m11x R2 Battery Life - What are you getting and how to make it better

Things to try

Configuring your power options optimally [Control Panel-> All Control Panel Items -> Power Options -> Edit Plan Settings -> Change Advanced Power Settings]

Configuring your Intel HD optimally (NOTE: Since this is your primary graphics mode it is important to make sure settings are adjusted properly for this)

16bit Color and 40Hz Refresh Rate. (If the M11xR2 had a 40Hz option)

Try Game Booster

Use PowerMizer Manager to adjust powermizer settings for when the Nvidia GPU kicks in.

Disable any unnecessary hardware until needed in device manager (card readers and such.)

That is all I have for now.

 

I'm not doing anything special for optimization. At least nothing beyond what most of us, being enthusiasts do. In fact there are more things I could disable, but nothing that I feel impacts battery life significantly. I did not flatten my system and install 7 fresh as I didn't feel it was really necessary.

I've been running the latest version of CC since the day it was released. I've installed the latest Intel driver for the IGP and I'm also running Synaptics drivers for the trackpad rather than those provided by Dell. I ensure that the 335 /never/ gets actuated, but for what it's worth I'm running the 258.96 driver.

A typical day for me is getting to a client site, starting up my R2 on battery, connecting to their WAP, running Outlook 2007, FF (w/ NoScript and AdBlock+ to block Flash, scripts and ads), Lightroom 3 for importing photos, Word, Excel, a lot of VPN connections and RDP sessions. I'll either sleep or hibernate at lunch.

I consistently get at least 6 hours doing this day in and day out.

Here's a dump of the items I've disabled via CCleaner's Startup module.

Code:

Yes	HKCU:Run	AdobeBridge	
Yes	HKLM:Run	FAStartup	
Yes	HKLM:Run	AlienwareOn-ScreenDisplay	C:\Program Files (x86)\Alienware On-Screen Display\AlienwareOn-ScreenDisplay.exe
Yes	HKLM:Run	iTunesHelper	"C:\Program Files (x86)\iTunes\iTunesHelper.exe"
Yes	HKLM:Run	SunJavaUpdateSched	"C:\Program Files (x86)\Common Files\Java\Java Update\jusched.exe"
Yes	HKLM:Run	RtHDVCpl	C:\Program Files\Realtek\Audio\HDA\RAVCpl64.exe -s
Yes	HKLM:Run	FreeFallProtection	C:\Program Files (x86)\STMicroelectronics\AccelerometerP11\FF_Protection.exe
Yes	HKLM:Run	egui	"C:\Program Files\ESET\ESET NOD32 Antivirus\egui.exe" /hide /waitservice
Yes	HKLM:Run	SynTPEnh	%ProgramFiles%\Synaptics\SynTP\SynTPEnh.exe
Yes	HKLM:Run	AlienFX Controller	"C:\Program Files\Alienware\Command Center\AlienwareAlienFXController.exe"
Yes	HKLM:Run	IgfxTray	C:\Windows\system32\igfxtray.exe
Yes	HKLM:Run	HotKeysCmds	C:\Windows\system32\hkcmd.exe
Yes	HKLM:Run	NVHotkey	rundll32.exe C:\Windows\system32\nvHotkey.dll,Start
Yes	Startup Common	Bluetooth.lnk	C:\Program Files (x86)\WIDCOMM\Bluetooth Software\BTTray.exe
Yes	Startup Common	ProfileReminder.lnk	C:\Program Files (x86)\GretagMacbeth\i1\Eye-One Match 3\ProfileReminder.exe
Yes	Startup User	Dropbox.lnk	C:\Users\David\AppData\Roaming\Dropbox\bin\Dropbox.exe
No	HKCU:Run	ISUSPM Startup	C:\PROGRA~2\COMMON~1\INSTAL~1\UPDATE~1\ISUSPM.exe -startup
No	HKLM:Run	Adobe ARM	"C:\Program Files (x86)\Common Files\Adobe\ARM\1.0\AdobeARM.exe"
No	HKLM:Run	Adobe Reader Speed Launcher	"C:\Program Files (x86)\Adobe\Reader 9.0\Reader\Reader_sl.exe"
No	HKLM:Run	AdobeAAMUpdater-1.0	"C:\Program Files (x86)\Common Files\Adobe\OOBE\PDApp\UWA\UpdaterStartupUtility.exe"
No	HKLM:Run	AdobeCS5ServiceManager	"C:\Program Files (x86)\Common Files\Adobe\CS5ServiceManager\CS5ServiceManager.exe" -launchedbylogin
No	HKLM:Run	Broadcom Wireless Manager UI	C:\Program Files\Dell\DW WLAN Card\WLTRAY.exe
No	HKLM:Run	DSUpdateLauncher	"C:\Program Files (x86)\Dell DataSafe Local Backup\Components\DSUpdate\hstart.exe" /NOCONSOLE /D="C:\Program Files (x86)\Dell DataSafe Local Backup\Components\DSUpdate" /RUNAS "C:\Program Files (x86)\Dell DataSafe Local Backup\Components\DSUpdate\DSUpd.exe"
No	HKLM:Run	FATrayAlert	C:\Program Files\Alienware\Command Center\AlienSense\FATrayMon.exe
No	HKLM:Run	ISUSScheduler	"C:\Program Files (x86)\Common Files\InstallShield\UpdateService\issch.exe" -start
No	HKLM:Run	Launcher	C:\Program Files (x86)\Dell DataSafe Local Backup\Components\scheduler\Launcher.exe
No	HKLM:Run	Persistence	C:\Windows\system32\igfxpers.exe
No	HKLM:Run	QuickTime Task	"C:\Program Files (x86)\QuickTime\QTTask.exe" -atboottime
No	HKLM:Run	STToasterLauncher	C:\Program Files (x86)\Dell DataSafe Local Backup\toasterLauncher.exe
No	HKLM:Run	SwitchBoard	C:\Program Files (x86)\Common Files\Adobe\SwitchBoard\SwitchBoard.exe
No	HKLM:Run	UCam_Menu	"c:\Program Files (x86)\CyberLink\YouCam\MUITransfer\MUIStartMenu.exe" "c:\Program Files (x86)\CyberLink\YouCam" UpdateWithCreateOnce "Software\CyberLink\YouCam\2.0"

