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Laptops equipped with Intel® Centrino® Processor Technology deliver exceptional mobile performance with power efficient technologies specifically designed to enable great battery life+. But this is only one part of the equation. There are eight other areas where your notebook uses battery power. By optimizing these areas, you can optimize your notebook's battery life.
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CPU (Central Processing Unit)
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The CPU in your notebook uses about 10 percent of your power. If you buy a notebook equipped with Intel® Centrino® Processor Technology, you can enjoy exceptional mobile performance, plus power-saving features that enable great battery life. Because the Intel® Pentium® M processor was designed with mobility in mind, it's a better choice for on-the-go computing.
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Much like the CPU, the chipset is designed to use as little power as is possible. It does, however, dissipate power through leakage. Use built-in power management devices, which is usually located in the "Notification Area" (bottom right hand corner on Windows* operating systems). Enable this feature and set your system to "Battery Optimized" mode or "Max Battery" mode. Also, wireless Internet uses power even when it's not in use, so disable this when you're not online to reduce power consumption.
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LCD (Liquid Crystal Display)
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Your LCD uses approximately 33 percent of your overall power usage. The size of your screen can affect power consumption—a larger screen requires more power. However, the single greatest LCD culprit is your backlight—a small, fluorescent tube. The brighter the screen, the harder that tube has to work. You can dim the screen/LCD brightness and choose a working environment with adequate lighting—less bright means you'll drain less power from your battery. You can also put your computer to sleep earlier.
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Your notebook has an internal fan that's designed to regulate the temperature and keep the machine running properly. More often than not, the fan is off, and typically accounts for only two percent of power usage. But high power applications force your CPU to work harder and programs use energy even wile sitting idle. That generates heat, prompting your fan to turn on which uses more energy. If you close unused applications, you will optimize battery life.
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Power Supply/Battery Technologies
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Power supplies convert unregulated battery power to regulated voltage levels to safely power the CPU and chipset. However, this creates a power loss that can account for up to 10-15 percent of the total platform power usage. You can help this by cleaning your battery. Rub the battery's metal contacts with rubbing alcohol every two months (let dry before reinstalling).
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External graphics offer fast performance—but can use eight percent of your battery power. Though you can't see it, the graphics on your screen are actually composed of millions of constantly moving dots. If you're watching a movie, those dots refresh more often, and more refreshes require more power. If you defer higher intensity tasks, like DVD viewing, to when you're plugged in you will improve battery life.
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Other USB, External Devices, and PC Cards
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Other platform variables account for about eight percent of your power usage. Unplug or remove these when they aren't being used.
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Together, your hard disk drive and your DVD drive can account for 10 percent of your power usage. By adding RAM to your system, computing instructions can be processed faster, which decreases hard drive activity and conserves power.
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Optimizing Battery Life
Related Links
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