Laptop Battery Life

[riwilson]

My new Acer Laptop (great machine with a gig of ram) has a very poor battery life. Is there a cost effective means to upgrade or do I just buy a second battery?

[Ethel]

If it doesn't match the claims made in the spec, take it back to the shop.

You haven't got what you paid for.

[riwilson]

If it didn't meet the spec I would already have done that. I am seeking an improvement.. I used to have a Compaq which had two batteries and a similar arrangement at an affordable cost would be ideal (in this case it was swopped for the CD drive)

[fo3nix]

How long is 'very poor'?

Generally, try and use a wired connection as opposed to wireless when you can, and turn off anything you don't need when you aren't using it.

Also, the fewer programs you have open, the less work your CPU etc. has to do so the less power it draws. Only have stuff open you need.

If that doesn't help, you just need a new battery.