Depending on your laptop’s model you can get anything from 1-hour usage to 12 hours, but there are things you can do to extend this even more by altering the settings on your laptop to make it more efficient.

To get started, find the battery icon on your Windows 7 laptop, it will be on the bottom taskbar near where the time is displayed. Click on this once as you would to check how much battery you have left. You’ll see a link called “more power options”, and you’ll open a control panel screen called power options, where you can change all sorts of settings. You’ll probably have been on this screen before to adjust how long your screen stays on when you leave it alone. This is basic power saving, but in this tutorial we’re going to be looking at more advanced options.

What you need to do is choose one of the existing power plans, and click on the link next to it that says “change plan settings”. This will take you to yet another screen where you can adjust sleep and display settings. Underneath all of this you’ll see another link called “change advance power settings”. Click on this to move onto the next step.

In the advanced power options you’ll find many different settings including video power settings, to hard disk settings, USB power settings, wireless adapter settings etc. You’ll find you can adjust all of these separately whether you’re running on power, or on battery, and this will enable you to fine tune your laptop for the tasks and environment you typically use it for.

To give an example, if you take your laptop to an office each day and plug it into the corporate network with a CAT5 cable, the chances are you don’t use Wi-Fi a great deal. If that’s the case, you can safely turn off power to your built in Wi-Fi adapter. This will save a small amount of power that could make the difference between working for 30 minutes or 35 minutes on the train-ride home.

Of course, we’re only really talking about squeezing the last few drops of power out of your battery with these settings. All the real savings are made by adjusting the basic settings to govern how long the hard-drive and screen stay on when you’re away from the laptop. However there are saving to be made here, especially with the hard disk, screen and Wi-Fi settings. These are typically some of the most power intensive devices in your laptop, so making savings where can here should increase the life of your battery. Once you’ve finished and you’re happy with the changes you’ve made, click okay to save your settings and close the screens. You may find you need to restart your computer before some of your new settings take effect.

Microsoft knows that and has created a Fix It to extend the battery life of mobile computers running Windows. The Fix It furthermore can be used to troubleshoot power consumption problems on the system.

Fix Its are tiny programs designed to troubleshoot, repair or optimize features and functions of the Windows operating system.

The programs can be started right after they have been downloaded to the local computer system. This particular Fix It can be run automatically or manually. When run automatically, it will scan power related settings and correct issues that have been found automatically. While that’s probably the better options for users without computing experience, it is suggested to run the manual power settings scan instead for detailed information about suggested fixes before they are applied to the operating system.

All power issues that have been found by the scan are listed, giving the user the chance to analyze them before they are applied.

Hovering the mouse cursor over a suggested fix displays a tooltip with additional information. These are usually good enough to understand the issue at hand. Checkboxes are provided to uncheck fixes so that they are not applied on the system.

A click on next runs the fixes that have not been unchecked. This does not take longer than a few seconds the most.

Some of the issues that the Fix It finds are:

• Period of time before the computer goes to sleep is set too long
• Screen saver is used instead of setting the computer to enter sleep mode
• Display brightness is set too high
• Power plan is not set to the most efficient power plan
• Wireless adaptor in not optimized for power saving
• Minimum processor state is set too high

Windows users can download the power consumption Fix It from the official Microsoft Support website. (via)

Battery indicators are part of nearly every modern operating system. They estimate the time that is left to use the device without power source.

The gadget PwrDrain does something different, which may make it interesting for some users. Instead of displaying the total power left, it shows the current power usage in realtime.

This way, you are informed automatically whenever the power use goes up or down. You can test the workings by increasing the brightness on your laptop, running a demanding Flash game or turning on WiFi.

The Windows gadget has two core uses. It can be used to get an understanding for a device’s power requirements. With time, you will know which features and settings increase the power and which reduce it or have no effect on the power use of the device. That’s handy to know when you run into situations where you need your device and want to make sure that it runs the maximum available time.

PwrDrain can also be used as an indicator that gives you direct information when power usage goes up. You could then return to the old settings provided that the change is not necessary to work with the system.

The gadget displays a meter in its interface, power use increases from left to right.

The gadget works on all devices that provide a power meter. While most do, some laptops and mobile devices don’t. The gadget won’t work on those devices then.

You can find out if the machine has a compatible power meter by going to Control Panel > System and Security > Administrative Tools > Power Meter. If the Add Counters dialog is not empty the device is compatible.

The PwrDrain gadget is compatible with Vista and Windows 7. It can be downloaded from the official project homepage at Google Code. (via)

It could become a problem if a USB hub is connected to the port that is powering multiple devices as it could mean that this exceeds the maximum power that can be supplied by the port. This could result in connection problems and even data loss.