One thing to note is that the first two items - Adobe Bridge and FAStartup - while showing as enabled, are in fact not running becuase the execuatble associated with them isn't provided in the registry. Note too that I've got a number of applications/services that are running on startup that most people would disable if they were /really/ trying to optimize their system, i.e. Java Update, iTunes Helper, Dropbox, Bluetooth Tray Icon. None of those are really taking up any appreciable amount of resoureces though and I do use them frquently enought that disabling them having to start them manually is an incovneience for me.

Here's a dump of the services I've disabled via the services.msc control panel.

Code:

Name							Status	Startup Type
Andrea RT Filters Service				Started	Automatic
Apple Mobile Device					Started	Automatic
Base Filtering Engine					Started	Automatic
Bluetooth Service					Started	Automatic
Bonjour Service						Started	Automatic
COM+ Event System					Started	Automatic
Cryptographic Services					Started	Automatic
DCOM Server Process Launcher				Started	Automatic
Desktop Window Manager Session Manager			Started	Automatic
DHCP Client						Started	Automatic
Diagnostic Policy Service				Started	Automatic
Distributed Link Tracking Client			Started	Automatic
DNS Client						Started	Automatic
ESET Service						Started	Automatic
FF Install Filter Service				Started	Automatic
Function Discovery Resource Publication			Started	Automatic
Group Policy Client					Started	Automatic
IKE and AuthIP IPsec Keying Modules			Started	Automatic
IP Helper						Started	Automatic
Multimedia Class Scheduler					Automatic
Network Location Awareness				Started	Automatic
Network Store Interface Service				Started	Automatic
NVIDIA Display Driver Service				Started	Automatic
Plug and Play						Started	Automatic
Power							Started	Automatic
Print Spooler						Started	Automatic
Program Compatibility Assistant Service			Started	Automatic
Remote Procedure Call (RPC)				Started	Automatic
RPC Endpoint Mapper					Started	Automatic
Security Accounts Manager				Started	Automatic
Server							Started	Automatic
Shell Hardware Detection				Started	Automatic
SoftThinks Agent Service				Started	Automatic
Stardock WindowBlinds					Started	Automatic
Superfetch						Started	Automatic
System Event Notification Service			Started	Automatic
Task Scheduler						Started	Automatic
TCP/IP NetBIOS Helper					Started	Automatic
Themes							Started	Automatic
User Profile Service					Started	Automatic
Windows Audio						Started	Automatic
Windows Audio Endpoint Builder				Started	Automatic
Windows Driver Foundation - User-mode Driver		Started	Automatic
Windows Event Log					Started	Automatic
Windows Image Acquisition (WIA)				Started	Automatic
Windows Management Instrumentation			Started	Automatic
WLAN AutoConfig						Started	Automatic
Workstation						Started	Automatic
Background Intelligent Transfer Service			Started	Automatic (Delayed Start)
Microsoft .NET Framework NGEN v4.0.30319_X64			Automatic (Delayed Start)
Microsoft .NET Framework NGEN v4.0.30319_X86			Automatic (Delayed Start)
NVIDIA Update Service Daemon				Started	Automatic (Delayed Start)
Security Center						Started	Automatic (Delayed Start)
Software Protection						Automatic (Delayed Start)
Windows Media Player Network Sharing Service		Started	Automatic (Delayed Start)
Windows Search						Started	Automatic (Delayed Start)
Windows Update						Started	Automatic (Delayed Start)
Alienware Fusion Service					Disabled
Disk Defragmenter						Disabled
DW WLAN Tray Service						Disabled
FAService									Disabled
Media Center Extender Service					Disabled
Microsoft .NET Framework NGEN v2.0.50727_X64			Disabled
Microsoft .NET Framework NGEN v2.0.50727_X86			Disabled
Net.Tcp Port Sharing Service					Disabled
