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    New (refurb) M11x R2, bad battery life

    Discussion in 'Alienware M11x' started by Lifespan, Sep 1, 2011.

  1. Lifespan

    Lifespan Notebook Enthusiast

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    I purchased a refurb M11x R2 (i7) and am finding my battery life to be far below what reviewers the specs imply I should see. Doing some web surfing, downloading over WiFi, and a bit of program installs (getting set up), I am seeing my battery running down in the power saving mode in under 3 hours. Given what I have read, the activity I am doing should be in the 5 hour range. Is there something I can do to ensure I am setup correctly or should I be sending this back?
     
    Lifespan, Sep 1, 2011
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  2. Lifespan

    Lifespan Notebook Enthusiast

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    I installed the newest video drivers to see if that helped, and it might have. Oddly, when I plugged in the battery to charge, it went to full in about 45 minutes (while in use) and upon unplugging is saying I'm set to get just short of 4 hours in power save. Still short of what I was expecting, but and improvement.
     
    Lifespan, Sep 1, 2011
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  3. GNandGS

    GNandGS Notebook Deity

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    are power and accessory settings all default?
     
    GNandGS, Sep 1, 2011
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  4. Lifespan

    Lifespan Notebook Enthusiast

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    Yes. I just did a sanity check by hitting the restore defaults button. I also went in to the nVidia control panel and selected integrated graphics instead of auto-select. Just sitting with my web browser open, the battery estimate Win7 is giving me is 2:30...
     
    Lifespan, Sep 1, 2011
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  5. some guy

    some guy Modding Addict

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    from my exp 5hrs is something you might get on a brand new batt with not much more that web surfing at med-low brightness. 4.5-5hrs sounds about avg for a R2. but much under 4hrs ether means your using up a lot of CPU or GPU... if you know your not then id say your battery is bunk...
     
    some guy, Sep 1, 2011
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  6. Lifespan

    Lifespan Notebook Enthusiast

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    Called support last night and they were less than concerned ("2.5-3 hours of web surfing and 1 hour of gaming is expected"), but they did note that my BIOS was out of date. They also suggested a few deep cycles of the battery, so I'm giving it a shot and seeing what happens before I push for an RMA. I have noticed that Win7 has been having a hard time figuring out battery life, so a few cycles should get everything in sync so I can get the truth on this.
     
    Lifespan, Sep 2, 2011
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  7. GNandGS

    GNandGS Notebook Deity

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    Batt mem issues are less common but hopefully a cycle or two will sort it out. You might have a cell failing if charge status fluctuates
     
    GNandGS, Sep 2, 2011
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  8. wrathofdeath

    wrathofdeath Notebook Evangelist

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    I get 9-10hrs on power saver
     
    wrathofdeath, Sep 2, 2011
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  9. Rypac

    Rypac Notebook Evangelist

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    Wow, that is insane! I had no idea that the battery life on the R3 was that much of improvement.

    I thought 5-6 on my R2 was good...
     
    Rypac, Sep 2, 2011
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  10. Bman2309

    Bman2309 Notebook Geek

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    download battery bar, install it and hover mouse over the icon on the taskbar and look in the battery wear section. The average capicity of the m11x's batteries is about 64 000mWh. Mine started at 69 000 and is now down to 64 530. If its around there your battery is fine and you are just getting what you should be...

    Osiris Development - BatteryBar, the most accurate battery meter for Windows
     
    Bman2309, Sep 3, 2011
    #10