how to maximize laptop battery life?

[viet_Cong]

i just bought a new laptop, the toshiba satalite 750D.

my questions:

1) is it good to leave the AC adapter plugged in all day?
2) how often should i charge the laptop?
3) at what % do i charge the laptop?
4) how do i increase the usage of my battery?
5) when not using the laptop, what should i put it in? (sleep,hibernate etc)
6) when shutting down the laptop for the night, do i need to unlpug the ac adapter?
7)

 

[tremmor]

i just bought a new laptop, the toshiba satalite 750D.

my questions:

1) is it good to leave the AC adapter plugged in all day?
2) how often should i charge the laptop?
3) at what % do i charge the laptop?
4) how do i increase the usage of my battery?
5) when not using the laptop, what should i put it in? (sleep,hibernate etc)
6) when shutting down the laptop for the night, do i need to unlpug the ac adapter?
7)

My thought only:
1) do not leave plugged in 24 hrs a day. that will boil a battery.
2) gets to low then charge. Never 0% and dead.
3) Maybe 20% minimum. never 0%
4) I run off the charger if using but not sure. I only use the battery when wanting portable without charger. Read the instructions.
5) hibernate for best.
6) Normally yes. Do not leave plugged in as mentioned. it will ruin.
7) Always look for smart battery if available. I have them but not for
laptop. It will shut down on its own. Something else comes to mind.
Read the instructions from manual for best performance.

 

[cracker2]

1)If it's not connected to surge protected outlet,no.And if the battery is in the laptop,no.
2)Depends on how much & how often you use the laptop running off battery only.
3)100% is fine
4)Disable windows sounds,screen saver,all non windows startups,& set screen brightness to half & turn off after so long(2-3min imo).Try to do one thing at a time.More things you run,the faster it will drain the battery.
5)When not using it,hibernate.
6)I leave mine plugged in,but leave battery out of the laptop.

If your not going to be mobile often,like mostly just using it around the house &
not moving around much.I suggest leaving it plugged in with the battery out.And let the batt get down to 40% before you take it out.

Leaving it plugged often with battery in it will greatly decrease the life of the battery.Most laptop batteries last 3yrs.
Here is some other good tips for getting the most battery life.
http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/20-ways-to-increase-the-life-of-your-laptops-battery/
http://www.friedbeef.com/top-15-ways-to-extend-your-laptop-battery-life/

I use one of my laptops regularly at home in a single room.I leave it plugged in a surge protected outlet.Have the battery out with 40% charge.When I'm using it plugged up,I use the max performance plan.And if i'm just running off batt it will switch to power saver plan.

 

[viet_Cong]

^ omg thanks!

how do you run off the charger? take out the battery?

my battery is at 100% and it says "fully charged" should i unplug it?

i will be using this laptop in a stationary spot. so i can take out of battery im guessing,.


edit: i unplugged the ac adpater and it says i have 79%! defective batterY?

 

[claptonman]

Yeah, you can take out the battery and just plug the charger in. Do this when the computer is turned off, of course.

If it's in a stationary spot, then just take out the battery. Might need to make sure the cable is plugged in all the time otherwise it'll shut off like you would pulling the plug on a desktop.

 

[viet_Cong]

THANKS!

should i fully charge the battery before taking it out?

also when i charge the laptop, it says 100%..when i unplug the AC it says 79% only, is this a dective battery? its a new laptop.

 

[cracker2]

^ omg thanks!

how do you run off the charger? take out the battery?

my battery is at 100% and it says "fully charged" should i unplug it?

i will be using this laptop in a stationary spot. so i can take out of battery im guessing,.


edit: i unplugged the ac adpater and it says i have 79%! defective batterY?

You're welcome!
Yes you'll be fine running it plugged in without battery.You might have many things running.Since you bought it,im guessing new.You probably got a bunch of bloatware included.A bunch of stuff you probably don't want.Most of that stuff is just some games & trial programs(Norton 360,mcafee,cloud backup,etc. etc.).I suggest for now:
Click window logo,type msconfig & select it,got to startup,click disable all or uncheck all and select apply leaving your antivirus checked & select to restart when it prompts you.

You can also go to services in msconfig to disable some programs aswell.But check the hide all microsoft services first.Then go through & uncheck what you know for sure is okay to disable.Leave your wifi,antivirus,& GPU enabled.

 

[Geoff]

Most laptops stop charging the battery when it's full and run off of AC only as far as I know.

 

[7angofragger]

1) It's fine to leave the AC adapter plugged in all day, as long as it is out in the open. If you are using your laptop at a desk, take your battery out.
2) This really depends how often you are moble with the laptop. I have had my laptop for a little over a year, and have only charged my battery three times, but thats because I use my Laptop at work, and it never leaves my desk.
3) % don't matter. When storing the battery, try to leave it at a 100% charge.
4) Biggest thing for a laptop, I assume you are running windows 7. It actually does a very good job on laptops if you use the power saver mode. Hardware wise, a SSD will save you a bit of battery, but judging from your questions, you might not want to take this route.
5) Don't put your laptop in hibernate mode. You should actually disable this. Either shut it down, if you dont plan on using it for say, 4 hours. If you are using it on and off, just put it into sleep mode.
6) I don't really matter. Just don't leave the battery and AC adapter plugged in at the same time for a long period of time.

 

[viet_Cong]

okay so i charged it to 100% and unplugged it and it says 99% now..thats good!

but estimated time for usage is arouns 2 hours and 30 minutes...it says it can hold up to 5 hours, although the battery drains like crazy! is it because im gaming too much?

 

[Geoff]

okay so i charged it to 100% and unplugged it and it says 99% now..thats good!

but estimated time for usage is arouns 2 hours and 30 minutes...it says it can hold up to 5 hours, although the battery drains like crazy! is it because im gaming too much?

Gaming definitely lowers the time the battery can power the laptop. You don't want to charge it, unplug, then recharge it, unless you have to. Your best bet is to keep it plugged in unless you need to be portable. If you use it for a few minutes here and there for a while, you are better off leaving it unplugged rather then plugging it in every 5 minutes.