Battery life in netbooks is even more important than in other notebook categories, since one of the best selling points of the category is that models belonging to it are cheap, have a good battery, therefore work for a long time without being recharged. There are a few easy steps you can take to ensure you use them to the fullest.

1. Don’t use a battery when you don’t need to. This goes without saying, but should you have the charger and an AC power source, you can easily top it up before you have to use it on internal power source again.

2. Don’t run programs that you don’t use. An Intel Atom processor is designed to have multiple solutions to raise efficiency. Some of them work only if it’s in idle mode. Programs that make it do calculations unnecessarily make it use 10 times the amount of energy it would use standing by.

3. Don’t have peripherals enabled when you don’t use them. Bluetooth, 3g modem, webcamera, infra port are all big consumers, make sure they’re off if you don’t synch your mobile phone or don’t use a mobile broadband service.

4. Don’t be online unless you have to. Of course no one stops you from hopping online whenever you wish, but when there is no available hotspot or wireless router, you should have the Wi-Fi adapter disabled. It adds 30-60 minutes to the total working time.

5. Don’t keep it turned on when you’re not using it. Sleep mode only uses a fraction of the energy full operation does. Putting the netbook to sleep and waking it up takes 20 seconds total and you don’t need to spend time saving all your work. Just set it up to go to sleep every time you close the lid, and shut the device closed for 5-10 minutes at a time if the situation brings so.

6. Lightweight applications help you push the boundaries further out. Use an instant messaging client that can connect to all your favorite IM networks instead of three resource hungry ones.

7. Shoot down hidden programs. Some browsers, IM clients and other programs like to keep a thread open even when they’re off. Bring up task manager and find the culprits. The least work the processor does the better the battery life is going to be.

8. Screen brightness function keys are there for you to use them. Maximum brightness not only drains the internal power source like crazy but can harm your eyes too. Use the lowest setting that you’re still comfortable with.

9. Earphones use less energy than the integrated speakers. It’s not a big amount but since every little helps, and the sound quality cannot even be compared, you’re better off with a pair of earbuds or headphones on the long run, even if it adds just a few minutes.

10. White pixels use less power than black ones. This is another one that doesn’t change much, but every little adds to the grand total, so make sure you have a lighter background image and your programs are set to use the lightest theme you can find. Black letters are easier to read on white background than the other way around according to studies.

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