7iDigital

Battery backup is a very critical parameter for laptops when a laptop is evaluated with regards to mobility. There are many factors that impact how much backup is provided by batteries. Before looking into these factors, let us first establish two terms related to battery operation:

Battery backup time: This is the length of time a battery can support normal operation of laptop starting a from fully charged state when in off-power mode. Battery backup time is typically measured in hours.
Battery Life: This is the life of a battery measured in months (or years). This measures the time period in which the battery operates normally through charge/ discharge cycles.

Most laptops come with Li-Ion batteries which have the following characteristics:

1. Battery backup time suffers a gradual and irreversible degradation with time and usage. This affects battery life as well.
2. New batteries are designed for a pre-defined number of charge-discharge cycles.
3. Heat has an adverse effect on the battery backup time and battery life.

The following steps are recommended for users to ensure a long battery life and to maintain a reasonable battery backup time.

Ensure that the battery is not constantly exposed to high temperatures. Laptops tend to get hot when used continuously for a long duration. This is harmful for batteries. While prolonged usage of laptops cannot be avoided, there are a few things that can be done to keep the laptop temperature under control:

• Ensure that the base of the laptop is properly ventilated. Do not keep the laptop on a soft surface. A soft surface can block the vents used for cooling down the laptops. If possible, use a laptop cooling pad.
• Do not run too many applications simultaneously. Running too many applications causes thrashing between Hard Disk and Main Memory, which keeps the hard disk spinning continuously. This also high load on the CPU. Both these factors contribute to generation of more heat (also more power is consumed as a result).
• Remove the battery, after it is fully charged, if the laptop is going to remain powered through AC for a long duration.

Disable the peripherals and accessories that are not in use. A typical modern laptop has many devices that are switched on at startup but these are not commonly used. Turning such devices off saves power, resulting in increased the backup time. Following are a few such devices:

• Wifi card (if the laptop is connected using the ethernet cable)
• Infrared
• Bluetooth
• USB peripherals when not in use.

Decrease the brightness of the LCD display especially when running on battery. Turn it off completely if the laptop is being used with a secondary display (such as a projector)

Try not to watch movies from a DVD when on battery power. The DVD drive consumes additional power and can drain the battery very rapidly.

While the steps above will ensure that the batteries on your laptop continue to function to their potential, there are a few general guidelines for battery maintenance that help ensure smooth functioning:

1. Clean the battery contact points regularly (once in 3 months) using cotton swab and alcohol.
2. Power cycle the battery - discharge and charge fully - atleast once in 2 weeks. This is especially required if the battery is not used for long durations.
3. Do not toss or throw the battery.
4. Do not short circuit the battery at any point of time.