Friday, September 8, 2006
Live Digitally: 10 Tips on Maximizing Laptop Battery Performance
Posted by Jason Dunn in "ARTICLE" @ 11:00 AM
"I am on the planes a decent amount of the time (100,000 miles by late May) and tend to spend a chunk of my flights using my laptop. Most of the time it’s productive, but it can also include a DVD or the occasional game (either Nethack or Battle for Middle-Earth 2, which are obviously similar). When I was a-hunting for a laptop, battery life was a key criterion in my selection process, as was weight. While I like my Vaio VGN SZ-160P, the standard battery was lasting about 3 hours (the extended life clocks in under six hours before my tweaks), not enough for the SFO-JFK route (now switching to SFO-EWR as a default due to Manhattan traffic, which is a huge bummer because United’s P.S. flights have standard AC outlets on board). So I did a lil’ Googlin’ for tips on extending battery life, and I found them all pretty, well, lacking. Stuff like “don’t try to do real-time 3d rendering” or “fully charge up your battery before flying.” One of them even said “buy an extra battery.” Not exactly helpful..."
A helpful article for everyone that has a laptop and wants to get the most battery life out of it. Myself, I think the single most important factor is buying a laptop with battery life first and foremost in mind. That usually means something small, with an ultra-low voltage CPU, and the ability to have two batteries at once (and not a "hump" battery solution). Sadly, there aren't that many laptops on the market that fit that critera. In fact, the Fujitsu P7000 is one of the only ones I can think of. Are there others?
A helpful article for everyone that has a laptop and wants to get the most battery life out of it. Myself, I think the single most important factor is buying a laptop with battery life first and foremost in mind. That usually means something small, with an ultra-low voltage CPU, and the ability to have two batteries at once (and not a "hump" battery solution). Sadly, there aren't that many laptops on the market that fit that critera. In fact, the Fujitsu P7000 is one of the only ones I can think of. Are there others?
