Consider heat your computer mortal enemy, says Jason Mitchell, Chief Technology Officer at Smart Billions. Now, with that in mind, if you are streaming your laptop on a plush surface like a pillow or your couch or bed, you could be setting it up for disaster. “Because of their portability, several bad habits develop [when using a laptop], such as placing it on a blanket or other fluffy surfaces to stream movies,” Mitchell says. “This obstructs airflow under and possibly through the laptop ultimately reducing the battery life.”
“If your computer becomes too hot, the processor can slow down, comprising the battery health, or even shut down completely,” Mitchell says. “Running your device at high temperatures for long periods of time especially while streaming your favorite shows will shorten the life of your processor, fans, and battery.”
The solution for your laptop is easy: use it on a flat surface and make sure your lap is free of blankets and other items that can obstruct airflow, Mitchell says. A lap desk may be a worthy investment if you stream from your laptop on a regular basis.
Another mistake that we sometimes make when enjoying media from a laptop is streaming with a high brightness level or auto-brightness can destroy the battery power, says Alina Clark, co-founder of CocoDoc.com.
“The brighter the screen, the more the battery drains faster,” Clark says. “The Auto-brightness feature constantly changes the level of brightness and runs in the background while consuming more power, thus affecting the battery. To continue streaming without the draining battery, reduce the screen brightness, that doesn't mean that you need to reduce the brightness to the lowest but make sure that your screen is not set to full brightness. Turn off Auto-brightness.”
There is a built-in Battery Saver feature that helps you extend the laptop's battery life while streaming, Clark says. To improve your battery life while streaming content, Clark advices the following:
Open Settings> Battery
Navigate to Change Battery Settings for Playing Video> Video Playback
Navigate to Battery Options
Optimize for Battery Life> Optimize for Video Quality