How to optimize your laptop battery life?
A major problem plaguing laptop users is a short battery life. New features such as faster CPU's, GPU's, and wireless communication are constantly being added to laptops which contribute to the consumption of battery power.
Your battery carries a certain maximum charge. Every time your fully deplete the power equal to one maximum charge, your battery has gone through one cycle. For example, if your battery has a maximum charge of 5000 mAh (milliamp Hour), and you use this charge once (all 5000 milliamp hours), then you will have used one cycle. If you don't use the entire charge at once (which is more likely, as most of us commute or need to charge our notebooks whenever we have the opportunity), the calculation remains fairly basic.
The question is how to extend the battery life using Power Management and/or your computer’s power saving feature.
LCD brightness
Select a lower LCD brightness level for the setup item, LCD Brightness, of VAIO Power Management. The smaller the level number is, the darker the LCD turns and the longer the battery lasts.Select an LCD brightness level among from Level 9 (light) to Level 1 (dark). When No Change is selected both for Plugged in and Running on batteries, note that changing the power supply source does not affect the LCD brightness. You can change the LCD brightness, for example, with the keyboard of your computer. For more information, see the manual of your computer. On some models of the computer, Adaptive is additionally available for selection. When Adaptive is selected, the ambient luminance is measured for automatic adjustment of the LCD brightness.
Use power saving feature
Select VAIO Maximum Battery or VAIO Ultimate Battery in the Power schemes drop-down list on the Power Schemes tab. The selected power scheme option is displayed for Power Scheme on the Power Schemes tab. VAIO Ultimate Battery may not be available for selection, depending on the model of your computer. Provided for reducing power consumption by lowering the operation clock of the video chip. Select On or Off. Selecting On reduces power consumption.
Save power when not using your computer
When you temporarily leave your desk, place your computer on Standby. Standby refers to placing your computer in power saving mode while retaining the current work state. To place your computer on Standby, click Start, Power Options, and then Standby.
When you are not using your computer for a while, place your computer into Hibernate. Hibernate refers to shutting down your computer after saving the current work state into the hard disk. To place your computer into Hibernate, press and hold the Fn key and press the F12 key.
To use the battery longer, place your computer on Standby as often as possible. When you are not using your computer for a while, place your computer into Hibernate; and when you are not using it for the time being, shut down your computer.
You can recover the previous work state of your computer faster when your computer is in Hibernate than when it is shut down. If your computer is on Standby, it takes a much shorter time to recover the work state as compared with recovery from Hibernate.
Disconnect unused peripheral device.
Unplug the connector of unused peripheral devices from your computer. Select Enable, Disable, or No Change to specify power management of the Memory Stick slot. Selecting Disable disables the Memory Stick slot but reduces power consumption of your computer. When No Change is selected both for Plugged in and Running on batteries, note that changing the power supply source does not affect the power management of the Memory Stick slot.
Turn down the volume.
You can reduce power consumption by turning down or off the speakers and/or headphones volume. Use, for example, the keyboard of your computer to turn down or off the volume. For more information, see the manual of your computer. Select Enable, Disable, or No Change to specify power management of the audio feature. Selecting Disable disables the audio feature but reduces power consumption of your computer.
