Laptop Battery

[poppyjr]

My husband bought himself a small laptop, Acer Aspire E15 and it is supposed to have 5-7 hrs battery life, we are both beginners in this but we are only getting about 2hrs is this normal and what can we do about it ? Can we use it permanently on the mains lead or will this ruin the battery?

[SirOracle]

You can use it permanently on the mains poppy.

[Old_Geezer]

I can not believe there will be any problem running it on mains. I assumed this was the usual practice when not away from the mains socket.

Can't comment on the short time the battery lasts though.

[hc4361]

What are you doing with it when you are using it?
Do you have the screen as bright as it can possibly be?
Is it set to 'high performance' or 'energy saving' mode?

You can use it permanently on the mains but I suggest you either remove the battery or use it on battery only once a week or so and run the battery down to about 80% before plugging it back in to the mains.

What Operating System does it have? Windows 8, Windows 7, something else?

[Hopkirk]

I was told that leaving the mains lead connected when it is already fully charged harms the battery.

I am willing to be corrected though.

[poppyjr]

I have no idea whether it is high performance or energy saving, how do I find out ? It is on operating system Windows 8.1. If it is okay to use it on mains we will do this and as hc4361 said, use it on battery about once a weekand let it run down.

[poppyjr]

hopkirk, re using it on mains, my brother in law told me it would ruin the battery!

[Buenchico]

There's no problem using the laptop solely with the mains supply.

The BIG drain on laptop's battery power is usually the screen. Reducing the brightness often makes a BIG difference to battery life. (My netbook has around 8 hours battery life with the brightness set low but only around 2 hours battery life with it really turned up high).

To adjust the brightness, look for coloured keys similar to those shown in the examples here:
http://cdn.computerhope.com/laptop-brightness-keys.jpg
Then look for a key marked 'Fn' in the same colour.
Pressing Fn and a brightness adjustment key at the same time will increase or decrease the brightness.

[ummmm]

Using it on the mains is fine but you should occasionally let the battery run down.

[Old_Geezer]

I'm not sure, I suspect you could Google it, but I think it depends on the type of rechargeable cell as to how well it copes on trickle charge once at 100%. It is my belief it isn't a big deal these days.

[hc4361]

Power options on W8.1

Right click on the Windows icon bottom left of your screen and then click 'Power Options'. Choose energy saver (or whatever term Acer uses).

Some tasks use much more energy than others. Video editing uses a lot of energy, for example.

Make sure your laptop's air vents are not obstructed. Keep it off soft surfaces such as cushions - air must be able to circulate.

[poppyjr]

Thank you all for your help, I have changed to energy saver and reduced brightness of screen, hopefully will be better.