Laptop batteries tend to wear out very quickly when people use them while the laptop is plugged in. In no time, you find that your battery won't allow you to watch a single movie after being fully charged. Now think about it, logically, plugging in your laptop while the battery is full doesn't make sense, unless you're working, using a program that doesn't have Autosave. What the manufacturer doesn't tell you, the buyer, is that your machine is usable without the battery, as long as your adapter is plugged in. Whenever I am watching videos, playing music, exploring my PC, or doing any other unimportant things, I will plug in my laptop to the charger/adapter, make sure that my battery is full and that the battery icon shows that the laptop is receiving AC power. I will then remove the battery. This way, your battery will wear slower because it is not being used the entire time. There have been times where I was careless, unplugging the cord after forgetting that I had removed the battery, but as time goes on, I got used to it and found that I never forget about it anymore. Right now I'm at a point where I rarely ever use my battery. Even when I'm using applications that do not save automatically. Your battery stays new for a very long time. It's good to have a strong battery, knowing that it'll be reliable when you really need it like when there's no electricity. There was one time where with a 2 year old laptop, I watched two standard definition movies rewinding here and there, before I got the 10% warning sign. For South Africans, in order to do this with your mind at ease, please make sure that load shedding is not scheduled in your area.
2) Monitor and reduce your CPU/RAM usage
Windows 7 comes standard with an application called 'Gadgets'. Luckily, you can find similar 3rd party applications with more features within them online for free. This application has a few features such as PC monitoring gauges, a clock, and weather forecasts. The one that we'll be using is the CPU meter. It shows a meter that measures the amount of CPU and RAM being used in real-time. I suggest pinning this on your desktop so that you can have easy access to it for viewing.
Why monitor your CPU and RAM?
At times, you find that your PC is slow and you do not know what the problem is. If your gauges are visible, you can immediately see whether the problem is with a CPU or RAM overload, or the application you're running is simply stalling by itself. If it happens that the gauges tell you that either your CPU or RAM is overloaded, you can go to your task bar, right click, and select "Task manager". Here you will see which applications are slowing down your PC and you can then close them by right clicking on them, and selecting 'End task'. Do not end a task if it is a system process. Monitoring and reducing the usage of your CPU and RAM, means your PC will stay cooler for longer, thus increasing the life of your PC on the long run. Buying a laptop and finding that it is no longer performing like it used to when it was new can be upsetting. Those were two of the most basic, non-technical ways to keep your laptop healthy for a longer period and enjoy your money's worth before deciding to get another one.
Peter Mokhothu
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