Why Does Your Device Have Less Battery Life Than Advertised?

You have seen the claims that a laptop or tablet will run six, eight and even more than twelve hours on a single charge. These sound like spectacular feats that would actually allow one to use a device for an entire transoceanic flight. The problem is that most of these devices would not be able to run for that long. How can manufacturers make such claims about their laptops or tablets even though users are unable to achieve such results?

Battery Capacity and Power Consumption

There are two things that will be the basis for determining how long a laptop or tablet should run on batteries. Of course, the overall capacity of the battery is the easiest to determine and understand. All batteries can store a fixed amount of energy in them. This is generally listed as either mAh (milliamp hours) or Whr (watt hours). The higher the number that a battery is rated at, the more energy that is stored in the battery.

Why is the battery capacity important? If two devices that use the same amount of power, the one with a higher mAh or Whr rated battery will last longer. This makes comparison easy for the batteries themselves. The problem is that no two configurations will draw the same amount of power.

The power consumption of a laptop or tablet depends upon all of the components inside of it. So, a system with a processor that consumes less power will generally last longer if all parts are equal but they almost never are.

It gets even more complicated because the power consumption can also vary depending upon how the device is being used. Certain tasks on devices tend to use up more power. For instance, a brighter screen or a more intensive application will often cause the device to pull more power from the battery thus shortening the running time.

It used to be that the size of the device could easily let you know how much power and how long of a running time it might produce. This has changed as the processing capabilities of today’s processors has gotten much more powerful than the applications most people use them for. More and more companies are moving to more energy efficient processors that provide enough performance for our applications while also providing longer running times.

Manufacturer Claims

Now that the basics are out of the way, how can a manufacturer come up with a claim of something like ten hours of running time for a laptop yet a user in real world use may get only half as much time? It all has to do with how the manufacturers conduct their battery life tests. The most common of these is a function of the MobileMark for laptops and TabletMark for tablets benchmarking suites from BapCo. They simulate computer usage through application use and web browsing to best approximate how people use their laptop or tablet.

Now, in theory, this is a good plan to trying and simulate general usage. The problem is that no person uses their device in the same manner and the test results they provide generally don’t match to real world usage.

The test generally has the CPU idle during much of the test on the basis that many people are either idle or their applications are awaiting user input. It also does not set various power settings within the OS and device. Manufacturers often use various tricks such as decreasing the display brightness to the lowest levels and turning all of the battery saving features to their maximum so they can get the highest run times possible even if it means less than desirable real world use for consumers.

If you happen to use your laptop or tablet to just browse the web and check email, the results may match up very well with manufacturer claims.

The problem is that most of us are not using it the same way the tests are designed for. For instance, we often have the brightness much higher than the minimum. This is especially true for mobile devices used outdoors where they have to be set near maximum just to be visible. Also, many people use their devices for playing games or watching media which produces a more consistent and higher power draw than the benchmark tests.

How To Test for Battery Life

Do not use any benchmarking application when testing for battery life or the various tricks that the manufacturers may use to get their various numbers for advertising. Instead, use a video playback test on all laptops and tablets using the default power profiles and software settings that they ship with. This video playback is then looped and timed until the device goes into an automatic shutdown for low battery by the operating system.

For instance, on long airplane flights, many people use their devices as media players to keep themselves entertained. Many people also tend to binge watch the streaming video through services like Netflix. The best part though is that this is a test that can be done on any device, laptop or tablet making for a good test between different operating systems like Mac OS X or Windows as well as Android or iOS.

What Consumers Should Do With Battery Life Numbers

Any consumer who is presented by a battery life number while researching a product needs to be wary. Some manufacturers are better than others at disclosing how they achieve their results. For instance, they may say that they used the MobileMark testing suite with the brightness set to something like 150 nits (often less than 50 percent brightness levels). Such a claim will often let you know that the time might be inflated compared to another than states it achieved their results in a video playback loop at 75% brightness levels. If there is no disclaimer on how the running time was achieved, assume that they used the automated testing suites with the most advantageous power settings on the device.

Once you have determined how the running time estimates for the laptop or tablet have been generating, you can estimate the approximate running time you may get based upon how you will use the device. There are generally three classes of users that people fall into:

  • Light users primarily use their devices for browsing the web and office software. Light Usage: Claimed Time x .85
  • Medium users tend to use their devices for streaming video for long stretches of time. Medium Usage: Claimed Time x .75
  • Heavy users are ones that like to play games or do tasks like desktop video editing. Heavy Usage: Claimed Time x .50

These formulas are just an estimate and one based upon the most advantageous and generous times for a manufacturer. If for instance the estimate is based on a video playback look, a light user might actually see longer running times while a medium user may have equal and the heavy user still sees less.

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Choosing the Right Camera Batteries

The camera battery has evolved and it is not as simple as picking up a pack of AAs at the drug store anymore. Many cameras use very specific batteries that can only be found at camera or computer stores.

The battery is the power source for your digital camera and it is essential that you use the correct battery in order for your camera to work correctly when you need it to. Remember, without a good battery, you cannot take a picture!