A good start is to find out how much power the USB devices need before connecting them together to an USB hub. The free portable software USBDeview by Nirsoft can do that. Just download the software, unpack it and start it on the target computer system.

Power is one of the information provided by the application. You need to scroll a bit until you find the column as it is located near the end.

You need to click on the Power column title to sort the devices. Not every device requires power and this brings those that do to the top of the list. It is not always that easy to identify devices. The description and drive letter usually help out here. You can also try and disconnect devices and refresh the listing to identify it by looking at which device is missing from the listing after the disconnection.

Did you ever run into troubles running multiple USB devices on one USB port?

From using a new power cord to buying a plug adapter kit, there are a lot of choices. In fact, each day there are more choices to choose from as manufacturers are realizing that our world is increasingly wired and dependent on electricity to power our portable electronic gadgets. You can power with a cord, an adapter, a surge protector, or even solar panels, but the question remains, which one will work the best for your situation. Only you can know for sure. Of course, the more knowledge you have, the better the decision you can make.

Finding the right portable travel adapter can be a massive challenge. A smart solution will be something that will allow you to bring power to all of your personal electronic devices and at the same time provide you with the functionality and adaptability to prevent problems from happening with changes in voltage or current. The essential electronics you carry with you when you travel have a variety of needs and it’s important to realize that not all plug adapters are a one stop solution to your problems. When you are looking to power your important personal electronics be sure that you pay attention! These may be toys, but in fact, for most people, the electronics they travel with are much more than fun gadgets, they are essential to their work and to enjoying their time while away from home.

This article should provide you with a solid starting point in terms of how to maintain the quality of lifestyle you desire without leaving your electronic devices at home. While there are many different sources which offer you a ‘one stop shopping’ selection, you should be careful of anything that sounds perfect since in the world of electronics (as everywhere else) if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is!

The clever traveler wants to know all the options before they begin the process of making the sales decision. Power plug adapters are a great place to start. For most casual travelers, these simple devices will be ideal. Those who are planning to be in more than one electronics area, should consider a power adapter kit since they often deliver protection from power surges, power spikes, and allow you to change the tips depending on what country you happen to be traveling in. The huge benefit here is that you can avoid power problems such as damaging your important and delicate electronics or ruining your favorite gadget with an unexpected third world power surge.

Universal adapter kits are a great idea but be certain that they provide you with surge protection because the delicate motherboards and circuitry of today’s devices can be completely destroyed with one powerful surge of electricity. If that happens you can say goodbye to all of your data!

Power fluctuations are common in Eastern Europe, Africa, South America, and Asia. In fact, they happen in Western Europe and North America too but not on such a regular basis. The latest generation of power converters will not only protect you from surges but also automatically detect and adapt to the 110V or 220V settings.

Since the plugs in all countries are not the same, it’s important to make sure you have the UK, Europe, Italy, and North America tip kits. Different countries have different plugs and different voltages. Be sure to do your homework before you plug into a strange plug. Protect yourself! If you don’t have the right tip, you will not be able to plug in!

Another adapter that many travelers find handy is a USB plug in. This allows you to charge or power your device through the USB port of any computer. While this won’t work for all electronics, it certainly provides a decent solution for those who want to power their smartphone, MP3 player, PDA, or other ultra portable devices.

One of the latest additions to the market of charging your electronics on the go is the solar panel or the portable solar charger. Because of recent advances in the technology which produces solar cells, they can now be made flexible and this means that solar panels can be installed on every day travel items such as backpacks or rolled up into easy to carry bundles. While the idea of carrying your own power source might sound absurd to many people, in fact, it is a practical and easy solution. Since most portable items these days work on batteries and simply need to be charged, you can use the solar cells to charge your devices from just about anywhere! And in this case, you can buy the solar charger with a plug that is designed for your personal device, voltage, and current.

If you think you will have to be going to very sunny places to use the solar charger, think again. The solar chargers actually work on light, not only sunlight, so if you are going into a place where there is no light, you are out of luck (sorry spelunkers!) but if there is light whether it is natural or artificial, you can use the portable solar cells to power and charge your devices.

So, as you can see, the options are ever increasing in terms of ways in which you can power your portable devices. The most important thing is that you don’t need to worry about whether you can power your device in a foreign country. Of course you can!

Computer systems consume power. The amount of power depends on the system at hand. It can vary widely depending on the hardware build into the computer system. A high end user’s computer with the latest hardware will consume more power than an Office computer system that uses low end hardware. High end computer systems use 250 Watts or more per hour which equals 1 kWh every four hours of usage. The US average energy costs for 1 kWh are $0.11. This varies a lot in the country but also worldwide. The costs of 1 kWh in Germany average around $0.27 for example.

