How To Get The Best Laptop Battery Life

Take a look at our top tips for getting the most life out of your notebook off the plug; we review everything from screen brightness to wireless card usage.

Here are some tips to teach you how to  increase your laptop battery life:

1.Reduce Your Screen Brightness

The most notable consumer of power in a notebook computer is the screen. Notebook makers have alleviated this somewhat in recent years by switching from CCFL backlighting units to LED, but the fact remains.
First, here’s how to adjust your screen brightness in Windows 7 and 8/8.1:

• In the system Tray, click the power plug/battery icon
• When the pop-up appears, click More power options
• The next screen will show you the available power plans; the one that’s currently selected will be bolded. Click the Change plan settings link next to it
• Now you’re looking at settings specific to your current power plan. The power plan has different settings depending on whether you’re using AC power or on battery. Move the Adjust plan brightness slider to the desired position for On battery mode and then click the Save changes button to apply your settings.

We suggest you begin by moving the slider all the way to the left (minimum brightness) for the On li-ion laptop battery settings and moving it up bit by bit until it’s comfortable. Remember to keep the brightness as low as you can because even reducing screen brightness by 10 percent can significantly extend how long your notebook lasts unplugged.
One brightness setting will not fit all situations; you may have to increase the brightness in a sunlit room to make the screen usable, for example.

2.Avoid Resource-Intensive Activities
Two other leading consumers of electric power in a notebook computer are the processor (CPU; Central Processing Unit) and the graphics card (GPU; Graphics Processing Unit). The processors and graphics cards used in notebook computers are specially designed to be most efficient at lower power states; they can throttle back their operating frequency (GHz) and voltage to very low levels. They’re only able to do this however when the user is not running strenuous activities that require significant processing power. Strenuous activities include but aren’t limited to the following:

• Photo and video editing
• Playing video games including 3D and Flash/browser-based games
• Playing video, especially HD

The CPU and/or GPU will use more power while performing the activities above. Here are examples of activities that require very little processing power for modern computers:

• Web browsing (standard; non-Flash-based websites)
• Word processing
• Music playback

In other words, try to plan what you’re going to do on your notebook in advance while on battery.

Review of Toshiba Tecra Z50 A-12K laptop

 

Advantages: The slim, lightweight Toshiba Tecra Z50 A-12K laptop still feels very premium, and it deserves credit for being one of the first Windows laptops to feature a better-than-HD display. Thanks to an updated CPU, Toshiba battery life is now good enough for all-day use. It is slim and always stays cool. Should the bosses give it an open-ended contract as soon as possible? We will clarify that in this review of the business laptop.

The material has not been changed and thus everything still has a high-quality feel here. The casing's silver-gray color merges seamlessly in every surrounding. It is well built and features an all-over high-quality feel.

 Disadvantages: Higher-res screens are more common now, and available for less. The generic brushed-metal look isn't particularly distinctive given the price.  

The screen of Toshiba Tecra Z50 A-12K is not as pliable as in the smaller model, and the base unit is just as rigid. The keyboard is still a bit too yielding though. The hinges have a fairly firm hold on the display, but they cannot prevent slight wobbles.

No compromises have to be made in the diversity of interfaces despite the slim and light casing. A Gigabit LAN port, HDMI and VGA out are all available in their full size and without a foldout mechanism. Some users will perhaps miss an ExpressCard slot, or a DisplayPort. However, a total of four USB ports are installed, three of which support the USB 3.0 standard.

Roughly 10 months later, the second-gen Kirabook aims to correct at least a few of these missteps, and thanks to a new processor and some adjustments to features and prices, it feels like a much better machine, despite offering no overhaul of the physical design. 

As mentioned, a Gigabit LAN port is just as available as a Wi-Fi module that also supports the newest 802.11 ac standard. Thus, high-speed wireless networks with a data throughput of up to 1300 Mbps are possible. Mobile Internet is also available and supports the swift LTE standard.

Toshiba does not offer many special accessories for its Tecra Z50 A-12K. Nothing but the power supply, a few instructions and descriptions are found in the box.

The port replicator that we described in the review of the Toshiba Tecra Z40 A-147 notebook costs 249 Euros (~$338). It adds six USB ports, a DisplayPort, a DVI port and extended audio ports.

 

Review of Asus UX32LA-R3025H laptops

Asus Zenbook line is continually growing. In the meantime, the premium and at the same time mobile ultrabooks from Asus are available in the most different configurations. For example, with Intel's integrated HD graphics in the ASUS UX32LA-R3025H or with a dedicated Nvidia graphics chip from the latest generation, together with a Full HD screen in the UX32LN-R4053H for 200 Euros more that we recently tested. All Zenbook family members have the newest processor technology, a high-quality aluminum build, and slim dimensions for mobile use in common.

In addition to the economic Intel Core i5 4200U with an integrated Intel HD graphics and a 13.3-inch screen, Asus' Zenbook UX32LA-R3025H has even further tidbits. Besides a swift 128 GB SSD, the ultrabook can fall back on 8 GB of working memory, and a long-lasting 50 Wh battery with good runtimes.

Another advantage of this construction is found in the casing's stability and rigidity. It is not possible to dent or significantly warp the Zenbook's surface even with stronger pressure. This is also true for the display protected by an aluminum back.

 
 Just like the other members of the Zenbook family, the ASUS UX32LA laptop only provides an average interface diversity in all its configurations: three USB 3.0 ports, an SD card reader, and an audio jack. The Ethernet port is only included in the form of an adapter cable - likely because almost everyone uses Wi-FI at home or on the move nowadays. As to video-out, an HDMI port is combined with an adjacent mini-DisplayPort out. Consequently, the Zenbook can also deal with 4K material. An older VGA port is no longer installed, but an adapter cable is also included for this version.


 

Besides a slim, 65-watt power supply and the usual brochures, the UX32LA-R302H comes with both a VGA adapter for the mini-DisplayPort and and Ethernet adapter for a USB port. Asus also includes a small, yet high-quality sleeve. It not only looks good, it also protects the Zenbook from scratches and light shocks.

Asus installs a 13.3-inch screen with a native resolution of only 1366 x 768 pixels in this configuration of the Zenbook UX32LA. The resulting pixel density of not quite 118 ppi is of course higher than in 15-inch models, but considerably lower than in devices with a Full HD screen. The pixel density would be at least 165 ppi here, and would make a much sharper image possible. 1920 x 1080 pixels should be standard in 800 Euro ultrabooks, and also certainly offer the best value for money ratio. Other models also sport a 2K resolution, or even 3200 x 1800 pixels as in the case of Samsung's ATIV Book 9 Plus 940X3G. This is almost a bit exaggerated in a 13.3-inch device, especially since these pixel densities only lead to a marginally noticeable quality improvement, but a considerably higher price.