Proprietary vs. Common Batteries

The majority of cameras now require a certain style of battery for a particular camera. Battery styles vary by both manufacturer and camera model. It is very important to purchase the battery made specifically for your camera model!

Do a search for ‘Nikon battery’ or ‘Canon battery’ and you will find many different shapes of batteries even within that particular manufacturer. Some are for point and shoot cameras while others are for DSLR cameras.

The nice thing is that most (not all!) DSLR cameras by one manufacturer use the same style of battery. This is convenient when upgrading bodies because you can (again, in most cases) use the same batteries in your new camera that you did in the old camera.

On the other side, there are a few cameras that continue to use common battery sizes such as AAA or AA. This is found most often in point and shoot cameras.

Some DSLR cameras can be fitted with a vertical grip accessory that holds two of the brand’s proprietary batteries and this could also be adapted to fit the common battery sizes.

Check your camera body’s accessory list to see if this is possible.

Types of Batteries

Disposable

For cameras that use AA or AAA batteries, disposables should only be used in an emergency when no charger is available. They are too expensive to use every day.

Try carrying disposable lithium AAs for emergencies.

They are more expensive, but they hold three times the charge and weigh about half as much as standard alkaline AA batteries.

Common Rechargeable AAs and AAAs (NiCd and NiMH)

Nickel Metal Hydride (NiMH) batteries are more efficient than the older Nickel Cadmium (NiCd) batteries.

NiMH batteries are more than twice as powerful, and they also have no “memory effect,” which is the effect that builds up if you re-charge a NiCd battery before it’s fully discharged. The memory effect essentially reduces the maximum capacity of future charges, and the memory effect becomes worse if repeated.

Rechargeable Lithium-Ion (Li-Ion)

These are the most commonly used style of battery in digital cameras, particularly in DSLRs. They are lighter, more powerful, and more compact than NiMH batteries, but they do cost more.

Li-ion batteries come in brand-specific formats, although a few cameras accept disposable lithium batteries (such as CR2s) via an adapter.

Brand Name vs. Generic Batteries

Today’s camera manufacturers are also in the battery business. They produce their proprietary batteries under their name so consumers get a battery they can (hopefully) trust. Canon and Nikon both produce batteries for every camera they sell and many other camera manufacturers do as well.

As is often the case, generic brands do exist in the digital camera market. They are the exact size and shape of the brand name batteries and will often have the same output of power. They are also considerably cheaper.

While all generic batteries are not bad, caution should be taken when buying one. Read reviews!

The problem may not be seen immediately with generic batteries, but it may appear in the future. One of the most common issues is the battery’s ability to hold a good charge in a year or two. Granted, it is not unheard of for any rechargeable battery to go weak, but it often seems that generics go weaker more quickly than the brand names.

The point is that you should do your research. Consider whether the money saved on a generic battery today is worth the potential problems and quicker replacement that may be required.

Guide to Laptop Storage Drives

Most modern laptops are moving away from the traditional mechanical drives in favor of more durable and smaller solid state options.

This change is being fueled by the fact that laptops keep getting smaller, and so their internal space is restricted and no longer accommodating for larger storage devices.

To help clear up confusion for buyers, this guide looks at all the various types of drives that may be in a laptop, and what they can offer.

Hard Drives

Hard drives (HDDs) are still the most common form of storage in a laptop and are pretty straight forward.

Generally, the drive will be referred to by its capacity and rotational speed. Larger capacity drives tend to perform better than smaller ones and faster spinning drives, when compared with ones of similar capacity, are usually more responsive than slower ones.

However, slower spinning HDDs do have a slight advantage when it comes to laptop running times because they draw less power.

Laptop drives are typically 2.5 inches in size and can range from 160 GB up to over 2 TB in capacity. Most systems will have between 500 GB and 1 TB of storage, which is more than enough for the standard laptop system.

If you’re looking at a laptop to replace your desktop as your primary system that will hold all your documents, videos, programs, etc., consider getting one with a hard drive that’s 750 GB or larger.

Solid State Drives

Solid state drives (SSDs) are starting to replace hard drives in more laptops, especially the new ultrathin laptops.

These types of hard drives use a set of flash memory chips rather than a magnetic platter to store the data. They provide faster data access, lower power consumption, and higher reliability.

The downside is that SSDs don’t come in such large capacities as traditional hard drives. Plus, they usually cost a lot more.

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A typical laptop equipped with a solid state drive will have anywhere from 16 GB to 512 GB of storage space, although there are some available with more than 500 GB but they are prohibitively expensive. If this is the only storage in the laptop, it should have at least 120 GB of space but ideally around 240 GB or more.

The type of interface that the solid state drive uses can also have a significant impact on the performance but many companies do not overtly advertise it. Most inexpensive systems like Chromebooks tend to use eMMC which isn’t much more than a flash memory card, while high performance laptops use the new M.2 cards with PCI Express (PCIe).

Solid State Hybrid Drives

If you want higher performance than a traditional hard drive but don’t want to sacrifice storage capacity, a solid state hybrid drive (SSHD) is another option. Some companies are referring to these as just hybrid hard drives.

