This is such a simple thing to do. But most of us have not even noticed it. You can improve performance of your laptop instantly just by changing the default power plan.
Estimated reading time 3 min
The issue
All laptops have the power plan Balanced selected as the factory setting. That way, you get a balance between speed and power consumption.
Most of us never change the plan. So what happens?
You NEVER get the full power of processing from your laptop. You are always working on suboptimal performance.
This matters if you reach performance limit often – like if you are using complex graphics in PowerPoint or if you are using large Excel data files and so on.
Solution is common sense based and extremely simple. It does require little extra effort from your side – but that effort is absolutely worth it.
The solution
Click on the battery icon in status bar and choose Power Options. Or Search for Power Options in Start menu.
The concept is simple. If you are connected to a power source, use the High Performance option. This helps you get your work done faster which saves you time.
If you are on battery, you would obviously want to conserve it. So choose the Power Saver option.
Balanced profile neither gives you good battery life nor great performance.
That is why we should never use it.
More ideas for improving battery life
- Choose Power Saver plan
- Remove external drives. Remove CD / DVD disk if inserted.
- Reduce screen resolution to minimum required
- Close unwanted applications
- Remove mouse and other peripheral devices
- Planning is important. If you want to get the work done while battery is low, you must reduce the number of activities you perform. This is best done by planning your exact actions BEFORE you switch on the laptop. I am sure you have not tried this. Check it out – it gives amazing results.
- Turn off WiFi. Yes you may need internet connection for working. But you can plan it in such a way that you finish all the offline work and then pool all the online activities. That way you can reduce the usage of internet to a bare minimum.
- If you are using Office, disable Live Preview (usually this feature requires high processing power).
- Disable Contextual Spelling Check in Word
If you know more ideas – post them here!
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One Response
Some more power saver tips:
1. Reduce screen brightness to minimum comfortable level (bonus: reduces eyestrain)
2. Disable screen saver – especially if it’s an animated one
3. Customize your power saver plan so that the display dims to 30% after 5 minutes of inactivity, and goes off after 10 minutes of inactivity.