries, letting the screen dim somewhat, turning off the wireless network radio if it is not being used, and having the display and hard disk power down after a certain time of non-use can add considerable minutes to your portable run time. If you don't want to make these settings yourself, Windows offers a number of power settings that provide much the same settings. |
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| Our mobile lives run on battery power. But with just a few good pieces of equipment and the right habits, we never need to slow down. That's a good thing, right? |
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| Rick Telberg is the leading commentator on the finance and accounting profession and editor of CPA Trendlines, the online journal of Bay Street Group LLC, a research and advisory firm. He is also author of the At Large column in the AICPA Insider, Editorial Director for AICPA Custom Media, and formerly publisher and editor-in-chief of Accounting Today magazine, group publisher of Accounting Technology and Practical Accountant magazines, and a developer of WebCPA.com, Pro2Net.com, and CPA2Biz.com. |
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| Any views or comments expressed in this article are the sole responsibility of Rick Telberg and Bay Street Group LLC and not necessarily those of any other organization. No person quoted or cited has any known connection to or interest in Hewlett Packard, and their appearance here should not be construed as an endorsement. |
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| Copyright 2007 Bay Street Group LLC. All rights reserved. Used by permission. |
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