Solid state hybrid drives include a small amount of solid state memory on a traditional hard drive that is used to cache frequently used files.

They do help speed up tasks such as booting up a laptop but they aren’t always faster. In fact, this form of drive is best used when a limited number of applications are used on a frequent basis.

Smart Response Technology and SSD Cache

Similar to hybrid hard drives, some laptops are using both traditional hard drives with a small solid state drive. The most common form of this uses the Intel Smart Response Technology. This provides the benefits of the storage capacities of the hard drive while gaining the speed benefits of a solid state drive.

Unlike SSHDs, these caching mechanisms usually use larger drives between 16 and 64 GB that provide a boost to a larger range of frequently used applications, thanks to the extra space.

Some older ultrabooks use a form of SSD caching that offers higher storage capacities or lower costs, but Intel has changed this so that a dedicated solid state drive is required in order for new machines to meet the ultrabook branding requirements.

This is becoming much less common now that prices for SSD’s continue to drop.

CD, DVD and Blu-ray Drives

It used to be that you were required to have an optical drive on a laptop since most software was distributed on discs, so it was required in order to load the program to your computer. However, with the rise of digital distribution and alternate methods of booting, optical drives are not a requirement like they once were.

These days, they’re used more for watching movies or playing games, as well as burning programs to a disc, creating DVDs, or building audio CDs.

If you do need an optical drive, what type of drive should you get on a laptop? Well, whatever you end up getting, it should definitely be compatible with DVDs. One of the great advantages to laptops is their ability to be used as portable DVD players. Anyone who travels regularly has seen at least one person pull out a laptop and start watching a movie during the flight.

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DVD writers are pretty much standard for laptops that have an optical drive. They can fully read and write both CD and DVD formats. This makes them extremely useful for those looking to watch DVD movies on the go or for editing their own DVD movies.

Now that Blu-ray has become the defacto high definition standard, more laptops are beginning to ship with these drives. Blu-ray combo drives have all the features of a traditional DVD burner with the ability to play Blu-ray movies. Blu-ray writers add the ability to burn lots of data or video to the BD-R and BD-RE media.

Here are some optical drive options and the tasks they are best suited for:

  • Basic computing w/DVD Playback: DVD-ROM
  • DVD/CD Recording: DVD Writer
  • HD Video Playback: Blu-ray Combo
  • HD Video Recording: Blu-ray Writer

With current component costs, there is almost no reason that a laptop would not have a DVD burner if it is going to have an optical drive. What is surprising is that Blu-ray drives have not become more standard as their prices are also quite low now for the combo drives. It should also be noted that laptop drives are generally much slower than similar drives found in desktop systems.

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Even if a laptop does not have an internal optical drive, it’s still possible to use one so long as you have an open USB port for room to attach a USB optical drive.

Drive Accessibility

Drive accessibility is important when considering whether to upgrade or replace a damaged drive. It’s important to know what you’re doing, so you might consider having an authorized technician open the computer.

This generally isn’t a problem for many people, but in a corporate environment it can cause increased down time for a worker. Laptops that have drive bays that are accessible or swappable have the advantage of easy and quick access for upgrades or replacements.

In addition to being accessible, it’s also important to get an idea of what kind of drive bays there are and what the size requirements may be. For instance, the 2.5-inch drive bays used for hard drives and solid state drives can come in several sizes. The larger 9.5 mm drives often have better performance and capacities but if the drive bay only fits 7.0 mm drives due to a thin profile, you need to know that.

Similarly, some systems use the mSATA or M.2 cards rather than a traditional 2.5-inch hard drive for their solid state drive. So, if the drives can be accessed and replaced, be sure to know what type of interfaces and physical size limits there are.

What Are the I/O Ports On a Laptop?

I/O ports refer to input/output ports. These are connectors on your laptop that enable you to connect to digital cameras, video cameras, televisions, external storage devices, printers and scanners. The number and type of I/O ports will vary with the style of laptop and you will pay to have more port options.

Bluetooth

Uses wireless technology over short distances (approx. 30 ft) to transfer data between devices. When looking at laptops with Bluetooth, look for models that will let you turn off your Bluetooth without having to jump through a lot of steps. As a security precaution you don’t want to leave Bluetooth enabled while traveling.

DVI Port

DVI stands for Digital Visual Interface and is a high quality connection between the laptop and an external display or a television. The biggest difficulty mobile professionals may run into with using DVI is if they have access to older TVs or monitors which do not have DVI connection capability. It’s best to be prepared to use another means of connecting to an external screen or monitor.

FireWire 400 & 800 (IEEE 1394 and 1394b)

FireWire ports were originally only found on Apple computers and laptops. It is a high speed connection that is well suited for transferring video, graphics and music. There are now external hard drives which connect by FireWire and this makes transferring information between your laptop and FireWire hard drive very quick. FireWire devices can be connected to each other and then one device is connected to a laptop. You can also transfer data from one FireWire device to another without needing your laptop. This can be handy with video cameras or digital cameras. Rather than lugging your laptop everywhere you can take a portable hard drive instead.

