If you’ve ever been in the frustrating position of needing to get something done while on the move, and having your notebook battery die, you know the mobile vicissitudes. As more and more people use hotspots, and compute on the go, I’m surprised that they often don’t follow simple, logical steps for extending battery life. Here are some good rules to follow.

Carry an Extra Battery. This is something I’ve been doing for years, and is the key to getting all day power. You can get an extra battery for your notebook for around $100 typically. If you spend around $200 to $300, you can get very long lasting power sources, such as Electrovaya’s.
Remove PC Cards When Not in Use. Many PC Cards draw a little power continuously even when you’re not using them. Remove them when not in use.
Conserving Power in Windows Vista. Vista has received much negative press for draining battery power quickly on notebook computers. You can get your battery to last a lot longer than it otherwise will by turning down the brightness, which especially makes sense if you are, say, just doing word processing and e-mail. Go to Control Panel/Power options/Advanced Settings/Display and cycle down brightness to 50 percent or lower.
Hibernate. Set the timer for your computer’s hibernate mode so that only a couple of minutes after you stop using it, it’s hibernating.
Use AC Power Outlets in Airports and Hotspots. You’d be surprised how easy it is to find these if you look around. AC outlets are often found around food service areas in airports and hotspots, and elsewhere.
Do you have any tips on getting better battery life?
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