Also, pay attention to hibernation modes. So, where do you start? You can begin by visiting the power settings corner of your laptop and learning how your battery works and what battery settings to enable. Over time, each charge cycle decreases a battery's capacity from its design specifications, meaning that the fewer times you drain it, the longer the battery lasts – all other things being equal. A discharge down to 50% and then back to 100% would equal half a cycle. Essentially, a charge cycle equals one full discharge down to 0% and then a recharge back up to 100%.
Mark Coppock / Digital Trends Save cycles, save your batteryĪll laptop batteries are built to handle a certain number of charge cycles, usually somewhere around 500 full cycles – and sometimes even more.
Our tips apply to lithium-ion batteries, which are, by far, the most widely used batteries in modern laptops. Every machine is a little different, so finding out as much as you can about your laptop and its battery is important. Unlike many desktop computers, there isn't a one-size-fits-all approach to laptops.
