make HP Laptop Battery last longer?

SimpLe SI

SimpLe SI

New Member
At the moment my fully charged HP dv9000 battery only lasts about 1 hour, and thats when its in power saving mode, screen closed and only playing winamp. I've been through all the advanced power saving options to try fully make optimal use of my battery power. Is there any software or any particular method to make my laptop battery last longer?
 

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SimpLe SI said:
At the moment my fully charged HP dv9000 battery only lasts about 1 hour, and thats when its in power saving mode, screen closed and only playing winamp. I've been through all the advanced power saving options to try fully make optimal use of my battery power. Is there any software or any particular method to make my laptop battery last longer?
Click to expand...
hi SimpLe SI and welcome to the forums, how long have you had the notebook? is the notebook constantly plugged in? i suspect that your battery has passed its useful life span.
 

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  • Manufacturer/Model
    Custom Build
    CPU
    Intel Q6600 @ 2.8GHz
    Motherboard
    Evga NF78-CK-132-A 3-Way SLI
    Memory
    8Gb DDR2 Corsair Dominator @ 1066Mhz 5-5-5-15
    Graphics card(s)
    EVGA 560 GTX SC FTW 1GB
    Sound Card
    Realtek ALC888 7.1 Audio, Logitech G35 7.1 Surround Headset
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Dell S2409W 16:9, HDMi, DVI & VGA
    Screen Resolution
    1920 x 1080
    Hard Drives
    Samsung 7200rpm 250Gb SATA, Samsung 7200rpm 750Gb SATA, WD 7200rpm 1TB SCSI SATA.
    PSU
    Xigmatek 750W Quad sli quad core 80% eff
    Case
    Antec 900 Gaming Case
    Cooling
    Zalman CNPS9700-NT NVIDIA Tritium, Dominator RAM cooler
    Mouse
    Razor Lachesis Banshee V2 Blue, 4000DPI
    Keyboard
    Logitech generic keyboard
    Internet Speed
    16Mb Sky bb
    Other Info
    Wireless Gaming Receiver for Windows, Wireless Xbox 360 Pad, Wireless Xbox 360 Les Paul Guitar
have had my laptop for the last 2 yrs and its pretty much always plugged in. How long should a laptop battery last for, especially if its just playing winamp?
 

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How long did the battery last before? Some batteries just die early, go buy a new one.
 

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  • Manufacturer/Model
    Airbot 2.0
    CPU
    Core i7 920 (D0) @ 4Ghz, 26c idle- 65c full load on air
    Motherboard
    Asus P6X58D Premium -Sata 6Gb/s - USB 3.0
    Memory
    12GB Corsair Dominator -CMD12GX3M6A1600C8
    Graphics card(s)
    EVGA Nvidia GTX 480 -Fermi
    Sound Card
    ASUS Xonar D2X
    Monitor(s) Displays
    LG 24" Flatron W2453V-PF Full HD 1080p 2ms response time
    Screen Resolution
    1920x1080@60hz
    Hard Drives
    1 OCZ Vertex2 180GB SSD 1 TB Samsung Spinpoint F1 7200RPM 32MB cache 2 500GB WD Caviar Blacks 7200RPM 32MB cache (WD5001AALS) Pioneer DVD Burner DVR-S18M
    PSU
    Corsair HX1000W
    Case
    Cooler Master HAF 932
    Cooling
    Case Fans -3 230mm, 1 140mm/CPU - Tuniq Tower 120 Extreme
    Mouse
    Logitech Wireless MK700
    Keyboard
    Logitech Wireless MK700
    Internet Speed
    100 MBPS DL 30.17Mbps UL 0.98Mbps
    Other Info
    Windows 7 Processor-7.7 RAM- 7.9 Graphics-7.9 Gaming Graphics- 7.9 HDD- 7.8 W.E.I final score= 7.7 Windows Vista=5.9
As stated above, after 2 years of being plugged in constantly, the battery could be near end of life. Better to unplug the computer and let the battery run down every couple of weeks. Or better yet, remove the battery if computer is plugged in for extended periods.

That said, you can check to see if something is going on that is demanding constant CPU utilization and running it down. Open Task Manager and at the bottom of the window the CPU utilization (when the computer is completely booted and idle) should stay down below 5% with only occasional spikes up to perhaps 10 or 15%. Any more than this could indicate a problem.
 

