It's a vicious cycle for travelers: as soon as battery technology improves to deliver longer-lasting power, devices get packed with more ways to waste that precious energy. Larger, brighter notebook screens, bigger hard drives and optical drives are just a few battery-killers. So how can you stay juiced?

When you hit the road, start by disabling any features you're not using. On a plane trip, for instance, set hard drive and screen settings to low-power consumption. Remove USB devices or optical drives you're not using. Suspend automatic Bluetooth coupling to keep your computer from endlessly searching for signals. Here are more tips for maximum life:

• Avoid turning the system on-and-off repeatedly on long trips to limit hard drive usage, but recognize that "standby" can still run down the battery if you're not using a device for several hours.
• Know what kind of performance to expect. Try test-driving your computer with battery power before the big trip or presentation so you'll know roughly the operating time under different conditions.
• Store Lithium-Ion batteries in a cool spot for best results. Some computer users remove them when AC power is used, and major power misers refrigerate batteries for longer life, although the humidity can be a problem.
• Consider replacing your battery if it's more than two years old and frequently used instead of AC power.

Another option is packing a back-up battery—newer batteries have longer cycle times; and some computers can use oversized batteries (with more cells) for extended cordless operation. Replacements from a manufacturer or well-known suppliers like iGo or American Power Conversion are better choices than refurbished or used batteries of unknown quality.

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