Parental Controls						Disabled
Routing and Remote Access					Disabled
Windows Defender						Disabled
Windows Firewall						Disabled
ActiveX Installer (AxInstSV)					Manual
Adaptive Brightness						Manual
Adobe SwitchBoard						Manual
Application Experience					Started	Manual
Application Identity						Manual
Application Information						Manual
Application Layer Gateway Service				Manual
BitLocker Drive Encryption Service				Manual
Block Level Backup Engine Service				Manual
Bluetooth Support Service					Manual
Certificate Propagation						Manual
CNG Key Isolation					Started	Manual
COM+ System Application						Manual
Computer Browser						Manual
Credential Manager						Manual
Diagnostic Service Host						Manual
Diagnostic System Host						Manual
Distributed Transaction Coordinator				Manual
Encrypting File System (EFS)					Manual
ESET HTTP Server						Manual
Extensible Authentication Protocol			Started	Manual
Fax								Manual
Function Discovery Provider Host				Manual
Health Key and Certificate Management				Manual
HomeGroup Listener						Manual
HomeGroup Provider						Manual
Human Interface Device Access				Started	Manual
InstallDriver Table Manager					Manual
Interactive Services Detection					Manual
Internet Connection Sharing (ICS)				Manual
iPod Service						Started	Manual
IPsec Policy Agent					Started	Manual
KtmRm for Distributed Transaction Coordinator			Manual
Link-Layer Topology Discovery Mapper				Manual
Microsoft iSCSI Initiator Service				Manual
Microsoft Office Diagnostics Service				Manual
Microsoft Software Shadow Copy Provider				Manual
Netlogon							Manual
Network Access Protection Agent					Manual
Network Connections					Started	Manual
Network List Service					Started	Manual
Office Source Engine						Manual
Peer Name Resolution Protocol				Started	Manual
Peer Networking Grouping				Started	Manual
Peer Networking Identity Manager			Started	Manual
Performance Counter DLL Host					Manual
Performance Logs & Alerts					Manual
PnP-X IP Bus Enumerator						Manual
PNRP Machine Name Publication Service				Manual
Portable Device Enumerator Service				Manual
Problem Reports and Solutions Control Panel Support		Manual
Protected Storage						Manual
Quality Windows Audio Video Experience				Manual
Remote Access Auto Connection Manager				Manual
Remote Access Connection Manager				Manual
Remote Desktop Configuration					Manual
Remote Desktop Services						Manual
Remote Procedure Call (RPC) Locator				Manual
Remote Registry							Manual
Secondary Logon	Started						Manual
Secure Socket Tunneling Protocol Service			Manual
Smart Card							Manual
Smart Card Removal Policy					Manual
SNMP Trap							Manual
SPP Notification Service					Manual
SSDP Discovery	Started						Manual
Steam Client Service						Manual
Tablet PC Input Service						Manual
Telephony							Manual
Thread Ordering Server						Manual
TPM Base Services						Manual
UPnP Device Host					Started	Manual
Virtual Disk							Manual
Volume Shadow Copy						Manual
WebClient							Manual
Windows Activation Technologies Service				Manual
Windows Backup							Manual
Windows Biometric Service					Manual
Windows CardSpace						Manual
Windows Color System						Manual
Windows Connect Now - Config Registrar			Started	Manual
Windows Error Reporting Service					Manual
Windows Event Collector						Manual
Windows Font Cache Service					Manual
Windows Installer						Manual
Windows Media Center Receiver Service				Manual
Windows Media Center Scheduler Service				Manual
Windows Modules Installer				Started	Manual
Windows Presentation Foundation Font Cache 3.0.0.0		Manual
Windows Remote Management (WS-Management)			Manual
Windows Time							Manual
WinHTTP Web Proxy Auto-Discovery Service		Started	Manual
Wired AutoConfig						Manual
WMI Performance Adapter						Manual
WWAN AutoConfig							Manual