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SimpLe SI said:
have had my laptop for the last 2 yrs and its pretty much always plugged in. How long should a laptop battery last for, especially if its just playing winamp?
Click to expand...
if its idle and only the hard drives are using power, then usually about 4-6 hours, because you have had the laptop for 2 years and its always plugged in, i advise you get a new battery as soon as possible.
 

My Computer

System One

  • Manufacturer/Model
    Custom Build
    CPU
    Intel Q6600 @ 2.8GHz
    Motherboard
    Evga NF78-CK-132-A 3-Way SLI
    Memory
    8Gb DDR2 Corsair Dominator @ 1066Mhz 5-5-5-15
    Graphics card(s)
    EVGA 560 GTX SC FTW 1GB
    Sound Card
    Realtek ALC888 7.1 Audio, Logitech G35 7.1 Surround Headset
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Dell S2409W 16:9, HDMi, DVI & VGA
    Screen Resolution
    1920 x 1080
    Hard Drives
    Samsung 7200rpm 250Gb SATA, Samsung 7200rpm 750Gb SATA, WD 7200rpm 1TB SCSI SATA.
    PSU
    Xigmatek 750W Quad sli quad core 80% eff
    Case
    Antec 900 Gaming Case
    Cooling
    Zalman CNPS9700-NT NVIDIA Tritium, Dominator RAM cooler
    Mouse
    Razor Lachesis Banshee V2 Blue, 4000DPI
    Keyboard
    Logitech generic keyboard
    Internet Speed
    16Mb Sky bb
    Other Info
    Wireless Gaming Receiver for Windows, Wireless Xbox 360 Pad, Wireless Xbox 360 Les Paul Guitar
I undervolted my 1 year old laptop's processor and noticed a 45 minute increase in battery life. Here's a good guide I found and used. It does take some time to get stable results though - took me a total of about 6 hours approx. I didn't do it all in one day though.

Also, I don't know how to do it through Windows, or if you even can, but my Acer's battery management software has an option to cap the clock speed to 900MHz from 1.6GHz on the 'power saver' setting. I usually use that when on battery.
 
Last edited:

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System One

  • Manufacturer/Model
    Acer Aspire 5630
    CPU
    Intel Core 2 Duo T5500 1.66GHz 65nm 667MHz FSB 2MB L2
    Motherboard
    Acer Grapevine Intel i945GM Chipset
    Memory
    2x1GB DDR2 333MHz
    Graphics card(s)
    Intel Integrated GMA 950 256MB
    Sound Card
    Realtek High Definition Audio
    Monitor(s) Displays
    15.4" WXGA Acer CrystalBrite LCD 16ms
    Screen Resolution
    1280x800
    Hard Drives
    200GB 5400rpm Toshiba MK2035GSS ATA-7, 250GB 7200rpm Maxtor External USB Hard Drive
Before buying a new battery...I suggest trying to unplug the Laptop.... do something on the laptop till the battery drains out completely. Recharge the battery, unplug it then use the laptop unplugged...if after a few cycles of this routine you don;t notice a battery life improvment, replace the battery
 

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Clevo said:
Before buying a new battery...I suggest trying to unplug the Laptop.... do something on the laptop till the battery drains out completely. Recharge the battery, unplug it then use the laptop unplugged...if after a few cycles of this routine you don;t notice a battery life improvment, replace the battery
Click to expand...
When I was looking into buying a Macbook Pro, I read about cycling the battery every week or so as it helps increase battery life, and I remember reading that this only works on 'smart' batteries or something. Is this true, or is this something you can/should do on all batteries?
 

My Computer

System One

  • Manufacturer/Model
    Acer Aspire 5630
    CPU
    Intel Core 2 Duo T5500 1.66GHz 65nm 667MHz FSB 2MB L2
    Motherboard
    Acer Grapevine Intel i945GM Chipset
    Memory
    2x1GB DDR2 333MHz
    Graphics card(s)
    Intel Integrated GMA 950 256MB
    Sound Card
    Realtek High Definition Audio
    Monitor(s) Displays
    15.4" WXGA Acer CrystalBrite LCD 16ms
    Screen Resolution
    1280x800
    Hard Drives
    200GB 5400rpm Toshiba MK2035GSS ATA-7, 250GB 7200rpm Maxtor External USB Hard Drive
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