Logic will tell you that playing games or watching DVDs on your laptop might just be a slight drain on its battery life. But what else can you do to use your power pack more miserly? Here’s 5 top tips to make your battery life a whole lot longer:

1. Turn everything off
It might seem straightforward, but you’d be amazed at how many people walk around with Bluetooth and Wi-Fi switched on. Turn them off when they’re not in use – which is even easier if you’ve got a hardware switch or keyboard shortcut to do it.

2. Dim the screen
Running out of power fast? Turn the screen brightness down; you’ll be amazed at how much juice it saves. That’s because your screen is the most power-intensive component in your laptop.

3. Unplug unnecessary kit
If you don’t need to have a flash drive or host-powered hard drive plugged in, take it out. This is doubly important for USB wireless adapters, 3G data cards and USB sticks as well as chargeable items such as phones and iPods; they can be very draining.

4. Optimise Power Options
In XP and Vista, visit Power Options in your Control Panel. If miserly power consumption is your top priority, ensure this is reflected in the settings there. Make sure you turn off your screen and hard disk after a short period of inactivity.

5. Battery care
Lithium-Ion batteries don’t need a complete discharge (contrary to popular belief) but also you should use a battery once you’ve charged it. If you have a spare you keep topped up, use that instead of your main regularly. If you have an older non-Lithium-Ion battery, you’ll need to regularly discharge it.