Laptop Battery Life

[DJ]

I have a Dell laptop that is about eight months old. (No, it does not have one of the exploding batteries)

No matter what I do, I cannot seem to get more than about an hour and a half of battery life. This was not a cheap laptop, yet my sons jippo (no name) gets 3-4 hours of battery life.

I do not overcharge the battery, I don't let it sit in the machine when it is in the docking station all day.

Anyone have any tips?

Does using a wireless connection draw more power than hard wired?

 

[Plainsman]

Re: Laptop Battery Life

You can try to condition the battery. This envolves charging to 100% and the completly discharging 3 times.
You also may want to call Dell. My laptop was 10 months old when it stopped taking a charge at all. They replaced the battery and all is good now.
I also don't believe you can overcharge it. Leave it in all the time, docking or not.
Battery discharge time will vary on what you do with the laptop , Running the CD will dischare it much faster than just sing word or the internet. Wireless should.t have that much effect. I can get about 3 hours out of mine.

 

[dolluper]

Re: Laptop Battery Life

My old anchor Dell gets about 1/12 to 2 hours and that's it, your wireless will pull a little more juice out of it forsure.Take a look at your manual or download one on Dell,s site,you can change your settings F12 at start-up but read your manual first!!!!!some have the ability for 2 batteries.Or even better is you could run your dianostic CD but I don't believe your going to acheive much better
Letting it drain 3 times sounds like it would be a good idea might even try that myself

 

[DJ]

Re: Laptop Battery Life

Great input.

Another question.

Can you change batt's without interuption of connections, etc.?

This is a company issued computer. Company "Help desk" is clueless on my last question.:/

I'll buy another batt. as long as I know I can change them without interuption.

What say-Y'all?

 

[Plainsman]

Re: Laptop Battery Life

No sure what you mean about interuption of connections.

 

[dolluper]

Re: Laptop Battery Life

Me thinks you should go to the Dell site and download the manual for your model,they are very good they will even tell you the screw sizes and what is involved in even changing your models battery.When in doubt use the manual and it's FREE pdf format,starting to sound like OBJ

 

[Gary H NC]

Re: Laptop Battery Life

My newer model Dell laptop gets maybe 2 hours at most with the standard battery.I do remember an upgraded battery that is available thru Dell..

 

[Pony]

Re: Laptop Battery Life

My Dell gets about 2 hours or so of battery life.....it really depends on what I am doing with it.

You can change batteries without interrupting anything so long as the laptop is plugged in........the laptop is going to gets its power from that first and foremost. I just now, as I was posting this, removed my battery and put it back in. Absolutely nothing changed. I didnt lose internet or any of my peripherals. So long as it is plugged into a power soure the battery doesnt even need to be there at all, so you can just remove it.

 

[Chunder06]

Re: Laptop Battery Life

For starters you can go to the control panel and then the power options, you can turn things off that's not required (time based) eg HDD, LCD brightness etc, also check to see whats running in your background, TSR will work the CPU and use more power, as for the wireless card it will draw a lot of power, if you are not using it turn it off, same for bluetooth.

 

[i386]

Re: Laptop Battery Life

My newer model Dell laptop gets maybe 2 hours at most with the standard battery.I do remember an upgraded battery that is available thru Dell..

^^^

If you opt for the better battery when you order a Dell it'll run 3+ hours.

Turn the wireless off when not in use. Dim the screen a little when running on batteries. You can tweak this or that and maybe squeeze an extra 15 mins out of it, but if you want to run for over 3 hours you gotta have the good battery.

 

[aspeck]

Re: Laptop Battery Life

I got the upgraded battery with my Dell - and keep discharging it to different levels before recharging so "battery memory" cannot effect it. I have been on it for 2 hours this morning and just checked - have 3 hours remaining. I usually get 4 1/2 to 6 hours of battery life per charge, depending on what I am doing. Hotter temperatures also mean shorter battery times.

 

[BoatBuoy]

Re: Laptop Battery Life

Here's a good article on battery care. It seems that lithium batterys don't have the same "memory" that nicads do.

How to prolong lithium-based batteries

 

[KaGee]

Re: Laptop Battery Life

Here's a good article on battery care. It seems that lithium batterys don't have the same "memory" that nicads do.

How to prolong lithium-based batteries

No they do not have a memory, but they do not like being continually on the charger either. That will gradually shorten their life.

DJ, sounds like you have the standard battery. I advise anyone with heart problems NOT to look at the price of the step up battery! :$