A computer running 24 hours a day using 100 Watts per hour will need 876 kWh a year which would equal $96 when using the US average and $236 in Germany. If the computer uses 250 Watts instead the costs would rise to 2190 kWh per year which would equal $240 in the US and $591 in Germany. Not all computer systems are running 24 hours though but it is probably good to know some maximum values. Keep in mind that energy costs are on the rise and that it will also reduce heat and noise.

1. Buy energy efficient products

Considering energy efficient products is a good way to save energy in the first place. Look for logos like the Energy Star to buy computer hardware that offers a good energy efficiency. Another good idea is to look for a 80+ power supply unit which is more energy efficient as well. (See 80 Plus Power Supply Units)

2. Use build in power saving features

Most operating systems come with power saving features that put hardware like hard drives or the computer monitor into idle mode or turn it off for the time it is not being used. Idle mode consumes between 20 to 50 times less energy. Windows users find the power saving settings in the Control Panel. It might be necessary to tweak the values for turning off the computer monitor, hard drives and setting a system standby time to suit the individual needs. A lower time will save more energy but is also likelier to affect work.

This also includes the possibility to underclock hardware. A high end video card is only needed with its full power when playing the latest computer games. It is definitely not needed in most other situations. Underclocking the video card will save energy (read create video card profiles to save power) The same is true for processors.

3. Turn down the brightness

Turning down the brightness of the computer monitor, or any other monitor actually, saves energy. This is actually a good tip for users with laptops, netbooks and other mobile devices including cell phones. It can also be helpful on desktop systems.

4. Turn off the monitor instead of using a screensaver

Screensavers do not save energy. Their function these days is reduced to visuals only. Turning off the computer monitor instead of running screensavers saves lots of energy.

5. Disable devices that are not needed

Laptops come with all sorts of devices that a user might not need. Each of the devices – if enabled – consume energy. A laptop user that uses the build in network adapter and a cable to connect to the Internet probably does not need Wi-fi, the build in modem, Bluetooth or infrared. The same might be valid for other devices like the DVD drive or sound card.

6. Turn off the computer

This might be an obvious tip but there are a few myths surrounding this. Some users think that turning off a computer will reduce its lifetime. Others believe that it will cost more power to turn the computer off and on again than to put it to hibernate mode.

It might not make sense to turn off a computer system when going on a 5 minute break but it definitely make sense for longer breaks, e.g. lunch or meetings.

7. Share hardware where appropriate

Hardware like printers, scanners or routers that are connected to a computer system are also using power. A way to save energy is to share these devices where possible. This does require some computer knowledge though.

Energy Saving Verdict: It is possible to save lots of energy by turning off devices when they are not needed. Buying energy efficient hardware and using power saving settings are the two other helpful options.

Do you have anything to add? Let us know in the comments.

Does it sound like a crazy sci-fi stuff to you? It did to me until I found out that the SPR Ltd. company standing behind the project gained a fund of L125.000 from the UK government for further development and improvement. I seriously doubt British government would invest such a pile of bucks into some kind of trickery. Moreover, despite all criticism and disbelief at the beginning, the scientists have proven their prototype worked exactly as presumed by mathematical calculations supplied by Dr. Richard Paris, prof. of math on the University of Abertay, Dundee. Their project is also supported by a large theory explaining the idea in the language far beyond my comprehension (I didn’t really even try to understand that stuff :).

So called “EmDrive” is an experimental thruster converting the electrical energy to a pure power – thrust – without using any conventional propellant in the conversion process. The experimental engine itself has a shape of cavity, wide on one side and narrow on the other side, while the microwave energy is being put in from the source on the narrow side and so called “net force” (thrust) being emitted on the other side.

The project has been divided into 3 periods; The first generation engine was only supposed to become a proof of concept working in the room temperature and lifting a small weight. The second generation experimental engine supported by the grant from UK government was able to make a 100 kg weighing platform slowly move when propelled with an input power of 334 W (watch video). That’s definitely not worth the consumptive power you might say and you’d be right. But this is not where it ends.

After approving the calculations and checking that it obeys all physical laws the third generation superconducting engines are coming. This is where it starts to be really interesting. According to their claims, such superconducting engine should be able to lift an object weighing up to 3 tons when using an input power of 1 kW (!); That means it would be theoretically possible to lift 3 tons with an engine supplied by 2 or 3 computer PSU…

It’s always possible that something goes wrong but as all tests and calculations are showing, this project looks really promising at the moment. The main aspect that made me start to believe this might be true was the fact that British government supports it. Maybe the time of hovercraft’s is simply closer than we are willing to believe…

Additional information:
EmDrive.com
NewScientist.com
TheEngineer.co.uk