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More and more, students are relying on their laptops and netbooks to take notes in class. Most students type far faster than they write, so taking notes through typing definitely seems preferable.

Although some classrooms will have wall outlets nearby for you to plug your laptop into, many will not, and if you have several classes in a row, you might find yourself in trouble if your laptop battery starts to run low. Running out of battery juice mid lecture could be a nightmare, so preventing that from happening is definitely important.

Here are some tips to getting the most juice out of your laptop’s battery:

1. Turn Down the Backlight

The backlight is what keeps the screen visible — by turning down the backlight, the screen will become dimmer, but the laptop will use less battery to keep it bright.

Many laptops have a key that does this, and others will have it immediately accessible from the taskbar or Finder. Find a good balance — you want the screen dim enough to get good battery life, but you shouldn’t have to struggle to read the screen.

2. Close programs you’re not using

If you don’t need iTunes, Firefox, AIM, etc. all running at the same time, then close them! You should only keep open what you need (and, if you’re taking notes in class, that means you’ll need very few programs!)

3. Disable wireless Internet

Sometimes it’s necessary for the class for you to be connected to the Internet, but if not, disable your wireless. This will not only save battery juice, but it will eliminate the huge potential distraction that is called the Internet.

Look around on your laptop to see if there’s a switch or button that can disable wireless altogether. This will save the most battery.

4. Avoid anything that is very demanding from your computer.

Playing games, editing photos/movies, and so forth will need a lot of power from your computer and will quickly drain the battery. You’re in class! You should be paying attention!

5. Don’t use your CD/DVD/Blu-Ray drive.

Spinning a disc will steal your laptop battery life like you wouldn’t believe. Take any disc out if it’s not necessary.

6. Close your laptop when you don’t need it.

Once you’re done, close your laptop. Ideally, you should set your laptop to hibernate (which stores everything on the hard drive) rather than sleep or standby (which uses battery to allow you to quickly restore your laptop), especially if you won’t be using your laptop for a while.

7. Buy another battery

If you’ve tried absolutely everything and your battery still isn’t cutting it, it might be time for a new battery. Laptop batteries can begin to hold less as they age, or perhaps your battery never was quite good enough.

Take some time to research good laptop batteries to find one that will work for your laptop and provide you with enough time to justify why you have a laptop in the first place — because it’s portable!