As you can see, nothing special going on there. I'm /always/ running OC'd at 166 FSB, and when on battery I'm using Power Saver mode, Wifi on, BT disabled, screen at 0 or 1 bar based on my lighting conditions.

Here are my Power Saver settings for On Battery:

Code:

[B]AlienFX[/B]: Off
[B]Turn off hard disk after[/B]: 5 min
[B]Wireless Adapter Settings[/B]: Maximum Power Savings
[B]Sleep after[/B]: Never
[B]Hibernate after[/B]: Never
[B]Intel Graphics Power Plan[/B]: Maximum Battery Life
[B]Lid close action[/B]: Do nothing
[B]Power button action[/B]: Hibernate
[B]PCI Express Links State Power Management[/B]: Maximum Power Savings
[B]Processor - Minimum power state[/B]: 1%
[B]Processor - Maximum power state[/B]: 50%
[B]System cooling policy[/B]: Passive
[B]GPU Power State[/B]: Balanced Mode

The rest isn't really pertinent to power consumption.

I've also ensured that settings for certain devices are setup optimally even though it's probably redundant.

Code:

[B]Intel Graphics Properties > Power > Power Plans[/B]: Maximum Battery Life (redundant)
[B]Intel Graphics Properties > Power > Power Features[/B]: Check "Display Power Saving Technology" and set slider to Maximum Battery

[B]Device Settings > Network Adapters > DW1520 Wireless-N > Properties > General > Minimum Power Consumtion[/B]: Enabled

 

A-ha! I haven't tried this. The rest I did. Also, what dimming % do you have? My screen is at 50%, I just can't go any lower or I can't use it comfortably.

Isn't 50% an extreme reduction in performance? The machine is damn zippy as it is, but to cut it in half seems like a lot! I'll try it anyway, it's about the only thing I haven't done.

Thanks, it seems I'm not too far off from the necessary optimizing, which is why I'm puzzled why I get- 4.5hrs at most.

 

Wow, no question, that's the big trick. After lowering my processor usage (to 80%), battery bar shot up an extra 30 minutes! I can imagine getting another 30 if I go to 50%.

So I wasn't too far off the mark, but I thought the Speedstep and TurboBoost would optimize my battery more.

thanks!

 

Having your display brightness that high is killing your battery life and is the biggest reason your battery life is under 5hrs. Dimness isn't a factor for me because I'm already at one or two bars.

Browsing and general office applications don't care about processor much, so dropping it to 50% isn't a big deal at all. It's all still very snappy.

Turning off speedstep and turboboost isn't going to do much for you. Leave them on.

