Battery Life

My laptop's battery life sucks, as does it's charging speed. What settings can I change to save power both when it's plugged in and when it isn't? What will I lose in performance if I do this?

Not sure if this helps, but if the battery life sucks you may want to replace it. If it's older than 3 years or if you didn't run it dry before recharging several times then you may have lessened the battery's ability to hold a charge.

Edit: also if you have a laptop with a desktop CPU in it, then your battery life will probably just suck.

[Link774]

Well, if you use less power it will charge faster and the battery will last longer, of course. Depending on the laptop you can adjust the monitor brightness or the performance (I think that just slows down the processor). You can also tell it to shut off the monitor or hd after a period, but that won't do you any good while you're using it. If it is still under warrantee and the performance didn't always suck, you can try to get the battery replaced. Keep in mind that the warrantee of the battery will be shorter (mine is 1 year), as they are expected to fail after a while.

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Edit: also if you have a laptop with a desktop CPU in it, then your battery life will probably just suck.

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Yeah.. that's exactly what I'm doing. I'm getting a new one in a month or so.. but for now wanted some temporary solutions.

[SamJack]

Go to Control Panel and Select Power Options... You should be able to tweak your settings there. Also, turn down the brightest of your LCD.

SamJack

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Also, turn down the brightest of your LCD.

SamJack

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How?

[SamJack]

Unfortunately, that depends on the brand and the model...
typically tho it's a combination of the Function keys...

(e.g. press down "Fn" key and of of F1-F12 keys.

SamJack