Headphone Port

Again, the headphone jack is easy to understand. You can plug in headphones if you don’t want to disturb those around your or use external speakers to share your music.

IrDA (Infrared Data Association)

Data can be transferred using infrared light waves between laptops, your laptop and a PDA and printers. This can be very convenient as you don’t need any cables. IrDa ports transfer data at about the same speed as parallet ports and you must make sure that the devices transferring to each other are lined up and within a few feet of each other.

Memory Card Readers

Most laptops now have built-in memory card readers but the laptops will not always be able to read/write all the types of memory cards. In those cases where there isn’t a memory card reader such as the MacBook, an external memory card reader will be required. Depending on the type of memory card, an adapter may be required to insert the memory card into your laptop. microSD can be read and written to in laptops with the use of an adapter. Most microSD cards will include an adapter. The memory card reader connects to your laptop via USB. They range in price and capabilities. D-Link and IOGear are makers of commonly found memory card readers.

Memory Cards

Memory cards are a way to expand the memory on your laptop and share files between devices. Memory cards can be specific to a type of gadget, such as the Sony Memory Stick are used in Sony digital cameras. Other memory card formats can be used in any type of device and don’t require special software. The most common types of memory cards are: Compact Flash I and II, SD, MMC, Memory Stick, Memory Stick Duo and Memory Stick Pro & Pro Duos XD-Picture, Mini SD and Micro SD. Larger capacity memory cards are best if you can afford to buy them. You’ll spend less time transferring data and you can do more with higher capacity memory cards.

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Microphone Port

Just as the name implies this is a port to connect a microphone which can be handy when narrating your great movie creation or a PowerPoint presentation for work. You can also use a microphone with different Instant Messaging programs and VoIP programs. The quality of input will vary with laptops and as always, you get better quality and sounds cards with higher priced models.

Modem (RJ-11)

The modem port enables you to connect to telephone lines for either a dial-up Internet connection or to be able to send and receive faxes. You connect a regular telephone line cord to the modem and then to an active phone jack.

Parallel/Printer Port

Some older laptops and desktop replacement laptops will still have parallel ports included. These can be used to connect to printers, scanners and to other computers in some cases. Parallel ports are a slower transfer method and in most cases have been replaced by USB and /or FireWire ports.

PCMCIA Type I/II/II

PCMCIA stands for Personal Computer Memory Card International Association. It was one of the original methods for adding more memory to laptops. These three types of cards are all the same length but have different widths. PCMCIA cards can be used to add networking capabilities, ROM or RAM, modem capabilities or just more storage space. Each type of card fits into a particular type of PCMCIA slot and they are not interchangeable although Type III can hold one Type III card or a combination of Type I or Type II. Table 1.3 shows the card type, thickness and the possible uses for each type of PCMCIA card. NOTE – Compact Flash cards can be used in PCMCIA ports and in order to use them you will need an a PC card adapter.

RJ-45 (Ethernet)

The RJ-45 Ethernet port enables you to connect to wired networks to share computer resources or Internet connections. Some laptop models will have 100Base-T (Fast Ethernet) ports and newer laptops have Gigabit Ethernet which has a much faster transfer rate.

S-Video

S-Video stands for Super-Video and is another method for transferring video signals. S-Video ports are found most often on desktop replacement models and media laptops. This lets you connect your laptop to a television to view your creations on a bigger screen or transfer movies and television shows to your laptop.

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USB

USB means Universal Serial Bus. You can attach just about any kind of peripheral to your laptop with USB. USB has replaced serial and parallel ports on laptops. It provides a faster transfer rate and it is possible to connect up to 127 devices on one USB port. Lower priced laptops generally have two USB ports and higher priced models can have 4 – 6 ports. USB devices draw their power from the USB connection and do not draw very much power so they won’t drain your battery. Devices which do draw more power will come with their own AC/DC adapters. To connecti with USB plug in the gadget and the system should recognize it. If your system doesn’t already have a driver installed for that device you are prompted for the driver.

VGA Monitor Port

The VGA monitor port enables you to connect an external monitor to your laptop. You can use the external monitor on its own (handy when you have an ultraportable laptop with a 13.3″ display). As monitor prices come down, many laptop owners invest in a large screen display and use their laptop with the external large display. Laptop operating systems (Mac and Windows) support the use of multiple monitors and it easy to set up. There are also hardware solutions such as the Matrox DualHead2Go and TripleHead2Go which allow you to add either 2 or 3 external monitors to your laptop. Working with an additional monitor or two can make work much less tedious and working with multi-media much more enjoyable.

Wi-Fi

Find models that have an external switch to turn Wi-Fi on and off. If you aren’t working and don’t need a wireless connection you do not need to have the wireless turned on. It will merely drain your battery faster and potentially leave you open to unwanted access.

Top 9 Laptop Computer Safety Tips

Safely using your laptop will help ensure it works properly and you don’t get hurt. Improper use or not being aware of safety issues can cause your laptop irreparable damage. These safety tips should be added to your weekly laptop maintenance routine and will help you stay productive and safe no matter where you are working.

01.Shut It Down

Unlike a desktop computer a laptop computer needs to be shut down when not in use. Shutting down when not in use prevents the laptop from overheating and it also needs the rest.