 

Is it good to turn off alien respawn(toaster.exe)? I can't find this process in msconfig though

 

I've had similar problems with toaster.exe - I'll go to switch the graphics and nvidia will tell me that I need to end the process "toaster.exe" .. I go to the task manager and nothing's there, so I have to look through the processes until I find it and it identifies itself as Alien Respawn. Any way to disable alienrespawn or something so that it doesn't run toaster.exe?

 

Help! I'm only getting 4:30 at best. I've turned down the processor state as mentioned above to 50% max 1% min, turned off all the FX lighting, no wifi, no bluetooth. I never pass the 5 hour mark. It's surprising to see some of you can make it to 6 hours.

 

It's unfortunate to say this, but 4:30 to 5 hours is only a 10% variation; 5-6 hours is only a 17% variation, it's possible that construction differences could be to blame for at least some of that variety in run times.

Just like the way you drive is the surest barometer of fuel economy, what you're doing with the machine will also have an effect. So far I don't think we've eliminated enough of the variables.

 

Toaster is part of Dell DataSafe Local Recovery. I consider DataSafe to be one of the many pieces of crap bloatware that come with the default M11x configuration.

If you really want a lean, fast machine, then do a clean format and start from scratch. I have a link in my signature related to that topic.

 

I am getting between 4 and 4.5 hours with processor min/max set to 5/50%. Brightness on second or third notch, bluetooth on, wifi on, alienfx on. Doing some fairly heavy browsing/youtube while messaging/voice chat via msn.

Pretty good considering the use. I imagine I could go much higher if I turn off everything. But then again I bought the laptop with these features and I intend to use them. Great thread.

 

Make sure you're running the latest version of Command Center. It's reported to add about 45 minutes to battery life over the previous version.

 

I'm getting 4 hours fully charged with fx on, bluetooth off, doing web surfing. I need like 6 hours for school. I turned off some random processes already (62 while idle). As for updating the command center, I have never updated it before but when I tried, it said there are no updates. Is it because my laptop was probably built after the CC update was released?

 

It it reported that you're up to date, then you're up to date. If you need 6 hours then turn off AlienFX and lower your brightness.

 

Is there a way to setup the alienfx to shut off the illumination when in battery and to have the it automatically turn on when plugged in?

 

I don't know but I just turn it off with Fn key + Prnt Screen (AlienFX) key.

 

Yeah there is!

1.Click on the battery icon in the system tray, and then click more power options

2.Choose the powerplan you wish to do it to and select change plan settings.

3.Click change advanced power settings. Then expand the first option and pick alienfx.

4. Choose battery and pick off. Then save settings and it should turn off on battery.

 

Is Battery Bar really accurate? I've applied a lot of the suggested configurations here and in the optimization thread but BB shows a full lifetime of 4:30. However, the native Windows 7 battery meter shows that I have 7+ hours at 93%.



Below are some of the changes I've made.

BIOS
- disabled Wireless, IEEE, OC
- GPU is switchable

Windows
- disabled everything with Alienware in msconfig (both Startup and Services)
- disabled indexing (Windows Search) in services.msc
- disabled some items in Task Scheduler
- Command Center and BIOS is updated
- brightness is 2nd to the lowest
- power saver for Power Plan and Graphics Mode

What am I missing?

 

wow how on earth did you get 8:40 on an r2?

 

Battery Bar doesn't update the Full Lifetime time very fast, and since the load on the computer changes rather often, so it's potentially very inaccurate. I find Windows' estimation to be better, but it updates too often IMO, so it doesn't take into account the load on the cpu over a larger time frame like Batter Bar does. Widnows' and Battery Bar's estimations are two different approaches with two different sets of weaknesses--but both have weaknesses.

 

I found that just by setting AlienFX to turn off when on battery, my power usage went down by ~2mW or so. I haven't had a full run-down test run yet, but it seems like that alone will increase my battery life by 30-45 minutes!

 

Well of course it will increase your battery by a ton!
All those LED's need power from somewhere.

 

Yeah, I just never considered that it would be that much

I would have especially figured that the lights would be off by default on battery, at least in power saver mode

 

Thanks for the info. I gave Battery Care a try and the figures I get are somehow similar to the rates Windows is showing. I think I got somewhere between 6.5 hrs and 7.5 hrs as advertised for the R1.

 

Hi all,

This is how you calculate battery standby time.

