Samsung Serias 9 - Questions about my new Laptop

Hi there guys.

After months (years?) of contemplations, I finally made a purchase and joined the Series 9 family (I have the 3A model).
Also, I spoiled myself with a nice THULE case, can't complain.

I have a couple of concerns, and I guess that my lack of knowledge might be detrimental for the proper maintenance of that laptop.

1) What is the best battery plan for extending the battery life? It seems to me that it drains really fast - after 3-4 hours of work- is that normal? How should I change the plan and what is best for the machine?

2) In case I need to turn off my computer frequently, lets say twice every hour when I work on it - should I put it to sleep, close the screen, or completely turn it off? Again, imagine sitting in the library and having to go outside with the laptop - what is the best way that will not ruin it?

3) Any recommendation for a cleaning product for the screen and for the laptop itself?

Thank you guys,
imgingi.

 

I presume, if it is the X3A, that the computer is not new. Run HWiNFO and check the battery wear in the battery properties.

You can enable the Battery Life Extender in Easy Settings to extend the overall life of the battery. However, this limits the charge to 80% which may take up to an hour off the run time.

If you just want to stop using the computer for minutes then sleep is the best option. Set the power properties so that the computer goes to sleep when you close the display and set the lid open action in Easy Settings so it wakes up.

John

 

Gosh, you're on holidays, John

@imgingi: In addition to what John says, you can enable Silent Mode or Eco Mode to further reduce power and extend your run time.

 

Thank you John.
I installed HWinFO and the battery wear level is 1.6% - is that normal?
You keep mentioning Easy Setting - where can I find that.
Also, can I turn off the back light on the keyboard? I think it'll save some energy from the battery.
Thanks again!
imgingi

 

We're trying to give John a break (check his posting record you'll know what I mean). So I'll take the liberty of answering the best I can:

Personally my Series 7 kept a 0% Battery Wear level for many charge cycles before it started dropping. That said, 1.6% isn't dramatic. You probably have a Battery Calibration feature in BIOS which can be used to reset the battery gauges. Basically you charge the battery fully, then let Battery Calibration deplete it fully (or you can deplete it through normal use, then let Battery Calibration run it down fully). On my PC, that got Battery Wear back to 0% the first few times. But later times it actually hurt it.

Generally, you run Battery Calibration if the battery gauges start acting strange (dropping very fast from high charge levels to low charge levels). Also, John had a great tip: Run it after 10 months (just before your warranty expires); if Wear has become very high, you could make a warranty claim.

We had a discussion about this recently. Start reading here -- or even a few posts earlier for context.

Remember: Battery Life Extender limits charging to 80% and gives you less run time -- but keeps the battery in good shape for more charge cycles. If you need the full charge, just disable BLE in Easy Settings or BIOS and let it charge fully.

About that Easy Settings: It's Samsung's settings program and should be pre-installed on your PC. If you have a Win8 model, it is called merely Settings. It you do a clean install, you have to install it yourself. Easy Settings (or Settings) contains a number of hardware settings for the PC. It also includes the necessary modules for your Fn-keys.

Update: How could I forget this: The keyboard backlight can be changed using Fn-keys (F9 & F10 on mine). You can also control it in [Easy] Settings, including setting it to automatically turn off after a few minutes.

Hope this helps. And BTW, congrats on your new PC and welcome to the forum.

 

Thank you very much for your answer and for welcoming me to your virtual corner of the world.
I will look for Samsung's Easy Setting and come back to write if I was able to do it.
Thank you again. I love my machine!