Checking The Battery Level; Prolonging The Battery's Life And Usage Cycles - Alienware Area-51 m5500 User Manual

chapter 3 battery power & power management

Checking the Battery Level

You can check the remaining battery power in the Windows battery
status indicator, which is located at the lower right-hand corner of
the task bar. (If you do not see a battery or AC-in icon on the task
tray, go to the Power Options Properties box and click on the
Advanced tab. Check off ``Always show icon on the task bar``.)
Alternatively, you can access the power meter by clicking the
Power Options icon in the Windows Control Panel.

Prolonging the Battery's Life and Usage Cycles

There are things you can do to prolong the use of the battery:
Use the AC adapter wherever an AC wall outlet is available. This
will ensure uninterrupted computing.
Purchase an additional battery pack.
Store the battery pack at room temperature. Higher
temperatures tend to deplete the battery's power faster.
Make good use of the power management function. The Save
To Disk (Hibernate) option saves the most energy by storing current
system contents in a hard disk space reserved for this function.
The life expectancy of the battery is approximately 300
recharges.
See the notices section in the beginning of the user manual on
how to care for the battery pack.
Note:
Read the section about protecting your notebook in the beginning of this
manual for tips on how to maintain the battery pack.
Note:
To achieve optimal battery performance, you may need to do a battery
calibration at a 3-month interval. To do this:
1. Fully charge the battery.
2. Discharge the battery by entering the BIOS setup screen. (Press the F2 key
as soon as you turn on the computer. Let it remain at the setup screen until the
battery runs out.
3. Fully charge the battery again.
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