Actual battery capacity is measured in terms of watt hour or wHr. In our case, the M11x battery is rated at least 63000mWh or 63wHr..

The power consumption by the M11x is also measured in terms of wHr. This power consumption rate will increase as you run more programs in the background or when the Nvidia graphics card is in use. For example, under idle mode, most M11x is able to achieve a discharge rate of about 8000mWh or 8Whr. Battery capacity is 63000mWh. Standby time = 63000/8000 = 7.875 hour.

In my case, my battery capacity is 64wHr. My current discharge rate is 8.1wHr under power saving mode with Opera and Excel running in the background. I am getting 2hr 45mins with 36% battery juice left.

 

A list of the things I did to my R2 that I can remember to improve battery life.

• Screen brightness, all the way down
• There is a dump of all the services I disabled with services.msc at the end of the post
• Change the power settings, min processor 5%, passive cooling, etc etc.
• Disabled a bunch of stuff on msconfig - startup tab.
• Alien FX disabled
• In the BIOS I killed the ethernet port, firewire (IEEE), SD card reader, and a couple of other things, I'll update this I suppose as I remember more or come up with more things to do

Code:

Name	Startup Type

Acronis Nonstop Backup service	Disabled
Acronis Scheduler2 Service	Disabled
Fax	Disabled
Internet Connection Sharing (ICS)	Disabled
McAfee Application Installer Cleanup (0232021282077298)	Disabled
Media Center Extender Service	Disabled
Net.Tcp Port Sharing Service	Disabled
Routing and Remote Access	Disabled
Superfetch	Disabled
Telephony	Disabled
Volume Shadow Copy	Disabled
Windows Defender	Disabled
Windows Search	Disabled
Windows Update	Disabled

 

Hmm, I've tried pretty much all of the optimizations in this thread.
- Disabled a bunch of services with Services.msc (most of the ones listed in this thread)
- Changed msconfig (stopped most unnecessary stuff from starting)
- Power saver mode: max processor state 50%, alienFX off, minimum brightness, passive cooling + the other basic ones
- Disabled a few windows features (indexing, search, etc)
- Disabled all the typical stuff in the BIOS (firewire, SD Card, etc).

I can't seem to get the discharge rate to be under 14000 with nothing running. Battery bar shows my full lifetime as 3:47. Did I miss something?

Also, HWMonitor has shown a battery wear of 7% since I received the laptop, but BatteryBar (just installed it this morning) shows a battery wear of 0% (this is just after I did a full discharge/recharge cycle). Is one more accurate than the other?

 

^Does HWMonitor show a wear of 7% or -7%? Look again; it should say -7%, meaning the actual capacity is above the rated capacity by 7%! You can verify this on Batter Bar by noticing the "Battery Wear" (not % but actual mWh) is lower than the "Capacity".

 

Ah, yes, it is -7%, sorry. So that's what the negative means, haha. Thanks!

 

I have a problem with battery bar. It was fine on my first 2 R2's but this most recent unit only shows a maximum of 2.30 hours when fully charged. The percentage is similar to windows but when fully charged windows shows apprx 5.30 hours compared to battery bar's 2.30.
I have uninstalled deleted reg entries etc, re installed but still getting maximum life of 2.30.

anyone have any ideas as to why? Thanks in advance

 

Is Windows still showing 5:30, despite Battery Bar showing 2:30?

Do you have your nVidia GPU set as the default GPU under the Optimus white list? If yes, then the nVidia GPU is on 100% of the time, and draining a lot of the battery power.

 

I'm in the same boat as you bro. I've pretty much gone through all of these battery life threads and applied all of the optimizations possible but I still get about 12.5K on idle and around 14K when I open up a program.

There must be something that we're missing!?

 

I didn't think so but will check when I get home from work

Cheers

 

Battery Bar records your power use on battery for the entire time its installed and determines the battery lifespan based on that, so it will take a long time to take into account your new changes.

The best bet if you want it to be accurate to your new power usage is to either activate the 30 day trial of Battery Bar "pro" or buy it to activate it for good, and then reset your history to start it over.

 

@kent1146 I am not set to GPU permantly its on Auto but thanks for the suggestion.

