What things can I do to make my laptop’s battery last longer? Are there linux/opensuse/kde configurations I can do to increase its life without noticeable performance drop?
Check out powertop, “zypper in powertop” to install. Works in similar way like top or htop, just follow on screen instructions. Config is not permanent though, after reboot you have to run powertop again (I think).
Check your power saving settings. If you have AMD theres a module called powernow_k# that will help by lowering your CPU freq when you’re idle. Change your backlight too. Unless you have a SSD, theres not just a lot more you can do. Even with an SSD, if you use your wireless or cd/dvd drive, you’re going to be running down your battery faster.