Monitoring Battery Capacity; Maximizing Battery Operating Time - Toshiba Portege M400 User Manual

The Battery indicator may show a rapid decrease in battery operating time
when you try to charge a battery under the following conditions:
■
The battery has not been used for a long time.
■
The battery has completely discharged and been left in the computer
for a long time.
■
A cool battery is installed in a warm computer.
In such case, follow the steps below.
1. Fully discharge the battery by leaving it in the computer with the power
on until the power automatically shuts off.
2. Connect the AC adaptor to the DC IN 15V jack of the computer, and the
AC adaptor into power outlet.
3. Charge the battery until the Battery indicator glows green.
Repeat these steps two or three times until the battery recovers normal
capacity.
Leaving the AC adaptor connected will shorten battery life. At least once a
month, run the computer on battery power until the battery is fully
discharged, then recharge the battery.

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:
■
■
User's Manual
CPU Processing speed
Screen brightness
Power and Power-Up Modes
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