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Hurricane Sandy is coming. I am worried about if there will be a power outage and how long it will last. I have an exam coming and have to study on my laptop. So how can I do to ensure I still can use my laptop during power outage? Thanks!

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You could pull some power from your hamster's wheel. – ott-- Oct 28 '12 at 18:06
Are you kidding or serious, @ott? – T... Oct 28 '12 at 18:18
I'd never pull your leg. Search for generate power from hamster wheel. – ott-- Oct 28 '12 at 19:03

2 Answers

up vote 3 down vote

Charge your laptop completely. Use Power Saver mode. Exit all unnecessary programs.

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up vote 2 down vote

Feasible options are:

  • Keep the laptop on the power supply before any power cut to maximize the time you'd get out of the battery
  • As stated above, using any power saving features of the OS
  • Keep one (or several) spare, charged batteries

You might want to also make use of a surge protector to protect the laptop if it is being used during any power issues.

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Thanks! (1) Are spare batteries expensive or not? (2) Is the power adapter/brick on the power chord, which came with my laptop, able to deal with voltage spikes? – T... Oct 28 '12 at 17:55
(1) Unfortunately yes, spare batteries could be quite expensive, especially officially branded ones. Personally I wouldn't recommend 3rd party replacements, they may also invalidate any warranty you have. It depends how much you value having your laptop running without power. (2) The power brick with the laptop may or may not protect against surges, I would guess probably not. – Craig Dodd Oct 28 '12 at 18:01
Mine laptop is Lenovo T400, if that helps with the second part. – T... Oct 28 '12 at 18:02
Probably cheaper to get a ups, and plug the laptop into that. When power goes out here, the phone lines switch over to backup power, but turn off their internet. Plugging the phone box into the ups fixed that, for me. – Bobbi Bennett Oct 28 '12 at 18:11
@BobbiBennett: Can you link me to the devices for that solution? Also I don't have land phone here. I am using Comcast cable internet. – T... Oct 28 '12 at 18:15
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