Texas Instruments TravelMate 3000 WinSX, User Manual

Page: 129 / 219

Conserving Battery Power
With a little care, you can maximize the time your TravelMate 3000 WinSX can operate
on a battery charge. The following tips can help you run your computer on battery power
for the longest possible time. Refer to your BatteryPro & Productivity Software User's
Manual and the Battery Power Management Quick Reference for more hints on
conserving battery power.
q
Keep the LCD screen at the lowest comfortable brightness level.
Reducing brightness even a small amount can significantly reduce
power consumption and increase operating time up to 30 minutes.
q
Use the Power Saving items on the Setup Program to turn off the LCD
screen when not in use, and to ensure that the hard disk is not powered
for long periods when it is not being accessed. However, if the HDD
Motor Off period is too short, hard disk access time increases several
seconds for the drive motor to power up before disk accesses can occur.
This can increase operating time up to 10 percent.
q
You can choose between three CPU speeds: 20, 10, and 5 MHz. The
computer uses less power at lower CPU speeds. When using an
application program that is not CPU-intensive (for example, many word
processing programs), set the CPU speed to the lowest setting on the
Setup Program. This can add up to 15 minutes of operating time per
speed difference.
q
The fewer options connected to the computer, the lower the power
consumption. Note, however, that printers and external monitors are
not powered by the computer and have no effect on power consumption.
However, some external options, such as keyboards, use power from the
computer, so run the TravelMate 3000 WinSX with the AC Adapter
connected when using external devices that use power.
7-4 Taking Care of Your Computer