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    Extending battery life

    Discussion in 'Alienware 17 and M17x' started by YungDad, Jun 9, 2012.

  1. YungDad

    YungDad Notebook Enthusiast

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    I plan on taking it to school so I need that battery to last as long as possible. Would dual booting a linux OS like Puppy and using that for school help?
     
    YungDad, Jun 9, 2012
    #1
  2. Mobius 1

    Mobius 1 Notebook Nobel Laureate

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    Switch to integrated graphics (HD 3000 or HD 4000), and dim screen brightness
     
    Mobius 1, Jun 9, 2012
    #2
  3. MegaSquishyMan

    MegaSquishyMan Notebook Enthusiast

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    also:

    lower min (0%) and max cpu (50%) usage
     
    MegaSquishyMan, Jun 9, 2012
    #3
  4. aarpcard

    aarpcard Notebook Deity

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    Buy a 2nd battery and switch to that when 1st one is dead.
     
    aarpcard, Jun 9, 2012
    #4
  5. sgogeta4

    sgogeta4 Notebook Nobel Laureate

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    No outlets at your school?

    Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk
     
    sgogeta4, Jun 9, 2012
    #5
  6. YungDad

    YungDad Notebook Enthusiast

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    I haven't start yet, won't until the fall, but you can't always count on an outlet being available anywhere.
     
    YungDad, Jun 9, 2012
    #6
  7. Sekmeth

    Sekmeth Notebook Guru

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    Disable....

    - "lightning" keyboard function
    - wifi&blutooth when no need

    and of course, shut down the speakers.

    A tip is installing all software you need at school in your house: that will prevent you to install it at classroom when you are in battery mode. :)
     
    Sekmeth, Jun 10, 2012
    #7
  8. 4LS

    4LS Notebook Enthusiast

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    Shut down your speakers, switch off the graphics card and wireless card when you aren't using them, dim the brightness and and turn off AlienFX (this can actually give you like 10 more minutes of battery life). I've actually gotten about 3.5+ hours out of my R3 before. If I'm using Photoshop, I can get about 2.5-3 hours out of it.
     
    4LS, Jun 13, 2012
    #8