Teaching with Tablets

4. Cut down external devices

5. Add more RAM - This will allow you to process more with the memory your laptop has, rather than relying on virtual memory. 

6. Run off a hard drive rather than CD/DVD - As power consuming as hard drives are, CD and DVD drives are worse. 

7.  Keep the battery contacts clean: 

8. Take care of your battery - Exercise the Battery.

Also, do not let a Li-On battery completely discharge. (Discharing is only for older batteries with memory effects)

9. Hibernate not standby - Although placing a laptop in standby mode saves some power and you can instantly resume where you left off, it doesn’t save anywhere as much power as the hibernate function does. 

10. Keep operating temperature down

11. Set up and optimize your power options - Go to ‘Power Options’ in your windows control panel and set it up so that power usage is optimized (Select the ‘max battery’ for maximum effect).

12. Don’t multitask - Do one thing at a time when you’re on battery. 

13. Go easy on the PC demands - The more you demand from your PC.  Passive activities like email and word processing consume much less power than gaming or playing a DVD.  If you’ve got a single battery charge - pick your priorities wisely.

14. Get yourself a more efficient laptop

15. Prevent the Memory Effect - If you’re using a very old laptop, you’ll want to prevent the ‘memory effect’ - Keep the battery healthy by fully charging and then fully discharging it at least once every two to three weeks. Exceptions to the rule are Li-Ion batteries (which most laptops have) which do not suffer from the memory effect.

Bonus Tip #1: Turn off the autosave function. 

While it saves battery life in the beginning, you will want to make sure your work is saved when your battery dies.

Bonus Tip #2: Lower the graphics use.

Because some of these peripherals can draw a significant amount of power, you should consider unplugging them or turning them off in situations where you want to conserve battery power.

You can select from a number of power schemes that are available in Power Options in the Control Panel, you can adjust individual settings of any available power scheme, or you can create your own power schemes to suit your particular system and preferences.

You can put your computer in standby automatically or manually. Automatic standby is handled by your computer through the power scheme settings. If your computer is idle for a specified period of time, it goes into power-saving standby mode. Manual standby requires you to specify an action that puts your computer in standby mode—closing the lid of your computer, pressing the power button, or pressing the sleep button. You can also select standby when you shut down Windows from the Start button. For the best management of your battery power, you should consider initiating both automatic and manual standby.

Hibernate saves an image of your desktop with all open files and documents, and then it powers down your computer. When you turn on power, your files and documents are open on your desktop exactly as you left them.