If you have experience using laptops, it is very likely that you have already noticed that one of its main problems is battery life , an element that is actually very sensitive, and if we do not take good care of it, it will end up forcing us to always use it connected to the network. electrical.
What’s more, if we don’t worry about taking care of it, we can run the risk of damaging it quickly, at which point the laptop would end up becoming a desktop PC, since its battery will not last long enough to be able to move it anywhere and work. with him anywhere.
If we take into account that, in the era of telework in which we have been immersed for months, laptops have become essential elements, sometimes their average useful life is actually very short, especially in terms of duration your battery is concerned.
Fortunately, it is possible to extend the use of the battery by adopting good practices.
Should we respect the charging and discharging cycles of a laptop battery?
The truth is that it is advice that, originally, today is not so appropriate. In fact, this pattern was true with older nickel-cadmium batteries, which required and needed regular charge and discharge cycles , even calibration, in order to always keep them in the best condition.
However, with the advent of Li-ion (lithium ion) batteries things have changed a bit. Thus, it is no longer necessary to respect the charge and discharge cycles .
However, this does not mean that this pattern cannot continue to work. Furthermore, it is advisable to at least carry out a full charge and discharge cycle once a month . This is known as calibration .
And doing it is actually extremely straightforward and simple. Simply let the laptop battery drain completely (ie go to sleep), then fully recharge it without interruption . In this way we will be able to keep it in good condition most of the time.
Is it necessary to completely drain the battery on a regular basis?
It is estimated that a complete discharge can cause the laptop to lose around 20 percent of the total capacity of a battery. Fortunately, the current versions of the newer operating systems are designed to put the computer to sleep and avoid reaching this level of download.
So if we see that the laptop suddenly shuts down, the battery will end up not losing its useful life.
Activate energy savings at all costs
When it comes to reducing the wear on the battery of our laptop, it is advisable to activate the energy saving mode , and that we can easily do in a few steps.
However, we must bear in mind something fundamental: opting for this setting can drastically reduce your performance, from the speed of the processor to the brightness of the screen.
For this reason, if you do not prefer to activate this mode, it is possible to avoid it by adopting some very simple and simple practical advice:
- When the laptop is not connected to the mains, turn off WiFi or Bluetooth, if possible.
- Disconnect all those devices that you are not using, from external hard drives to webcam, as they also tend to drain the battery.
- Manually reduce the brightness of the screen, perhaps by around 10, 20 or 30 percent, without reaching the abrupt savings of the power saving mode.
- In case our laptop is more than five or six years old, we can check if it is possible to replace its hard drive with an SSD drive. Not only is it a much faster option, but it also tends to consume much less energy.
It is not recommended to keep the laptop connected to the network all the time
According to Wired, those laptops that are permanently connected to the electrical network tend to fail earlier than those that are charged and discharged regularly. And this is even more true for those computers that are already more than 4 or 5 years old.
Although it is true that new innovations in this field have reduced the impact of continuous loading on most current laptops, it is still advisable to use the laptop disconnected from the network , if possible, most of the time.
And if we follow the advice of the experts to the letter, it is advisable to charge the laptop when the battery capacity has dropped to 40 percent , disconnecting it from the network when it is around 80 percent of its capacity.
Avoiding hot climates
Most electronic devices are characterized by being very sensitive to temperature, both at ambient and internal temperatures, which can increase dramatically when we push the laptop to the limit, editing photos or videos, or simply playing games.
This means that a laptop will perform much better in a very cool environment . In fact, if we are in the habit of using it regularly in a room with more than 26 degrees, it could end up aging prematurely. And, under these conditions, it can lose up to 30 percent of its capacity in just 3 months.
The most recommended? Avoid placing it in direct sunlight when we are working, and opt for those colder rooms when we work with it.