02.Adjusting Power Settings

Adjusting your power options will help your laptop from heating up when not in use even if for short periods of time. You can set your hard drive and display to turn off after a set time period. Another option is to set the laptop to go into standby or hibernate mode.

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03.Before You Pack It Up

Make sure that before you put your laptop into its carrying bag that it is shut down. A notebook that has been left on can melt. When enclosed in a notebook bag there is no air circulation and the results can be worse than melting. Don’t find out the hard way and just be sure to turn off your laptop.

04.Vent Maintenance

Part of your weekly routine should be to inspect and clean the air vents in your laptop. Forced air dusters can be used to keep the air vents clean and free from debris. It’s important to know that you should never push anything into the air vents.

05.Checking the Fan

Overheating problems can be caused by the laptop fan not working properly. Always check the laptop manufacturer’s online support and your warranty information. It may be possible to download software to test your laptop fan.

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06.BIOS Updates

Some laptops control the fans through the BIOS. Check online with the laptop manufacturer for BIOS updates. If you aren’t comfortable updating the BIOS yourself, have someone in your IT dept. or have an outside computer technician do it for you.

07.Avoid Lap Burn

Using a laptop desk or cooler will prevent you from being burned when using your laptop. A good laptop desk will have large enough vents for allowing air circulation between you and the laptop. Some laptop desks have additional fans which use power from the laptop itself to stay cool.

08.Soft Spots

It’s a wise idea not to use any soft material as a buffer between you and your laptop. Always operate your laptop on a hard surface, preferably one that allows ventilation. Soft materials can block the airflow vents and cause it to overheat. If it is not possible to avoid using a soft surface, an optional heat sink base should be used to maintain cooling.

09.Unplug Accessories

Whenever your laptop will not be in use, even for short periods of time remember to unplug any accessories. Not only do they use power but they could cause the laptop to overheat. It’s especially important to unplug any accessories before packing your laptop in its carrying case. While you may believe it will make it quicker to use, it could damage your laptop, the accessory and/or your laptop bag.

How to Extend Your iPad’s Battery Life

With each iPad release, one constant remain.  The iPad is becoming faster and faster and the graphics get better every year, but the device still maintains an amazing 10 hours of battery life. But for those of us that use our iPad throughout the day, it’s still easy for it to run low.  And there’s nothing worse than trying to stream video from Netflix only to have that low battery message pop up and interrupt your show.

Luckily, there are a few tips you can use to save iPad battery life and keep that from happening as often.

Here’s How You Can Get the Most Out of Your iPad’s Battery:

1.Adjust the brightness.

The iPad has an auto-brightness feature which helps tune the iPad based on the light quality in the room, but this feature is not enough.  Adjusting the overall brightness may be the best single thing you can do to eek out a little more from your battery.  You can adjust the brightness by opening the iPad’s settings, choosing Display & Brightness from the left-side menu and moving the brightness slider.  The goal is to get it where it is still comfortable enough to read, but not quite as bright as the default setting.

2.Turn off Bluetooth.

Many of us don’t have any Bluetooth devices connected to the iPad, so all the Bluetooth service is doing for us is waste the iPad’s battery life. If you don’t have any Bluetooth devices, make sure Bluetooth is turned off.  A quick way to flip the switch for Bluetooth is to open the iPad Control Panel by swiping up from the very bottom edge of the display.

3.Turn off Location Services.

While even the Wi-Fi-only model of the iPad does a great job of determining its location, most of us don’t use the location services on our iPad as much as we use them on our iPhone. Turning GPS is a quick and easy way to save a little battery power while not giving up any features. And remember, if you do need GPS, you can always turn it back on.  You can turn off locations services in the iPad’s settings under Privacy.

4.Turn off Push Notification.

While Push Notification is an excellent feature, it does drain a little bit of battery life as the device checks to see if it needs to push a message to the screen. If you are looking to do the most to optimize your battery life, you can turn Push Notification off completely. Alternatively, you can turn it off for individual apps, decreasing the number of push notifications you receive.  You can turn off Push Notification in settings under “Notifications”.

5.Fetch Mail Less Often.

By default, the iPad will check for new mail every 15 minutes. Pushing this back to 30 minutes or an hour can help your battery last longer. Simply go into settings, choose the Mail settings and tap the “Fetch New Data” option. This page will let you set how often your iPad fetches mail. There’s even an option to only check for mail manually.

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6.Turn off 4G.

Most of the time, we use the iPad at home, which means using it via our Wi-Fi connection. Some of us use it at home almost exclusively. If you often find yourself low on battery power, a good tip is to turn off your 4G data connection. This will keep it from draining any power when you aren’t using it.

7.Turn off Background App Refresh.

Introduced in iOS 7, background app refresh keeps your apps updated by refreshing them while the iPad is idle or while you are in another app.  This can drain some extra battery life, so if you don’t mind whether or not the iPad refreshes your Facebook newsfeed and has it waiting for you, go into Settings, choose General Settings and scroll down until you find “Background App Refresh”.  You can choose to turn off the service as a whole or simply turn off individual apps you don’t care as much about.

