How To Preserve Notebook Battery Life

Notebooks are essential in the life of a mobile workforce and technology-savvy people. They are toted everywhere and facilitate working, whether they are employees, executives, students or people who want to work and be connected to the internet while on the road. Alas, the charge of a notebook battery can only last for a few hours. The life of a notebook battery when not properly taken care of will be drastically shortened. Below are some ways to extend and preserve a notebook battery life.

• Notebook batteries are rechargeable and proper care should be observed that the battery is fully drained before it is recharged. Some batteries such as those that are made from nickel-cadmium or NiCD battery develops a “memory” when the battery draining and charging are not done properly. When a NiCD battery is not fully drained when recharged, it will start charging based in the discharged part of the battery only. So if the battery is still about one-fourth charged for example, the battery will remember that it is already fully charged when three-fourths of the recharging has been reached thus reducing the battery life.  
• Leave the battery inside its compartment even if your notebook is plugged in to an external power source. This will maintain the battery life of your notebook to maximum as it is not forced to drain like when you take the battery out.
• Run your notebook using battery power even if you are near an alternative power source. This will allow the notebook to use the maximum power of the battery and drain it. Periodic draining and recharging helps extend the life of your notebook battery. Do this once a month so that the battery will get the chance to fully drain and recharge regularly.
• If you really have to store your notebook battery for some reason, make sure that it still has forty percent charge before storing it. This is what experts and manufacturers say is the magic number that will allow the notebook battery to charge and recharge once again when you are ready to use it. Be sure to store your notebook battery in a dry location away from heat.
• A lithium-ion notebook battery will last between two to three years. This is equivalent to about three hundred to five hundred full charge and discharge cycles. Make sure that you do the charging and recharging at the appropriate times to extend the life of the battery. Doing this cycle more than once a month will shorten the life of the battery rather than extend its life.
• If you are running your notebook using its battery, extend its life by using power saving and hibernate modes when not in use for several minutes and reduce the intensity of the brightness of the notebook screen to reduce power consumption.
• Cleaning the battery contacts once in a while is also a way to extend the life of your notebook battery. Dip a cotton bud in rubbing alcohol and wipe the battery contacts with it.
• Keep your notebook from any heat source. Heat from the sun or inside your car can greatly diminish the life of your notebook battery.

Make sure that you disconnect or remove the peripherals that are attached to your notebook when they are not in use. Keeping them plugged to your notebook drains the battery. Defragging and changing the settings of your notebook will also help to preserve the life of the battery since the computer functions better and faster.

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