Toshiba SATELLITE PRO A120 manual Monitoring battery capacity, Maximizing battery operating time

Power and Power-Up Modes

Monitoring battery capacity

Remaining battery power can be monitored in TOSHIBA Power Saver.

■Wait at least 16 seconds after turning on the computer before trying to monitor the remaining operating time. The computer needs this time to check the battery’s remaining capacity and to calculate the remaining operating time, based on the current power consumption rate and remaining battery capacity. The actual remaining operating time may differ slightly from the calculated time.

■With repeated discharges and recharges, the battery’s capacity will gradually decrease. Therefore, an often used, older battery will not operate for as long as a new battery even when both are fully charged. In this case, TOSHIBA Power Saver will indicate a 100% charge for both the old and new battery, but the displayed estimated time remaining will be shorter for the older battery.

Maximizing battery operating time

A battery’s usefulness depends on how long it can supply power on a single charge.

How long the charge lasts in a battery depends on:

■How you configure the computer (for example, whether you enable battery-power saving options). The computer provides a battery save mode, which can be set in TOSHIBA Power Saver, to conserve battery power. This mode has the following options:

■CPU Processing speed

■Screen brightness

■Cooling Method

■System standby

■System Hibernation

■Monitor Power off

■HDD Power off

■How often and how long you use the hard disk, optical disc and the floppy disk drive.

■How much charge the battery contained to begin with.

■How you use optional devices, such as a PC card, to which the battery supplies power.

■Enabling Standby Mode conserves battery power if you are frequently turning the computer off and on.

■Where you store your programs and data.

■Closing the LCD display panel when you are not using the keyboard saves power.

■Operating time decreases at low temperatures.

6-8 User’s Manual