8.Find out what apps are eating up all of your battery life.

Did you know you can check your iPad’s battery usage?  This is a great way to find out what apps you are using a lot and which apps may be eating up more than their fair share of your battery.  You can check usage in the iPad’s settings by selecting Battery from the left-side menu.

9.Keep Up With iPad Updates.

It is always important to keep iOS updated with the latest patches from Apple. Not only can this help optimize battery life on the iPad, it also makes sure you are getting the latest security fixes and patching any bugs that have popped up, which will help the iPad run smoother.

10.Reduce Motion.

This is a trick that will save a little battery life and make the iPad seem a little more responsive.  The iPad’s interface includes a number of animations like windows zooming in and zooming out and the parallax effect on icons that make them seem to hover over the background image.  You can turn off these interface effects by going to settings, tapping General settings, tapping Accessibility and touching Reduce Motion to find the switch.

11.Buy a Smart Case.

The Smart Case can save battery life by putting the iPad into suspend mode when you close the flap.   It may not seem like much, but if you aren’t in the habit of hitting the Sleep/Wake button every time you are finished using the iPad, it can help give you an extra five, ten or even fifteen minutes at the end of the day.

Does the iPad Have a Low Power Mode?

Apple recently released a neat new feature for iPhones called “Low Power Mode”.  This feature alerts you at 20% and again at 10% power that you are running low on battery life and offers to put the phone in a Low Power Mode.  This mode turns off a number of features, including features that couldn’t ordinarily be turned off such as special graphics used in the user interface.   It’s a great way to get the most juice out of the dregs of the battery, but unfortunately, the feature doesn’t exist on the iPad.

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Top Airline Travel Tips When Traveling With Your Laptop

Laptop tips to help ensure you keep your laptop secure and avoid problems dealing with Security and/or Customs. You are the first line of defense for your laptop when traveling and it’s important to keep these laptop tips in mind to save time and prevent aggravation.

01.Carry your Laptop or Pack It Away?

Keep it with you at all times. It goes with you on the flight as carry-on baggage. Do not store it in the overhead storage area; it could get knocked around by someone else. Absolutely do not put your laptop in with your other baggage. Baggage handlers aren’t expecting expensive electronics to be in the stored baggage areas and you can’t expect it to be treated as a fragile object.

02.Visual Inspection (Hand checking)

You may be required to remove your laptop from its carrying case and turn it on to demonstrate to Security/Customs that the laptop is exactly that – a functioning computer. A good way to save time if you anticipate this happening is to turn on your laptop earlier and leave it in suspend mode. This is a good reason to ensure that your laptop battery is kept charged. When your laptop is examined in this manner it is often called “hand checking”.

03.Should You X-Ray Your Laptop?

Letting your laptop go through the x-ray equipment will not harm your laptop. The magnetic field which is generated is not enough to cause harm to your hard drive or cause damage to your data. Metal detectors, on the other hand, can cause damage and request politely that Security/Customs do not use the metal detector but do a hand check instead.

04.Carry Proper Documents

It’s very important when returning to your country of origin, that you have the correct Customs documentation or original receipts. These show that the laptop and other mobile gear is what you left the country with. The onus is on you to prove that you already own the equipment and did not purchase it while traveling. You will have to pay duty and taxes on items purchased while traveling if you can’t provide proof of ownership.

05.Keep a Low Profile

Don’t draw attention to yourself while waiting for your flight or while in-flight. While waiting for your flight and using your laptop, pick an area where you will have some privacy and don’t have to worry about someone looking over your shoulder. If it’s too crowded, don’t use your laptop, and waiting for a time when it’s less crowded. If someone is curious about your laptop, be brief but polite and pack it in. They could be looking for a laptop to steal.

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06.Don’t Let Your Laptop Out of Sight

If you let your laptop get out of sight even for a few minutes, it could be gone. If you have to use the facilities in an airport, take your laptop bag with you. The only exception is if you are traveling with someone you know and trust, but remind them to not leave your laptop unattended. While going through the Security/Customs screening keep a close view of your laptop if you are required to set it down for any reason.

07.Fact or Fiction – The Airport Laptop Scam

While there have been no recorded incidents of this type of theft it’s still wise to keep this scenario in mind. Two people will get in line ahead of you at the security area. You have placed your laptop on the conveyor belt and it has moved ahead. The first person goes through with no problems but the second has many difficulties. While you and Security/Customs are distracted, the first takes off with your laptop. Always wait until the last moment to put your laptop on the conveyor belt.

08.Keep Your Laptop Case Locked

In order to prevent someone from helping themselves to your other mobile gear and documents, keep your laptop bag locked. If you have it sitting on the floor by your feet it is possible for someone to get access to it unless it has been locked. Another reason for keeping your laptop case locked is so that someone is not able to put anything “extra” in your laptop case. An open case could be a tempting location for someone to drop an item into, then later take the case to get the item.

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How to Clean Your Laptop

When was the last time you cleaned your laptop? Yeah, we thought so. This simple computer maintenance task doesn’t just get rid of accumulated dirt and dust–it keeps your laptop running in tip top shape.