@corwinicre Weird thing is that on the 1st unit It was accurate from the begining, well roughly. It at least said 5+ on power saver/low brightness etc.
As we speak im on power saver Windows is saying 58% or 2hr 51mins Battery bar 58.2% or 1 Hour 2 mins discharge rate 13.551 mW full lifetime 2hr 34mins 0% wear.
I have activated the pro version for 30 day trial so see how it goes.

edit: I have unchecked use statistical time estimation and it is now approx same as windows. So if I have this checked it will take more time to get accurate as the battery usage is recorded? like corwinicre advised?

 

That should work, but like you said, it's basically the same as Windows' version, so you might as well uninstall it if you do that.

What you can do (i.e., what I did) instead is reset the log of your battery history and start anew. Then it will estimate as before but based on a new record of your energy usage since the reset. That way, it doesn't take into account the time before you made your changes. If I remember correctly, to do this, right click on the applet, go to Properties, and click this button to reset the history:



It's either that one or the one above it (but I'm pretty sure it's that one).

 

@corwinicre cool thanks +rep added

edit: just to confirm that worked a treat. Power saver mode with a few tweaks getting just over 6 hours full charge. thanks again

 

My battery discharge rate seems to have got worse over the past couple of weeks. As I posted earlier, I was getting around 12.5K on idle but now it's sitting around 15.5K on idle.

I have no idea why it is getting worse and I have followed every possible step in this thread to lower the discharge rate.

Is anyone else getting these kind of discharge rates?

Also, could anyone who is getting much lower discharge rates than mine please be able to help me out? I would really appreciate it.

Thanks heaps.

 

Ok, apparently I'm an idiot, but when I try to install this driver it is asking me to install the cd because it can't find the command center. blah blah blah. Help, please?

 

Alright I'm having a major problem with my power consumption. I've followed most of the instructions in this thread and i'm still pulling an average of 18W. I have no idea what's causing this power drain. I had this problem before my SSD and seems to have carried over after a fresh install.

Note: I've noticed under GPU activity that it says VGA. Not sure what it means and any help would be appreciated. I'm getting a max of 3 hours of battery life as of right now and I really need it to last longer.

 

You think that's bad ? I've tried everything I could think of, everything I've seen going through these threads...and I'm to get 3hrs out of it. Windows + Battery Bar hardly ever show anything more than 3hrs MAX battery life...Discharge rate is around 18000mW on idle on Power Saver with screen brightness @ around 30% and max CPU set to 30%. I'm gonna do a clean install of W7 and see if it helps when I have time. I use this for school and bought it thinking I could get a full day out of it but apparently not. Battery life was the only disappointment to me in this laptop.

 

@Jonathan337 Wow, that's a pretty horrible discharge rate. Must be very disappointing.

Let us know how the reinstall of Win7 goes and if it helps at all.

 

Yup, you have no idea...Thank God my CAD classes aren't that long yet, I won't be formatting 'till the Christmas vacation due to lack of time...But I'll definitely be sure to report back and let you all know the verdict

 

Well, I've had quite an advancement in battery life today - sadly this time, without even trying to.

Previously I was getting around 10.5K idle discharge rate but now it has dropped quite substantially.

This morning I updated to the new 260.89 Beta drivers and decided to have a change from the Alienware Breed theme I've had since I got the machine, to the default windows 7 theme.

After I restarted, I was pretty surprised to see what Batterybar was reading.

So it either has something to do with the new drivers or the Alienware Breed theme.

 

I just tried switching my theme to the default Windows 7 theme and my discharge rate didn't really change at all. Idle or in usage, possibility with the new drivers then?

 

Might be the drivers then...

Is anyone else getting a change in battery discharge rate with the 260.89 drivers?

 

I am downloading the new drivers right now as I type this.
I'll report back in a bit!

EDIT1: Hey Rypac, why don't you try switching your theme back to the Alienware one and check your discharge rate?

 

Good idea shimmy, I changed back to the Breed theme and my discharge rate went back up to what it was previously.

So it seems it wasn't the drivers but the Windows7 theme that made all the difference. Weird...

 

That's weird. I just tested it once again and they were pretty much similar discharge rates. Around the -7600 mW rates for both themes.
However, I noticed a lower discharge rate overall ever since I updated my drives.