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Filed under: Utilities, Windows, Freeware

BatteryBar builds a better battery meter

BatteryBarThe battery meter that comes with Windows XP, Vista, or Windows 7 is alright for giving you a rough idea of how much time you have before you have to make a mad dash to the electric socket. But BatteryBar goes a few steps further, by providing you with a new toolbar icon that shows detailed battery info at a glance.

Once you download and install BatteryBar, you'll need to right click on the Windows taskbar and add a new toolbar before it will show up. You should be greeted by a meter showing what percentage of your battery life is remaining. Left click on the icon and you'll get an estimate of how much operating time you can squeeze out of your battery.

And when you hover your mouse over the meter you get far more detailed information including the battery capacity and how long your battery should be able to run on a fully charged battery.

BatteryBar is available as a free download. You an also upgrade to BatteryBar Pro for $7.50. The paid version adds support for themes and changing active power schemes by right-clicking on the toolbar.

[via TechnoSpot]

Filed under: Utilities, Windows, Freeware

Power Meter Plus provides constant laptop battery updates

Power Meter PlusIf you use a Windows laptop, you're probably familiar with the battery icon that hangs out in the system tray. It provides a bit of information about your battery status at a glance. But just a bit. It typically shows you if the battery is full, around half empty, or mostly empty. You have to scroll your mouse over the icon to get a more accurate reading.

Or you can install Power Meter Plus. This free utility for Windows XP and earlier releases provides a detailed battery meter which is always present on your desktop. The meter is partially transparent, so you can see through it. And it lives on the right or left side of the screen. If you need to access something hiding under the power meter, just move your mouse over it and the meter will jump to the other side of the screen.

As your battery power drains, the meter will get brighter. And you can configure Power Meter Plus to show notifications when the battery reaches critical levels.

[via gHacks]

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