Laptop Parts to Clean

The five general parts of the laptop you should keep clean are  the case, the LCD screen, the laptop keyboard (and touchpad), the ports, and the cooling vents.

You can also open up your laptop to expose and clean its cooling system (the fan and heat sink), but only attempt that if you’re comfortable opening up your laptop.

Cleaning the cooling system can help solve laptop overheating problems and related symptoms like your laptop freezing or having issues shutting down.

As always, defer to your laptop manufacturer’s manual for the recommended procedure for laptop cleaning.

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Materials

You’ll need the following things to clean your laptop (click on the links to compare prices and buy them online):

  • Isopropyl alcohol, available at drugstores and supermarkets. Because it evaporates quickly and doesn’t leave a residue, isopropyl alcohol is safe to use on electronic equipment and LCD displays. Not safe to use: ammonia, tap water, mineral water, and household window cleaners.
  • Distilled or purified water or bottled water. Avoid tap water, which can leave permanent mineral spots.
  • Can of compressed air, also commonly available at many types of stores.
  • Lint-free cloth, like the kind used for cleaning eyeglasses. In a pinch, you can use a soft, 100% cotton cloth. Do not use: paper towels, facial tissues, or scratchy or abrasive cloths.

Prepare to Clean

  • Make sure the computer is off and unplugged, and remove the battery.
  • Make a 1:1 cleaning solution using the water and alcohol.
  • Dampen the cloth with the cleaning solution–it should be slightly moistened rather than very wet. Also, never spray anything directly on the computer; the liquid should go on the cloth first.

Clean the Laptop Case

Use the damp cloth to wipe down the exterior of the laptop. This will help you make it look brand-new again. Then open the lid and wipe the areas around your keyboard.

Clean the LCD Screen

Clean the display using the same cloth or a newly moistened one if the original is too grimy (again, don’t spray any solution directly on the screen). Use gentle circular motions or wipe the screen from left to right, top to bottom.

Clean the Keyboard and Touchpad

Use a can of compressed air to loosen and remove dirt, crumbs, and everything else that may be stuck in the keys. Alternately, you can turn the laptop over and gently shake out any loose debris, running your fingers over the keys to aid the process.

If you have stuck keys or a very dirty keyboard (due to spilled drinks, for example), you can also remove the individual keys and wipe beneath them with a cotton swab dipped in the cleaning solution. Be sure you check your laptop manual to make sure the keys can be removed for cleaning, and, of course, put them back the right way.

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Some laptops have drains built into the keyboard tray. If yours is like that, you can pour distilled water into the keyboard and let it air-dry. Check your manual to be sure.

Finally, use the damp cloth to wipe the keys and the touchpad.

Clean the Ports and Cooling Vents

Use the can of compressed air to clean the case openings: the ports and cooling vents. Spray from an angle so the debris is blown away from the computer, rather than into it.

Also, be careful when spraying the fans, because if you spray too hard liquid may get in the fan blades. To prevent the fans from over spinning while you’re blowing the air on them (which can damage the fans), place a cotton swab or toothpick between the fan blades to hold them in place.

Last But Not Least

Make sure your laptop is completely dry before turning it on.

A video of how to clean your laptop is also available if you’d like more visual instructions.

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Remove Your Laptop’s Battery When Plugged In

You might only use your laptop when it’s plugged in, or only remove it from the wall in rare occasions. Or, maybe you’re one to usually use it in portable mode, away from the wall. In either circumstance, is it better to remove the battery when it’s plugged in?

It might make sense to remove the battery to increase its overall life. However, it seems a bit odd to remove the battery each time you plug your laptop in.

Should you still do it?

The short answer is yes… and no. For the best battery life, you might consider removing the battery from your laptop, but only in certain scenarios.

When to Remove the Laptop Battery

Deciding when to remove the laptop from your battery is mostly determined by convenience.

One easy way to consider whether or not to remove your battery laptop when it’s being powered through the wall is to estimate how long you’ll have it plugged in. If you plan to use your laptop for six hours on a desk, plugged in, and then quit using it again until tomorrow, you might remove the battery.

However, if you’re mobile and are only planning to stay plugged in for an hour or so before you’ll need the battery again, it would make more sense to keep your laptop charged through the wall even with the battery attached. This is because shutting down the whole laptop, removing the battery, and then booting back up only to power down again, and reattach the battery shortly after (and then turn on the laptop again), is a waste of time.

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Another reason to remove the battery from your laptop is if you won’t be using it again for a while, whether attached to the wall or not. Sometimes, a laptop is only necessary for when you work away from home or want to play on your laptop when the weather is nice. If you won’t be using it for the next couple weeks, go ahead and remove the battery.

Something else to think about is whether the power in your building is reliable. If the electricity often disconnects or there’s a storm outside that could switch the power off at any moment, you should keep the laptop battery attached so that an interrupt won’t disrupt your work. That, or invest in a UPS, which is handy even for always-powered-on desktops.

