Illustration: Gordon McAlpin

Ultra Low Voltage (ULV) processors are underclocked, which means their speed is set lower than what’s standard for it, in order to use less power and prolong battery life. What that means is, if you’ve got a netbook or other laptop that has a battery that lasts a really long time, odds are it’s got a ULV processor in it.

What you gain in extra-long battery life, though, you lose in performance. ULV processors just can’t handle heavy graphics usage and things like that. If your machine has an Intel Atom CPU (common in netbooks), that’s an example of a ULV processor. Intel Pentium M and AMD Athlon Neo or Geode are other common examples. Of course, even higher-end, but still really thin, laptops have some of the newer ULV processors, which, although underclocked, still pack quite a punch while also giving extremely long battery life.

Whether you have a ULV or not, it’s a good idea to check out our Battery Optimizer. Our application is great for extending battery life between charges.