Maximizing work time

Your PowerBook’s battery can provide from 2 to 6 hours of work
time before you need to recharge it. The actual work time
available depends on what equipment you’re using with your
computer and what steps you take to conserve power while you
work.

Ways to conserve battery power

The more of these steps you take, the longer you can use your
battery before recharging it.
nTurn down the screen brightness whenever possible. At its
brightest level, the screen consumes about a third of the
power your computer is using.
nKeep screen dimming turned on in the PowerBook control
panel. This feature dims your screen automatically if you
haven’t used the computer for a few minutes.
nAdjust the battery conservation settings in the PowerBook
control panel for maximum conservation.
nKeep processor cycling turned on in the PowerBook control
panel; set the computer’s microprocessor to run at a reduced
speed; and keep the automatic power conservation settings
turned on. The rest of this section describes these settings in
detail.
nKeep virtual memory turned off in the Memory control panel.
nIf your computer has 6 MB of memory or more, use a RAM
disk as your startup disk to minimize hard disk use.
nQuit any program that uses a modem unless you’re using the
program for telecommunication. As long as the program is
open, your modem is consuming power.
nIf you’re working near an electrical outlet, plug in the power
adapter.
nIf you aren’t using the computer, put it to sleep and plug in
the power adapter.
nIf you have a PowerBook Duo 270c, use the Battery
Reconditioning application every 30 days.
Chapter 6: Power Management 99Chapter 6: Power Management 99