Why Removing the Laptop Battery Can Be Beneficial

Laptop overheating is one of the worst things for all of the laptop’s hardware parts, including the battery, which can age much quicker when fully charged and hot for long periods of time.

Anyone with a laptop has surely experiencing a hot lap or near-burned skin from touching certain areas around the battery in times like these. While putting something like a pillow between you and laptop can help remove the heat from your skin, it’s not going to protect the battery from overheating.

Also, while some high-powered tasks like gaming and multimedia editing can drive up the amount of heat your laptop produces, and therefore abstaining can help reduce that heat, it’s still recommended to remove the battery if you won’t be needing it for extended periods of time.

How to Remove a Laptop Battery

You should always follow these steps in this order when removing the battery from a laptop:

  • Shut down the laptop.
  • Remove the power cable from the wall.
  • Remove the battery.
  • Reattach the power cable to the wall.
  • Power on the laptop.

How to Store Your Laptop Battery

The most common recommendation for laptop battery storage is to have it charged to about 40% (or somewhere between 30% and 50%) and then keep it in a dry place.

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Some manufacturers recommend a storage temperature of 68 and 77 degrees Fahrenheit (20 to 25 degrees Celsius), which isn’t too cold or too hot.

Some people actually keep batteries in the fridge, but you have to take care that the battery isn’t exposed to humidity and that you warm it up to room temperature before using it, which could be more hassle than it’s worth.

The Problem With Overheating Laptops

Laptops are unfortunately prone to overheating. Unlike desktop PCs, a laptop’s hardware components are in close proximity to each other with little room for air movement.

Plus, as a computer gets older, the components work less efficiently and can overheat easier. Also with time is the unfortunate fact that the inside of the case collects dust and other debris from the surroundings, which if left uncleaned, can force the fan and other parts to overwork.

The current trend towards miniaturization – stuffing faster processors into ever smaller cases – is also increasing the potential for laptops to overheat. In fact, researchers who are trying to solve the problem with nanoelectronics are predicting that if this continues, laptops will be as hot as the sun in a decade or two.

In other words, hot laptops are a real problem!

Dangers of Overheating Laptops

Even if it isn’t running at 6,000 degrees Celsius, if your laptop overheats, it can do some serious damage to both your body and the internal hardware.

A laptop that’s too hot can actually scald you. Sony recalled thousands of VAIO laptops due to possible burn hazards. There’s also some indication that working with a hot laptop in your lap, where they were designed to be, can potentially cause male infertility.

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Regarding the device itself, operating a laptop at very high temperatures leads to failed hardware components (video cards, motherboards, memory modules, hard drives and more are susceptible to damage) and decreases the lifespan of your computer.

It can also be a fire hazard; faulty laptops have actually burned down houses.

Signs of Laptop Overheating

So, what’s the difference between an overheating laptop and one that’s just a little hot? What about using laptop when it’s hot outside – is that okay? It’s important in any scenario to keep a watchful eye on what a hot laptop looks and feels like.

If your laptop feels hot and shows any of the problems below, chances are it’s overheating or getting there:

  • Ÿ The fan is constantly running and making loud whirring noises
  • Ÿ The computer is struggling to perform basic tasks like opening a new browser window
  • Ÿ Mysterious error messages are popping up in random programs
  • Ÿ Lines are showing up on your laptop screen (a sign your video card is overheating)
  • Ÿ The system is freezing or you’re getting the dreaded BSOD (Blue Screen of Death)
  • Ÿ The laptop abruptly shuts down on its own
  • Ÿ Certain areas of the bottom of the laptop are hot, like where the fan, RAM, processor, or battery are located

If your laptop is overheating, take steps immediately to cool down your laptop and prevent further overheating damage.

Note: Some of these signs just indicate slow or outdated software. For instance, a computer that has problems running certain applications doesn’t necessarily mean that it’s too hot, especially if it doesn’t even feel hot to the touch.

How to Test the Internal Temperature of Your Laptop

If your laptop is just plain hot, find out if it’s running too hot by using a free program to check the internal laptop temperature and find its optimal temperature.

Some system information tools support temperature readings too.

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On that note, having one of those programs on your computer has the added benefit of letting you check up other stats about your computer and not just the temperature of the internal components.

What to Do When a Laptop Gets Too Hot

There are a number of things you can do to address an overheating laptop. Here are some suggestions:

  • Ÿ The simplest solution is to just take a break from using it. If you’ve been on your laptop for six hours non-stop, it’s not uncommon for it to get hot
  • Ÿ Keep the laptop positioned on a flat, hard surface. Sitting it on your lap for an extended period of time can block the fan and make it harder for the internal parts to remain cool
  • Ÿ Replace the battery if it’s unable to hold a charge for very long
  • Ÿ Put your laptop into power save mode (from the Power Options Control Panel applet) to prevent it from using more power, which can make the battery area hotter than it needs to be
  • Ÿ Shut down programs that use lots of system resources. Something that’s using most of your RAM or CPU, or is always writing to the hard drive, forces those components to work, which can make them hot over time
  • Ÿ Buy a laptop cooler to sit your laptop on
  • Ÿ Open the laptop and blow out all the dust that has collected on the hardware

 

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