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    My battery sucks?

    Discussion in 'Alienware 14 and M14x' started by MapleLeafs, Dec 4, 2011.

  1. MapleLeafs

    MapleLeafs Newbie

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    Hey ive only had my laptop for a little over a week and the battery does not seem to last very long. It only seems to last about 1.5 hrs. Right when i unplug it says 2.0 hrs and drops pretty quick. Oh and i haven't really been doing anything on the laptop when unpluged just sitting on my desk at work.

    How long is the battery supposed to last?
     
    MapleLeafs, Dec 4, 2011
    #1
  2. goodboynyc

    goodboynyc Notebook Enthusiast

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    I get readings on the battery meter as far as 5:30 hours when fully charged. I set it to power saver and adjusted the power saver settings so that everything gets max battery, throttled the cpu to on use 50%, etc. etc.
     
    goodboynyc, Dec 4, 2011
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  3. jwolf7722

    jwolf7722 Notebook Deity

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    When I had mine I could easily get 4+ hours (non-gaming) just normal busy work.
     
    jwolf7722, Dec 4, 2011
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  4. instantcold

    instantcold Notebook Consultant

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    It also depends on what your doing, and the settings you have on. Though the battery should last between 3-4hours in reality. I get like 3+ hours with brightness off, and cpu turbo boost off, while taking notes in class
     
    instantcold, Dec 4, 2011
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  5. katalin_2003

    katalin_2003 NBR Spectre Super Moderator

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    Also you could check the wear on those cells with something like CPU ID HwMonitor or HwInfo, just in case.
     
    katalin_2003, Dec 4, 2011
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  6. nuaron

    nuaron Notebook Consultant

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    go to command centre and in power setting check your current profile. High performance / balanced profile wont give you more then 2-2.5 hours max.
    Try setting your laptop on power saver and then let windows calibrate your battery. definitely you will cross the 3 hours mark. Also try lowring brightness, avoiding the use of DVD drive, turning of alien fx, bluetooth etc
    Small things count!
     
    nuaron, Dec 4, 2011
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  7. yonireshef83

    yonireshef83 Notebook Enthusiast

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    What kind of a laptop do you have ? What kind of battery is it?
    You might want to change some power configurations in windows, if you still think your battery does not hold too much, maybe it's defective, you still have warranty on it - so replace it quickly
     
    yonireshef83, Dec 7, 2011
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  8. Neolistic

    Neolistic Notebook Enthusiast

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    When you set everything to battery when unplugged, do you have to set everything back to performance when you plug in the cord or does it do it automatically?
     
    Neolistic, Dec 7, 2011
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  9. FahrenheitGTI

    FahrenheitGTI Notebook Consultant

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    Mine doesn't do it automatically, but my friend was telling me about a feature that does it on its own. I think one of my previous laptops had this feature.

    Also, depending on your laptop, make sure it is using Optimus if you have that option. That will make a huge difference.
     
    FahrenheitGTI, Dec 7, 2011
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  10. nuaron

    nuaron Notebook Consultant

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    Create a new power profile.Set everything on high( such as processor power management) in the plugged mode.Set everything low in unplugged mode. I guess that will solve the problem of having two separate power modes.

    I have modified the balanced mode such that everythin is on maximum power( network, IGP,dedicated GPU etc) during plugged mode.Everythin is set to maximum battery on unplugged mode.
     
    nuaron, Dec 8, 2011
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