For anyone using a laptop, one of the most frustrating things is when the battery starts to give you problems. On a machine that’s 3 or 4 years it’s quite normal for some people to not be able work without plugging the laptop into power. But there are ways to begin making the most of your laptop battery. Read on for our advice.

Most modern laptops use Lithium-ion batteries, a particular type of battery that has its own characteristics. Previously, manufacturers used different types of batteries, and it was often recommended that you charged to 100% and then let it drain to (as close to as possible) empty, or you may suffer from charge memory which would reduce the battery’s life. That method though is a bad thing for Lithium-ion.

Keep the electrons flowing

Unlike previous generations of battery, Lithium-ion doesn’t have a ‘charge memory’, so full discharges are not necessary. In fact, its much better to keep topping up the battery at regular intervals. That way, when you need battery power for a longer period the battery condition should be good enough to give you the time you need.

To keep the electrons flowing means continuous small discharging and recharging of the battery. Think of your battery as a bottle of water; take a swig, fill it up at a tap whenever you can. If you only fill up when the bottle is empty, you might well be without water when you need it.

Software help

There are applications available which will help you et the best of your battery. The best of these is in my opinion is Fruitjuice which is available from the app store at £7.99. I appreciate this seems like a lot of money for something to monitor your battery, but having used this on my 2 year old laptop since purchase, I’m still seeing the battery having around 94% of its original capacity, and I generally have a full, or close to full, battery whenever I need to go out.
Fruitjuice will give you recommendations tailored to you about how to get the best from your battery, advising you how many hours you should try to run on battery each day to improve its condition, telling you when to plug and unplug power to get the best out of your battery short term and long term.

iOS devices

Of course the advice above is targeted at laptops, but the batteries in iPhones and iPads are very similar, so we recommend a similar ‘keep the electrons flowing’ strategy for these devices too. I’ve not found anything quite as useful as Fruitjuice for iOS yet (possibly because iOS wouldn’t support them), but there are plenty of apps out there that will give you battery information. Unfortunately they only give generic advice about battery management, so I can’t really recommend any one over any of the others in particular.

If you need any further advice, or your battery needs servicing or replacement, please do get in touch and we’ll set you on the right path.