Vostro V130 i3-380um to i3-380 battery impact

Hey guys I have a quick question for you guys. I was looking around to ordering a replacement laptop for my sister since she smashed her old one. The vostro line was great since its thin and she only really uses it for school and websites. So i just went online and I just ordered a Refurbished Vostro v130 wit a i3-380m 2.53ghz.

I just immidiately picked it since it was the the quickest one at a decent price. Id figured id upgrade the ram myself and add a ssd for her later. But after a litle research I saw the processor used more power and it didnt cross my mind she might need better battery life than processor power. Do you guys think the 380m will kill the batter that much faster?

i3-380um @ 1.33ghz to i3-380 2.53ghz

 

Think of the UM version as being like a small car engine: However hard you try, there's a limit to its ability to use power. The normal i3-380 has the potential to drain the battery faster because the CPU can run much faster. However, one school of thought is that this doesn't adversely affect the overall power concumption because it means that the CPU can get back to the low power sleep mode faster. Many notebook manufacturers are now using normal CPUs in their thinner notebooks because (i) they cost less and (ii) are available in BGA (soldered) packaging.

However, the UM CPUs may also be selected on account of their low idle power leakage characteristics. The specs for the normal CPUs allow higher idle power leakage but you may be lucky and get a good CPU which doesn't leak power. An indicator of this behaviour is the CPU idle temperatures.

The one area where you may need to do some work for power optimisation is in ensuring that unproductive CPU time is avoided. Flash, for example, is a battery killer. I use Firefox with FlahsBlock to minimise this problem but it is best to shut down a web browser completely when not on line and not have too many tabs open when browsing.

John

 

Wait are you sure it's a 380M not 380UM? I don't see any Vostro V130 with the standard 380M. Perhaps Dell made a typo on yours.

As John has stated above, ULV processors are BGA soldered and allow notebooks to be super thin as PGA processors are thicker. I have the Latitude version of the V130 but with the older Core 2 processor.

The battery life isn't fantastic with the V130/V13/L13 as the laptop is so thin, the battery is thin too. It's a 6 cell that has only 30 WHr. If you see my Latitude 13 review with a SU7300, it's 2.5 hours battery life running full blast, Wifi enabled and screen turned up to max settings. Realistically you will hit ~4-4.5 hours on idle.

 

Thanks alot for the input guys. The original tab for the computer clearly stated i3-380M and showed 2.53ghz with 4 threads or something along those lines. The confirmation on also states the same thing. I didnt find any info on that processor being a options that is currently offered, But google did pull up some old listings showing it was available. But i guess its still in the back of my mind where it could be typo.

 

The specs are right, most likely a typo. I have opened up my Latitude 13 on multiple occasions and it is a tight fit. I highly doubt a normal PGA processor would fit unless it was similar to the x220 which offers full speed processors but they are all BGA soldered onto the motherboard.

 

Wow I tried acquiring a little bit more info regarding the processor situation and I can honestly say I will never buy another Dell laptop.

I called today and was transferd around to a total of 7 DIFFERENT reps in different departments. My call was dropped twice, and in the last attemp there system went down and was adviced to call in 24hrs. Not to mention being on hold for over 30 mins..

 

You should try Dell Chat, usually better than calling in, though I've been on the phone with Dell for 4 hours ordering recovery discs lol.