Just purchase..

Hi guys,
This is my first time purchasing an alienware laptop.
I'm pretty happy with it.
However, i'm experiencing problem with the battery life
It's plugged in and not charging.
I've read up that drain the battery till 20% and plugged in and it will charge. But it didn't till i restart the laptop, then it was charging.
Any reason why? Also, how should i charge the battery life of m15x?
Should i just plugged out after it reaches 100%? or just keep on charging and charging. My brother told me it would damage the battery's life.
Secondly, i want to ask some experts here in the forum regarding the softwares provided. Which software should i or should not uninstall?
I do not want some junks to affect the performance of the laptop.
Lastly, i tested the m15x by playing L4D2 with recommended settings.
i was playing 'The Parish' at the bridge stage and it lagged.
Is it the game or my system's configuration?

L4D2 settings,


m15x settings,
i7-720qm
260m
8g ram

 

You on battery? Do you have stealth mode on? L4D2 should be no problem on the M15x of any spec.
Also, leaving the computer plugged in when battery is at full will slightly deplete your battery, but you could always just take the battery out. If you unplug the A/C adapter, you performance will lower and the battery will still deteriorate because you are using it.
Not too sure about what to do with the battery charging problem though...

 

From what I can tell the power drain trick has worked and your battery is now charging as it should?

I wouldn't listen to your brother, If you are gaming and want the best performance then always keep it plugged in on charge (even at 100% capacity). Your machine will automatically downclock when running on stand alone battery power.

As for the lag, check stealth mode isn't enabled... I'm not sure exactly (don't yet own my M15x) but I think there should be a touch dial on the laptop you press to enable/disable this.

 

hey man congrats on the purchase and here are your answers:


The batttery leave it plugged in i am on my m11x but i am sure if you hit function + f2 or one of the "F" keys with the battery logo hit it couple times and it will disable the battery so you do not use it or charge it.

the game you want to make sure the stealth mode is off it is the little speedometer button on the touch panel all the way on the right. It should be dim for stealth to be off.


you can also overclock your nvidia and it can boost perfomance. Shaders and shadows at high will reduce your FPS grately so keep an eye on it and play with the setting and see how it responds.

Also you can disable power mizer by downloading powermizer manager and it helps increase performance.

 

I think his brother meant charging a full battery would damage its lifetime, not that he would play on battery

@gshockz
Related to L4D2 performance, I have 4 cases in my mind.
First, ensure you aren't running on stealth mode.
Second, maybe connection lag?
Third, you may be experiencing the throttling issue.
Fourth, driver or hardware issue.

 

I have nothing else to add except that I confirm with all of the above posts.

 

I can confirm this!

 

As faiz23 said, you can disable your battery which may have cause your battery not to charge when you were having the trouble.

 

For the battery problem, can the computer on and plugged in, then carefully remove the battery gave it like 30 sec and put the battery back in.

As for l4d2 it could be cpu throttling, been getting that problem with valve games lately, use throttle stop to monitor your cpu.

 

what is this throttling issue about?
I've heard about it but never knew how it occurs.

For the lag, it's definitely the stealth mode that affecting
the performance but now it has gone away.

For battery, after charging yesterday up to 100%, i plugged it out
and leave it aside. So now, i'm using the laptop with the charger plugged in. Is this safer?
However, i want to confirm something.
When i shut down the laptop, and leave my charger on.
Will it damage the laptop?

 

No... They are designed the same way any other electronic is deisnged... There is no need to unplug it when the device is off. There is internal circcuitry that keeps any issues from happening. For the most part that goes for any battery made in the last 3 or 4 years as well. The leeching effect is almost a non-issue now a days.

 

It basically has to do with certain video cards (*cough 260M cough*) downclocking once they reach a certain temp, although this is also due to the CPU as well.

I basically leave my laptop plugged into AC 100% of the time (unless im physically moving it a good distance). However when I'm using it with the AC on I disable the battery (fn+f2). This reduced wear on it as well as the "over charging".

If you shutdown your laptop and leave the charger plugged in the only damage your going to do to anything is damage your sleep cycles with that pretty blue light! In other words your fine dude, don't worry about it.

 

Thanks guys,
May i ask what temp you guys are getting?
I've used RealTemp and found out that
at 8%-10% load, i'm having 51 degree celsius.

 

Throttling is your system downclock itself because of power or heat. On battery the system will throttle its clocks down for both gpu and cpu. Kinda like an auto stealth mode, its doing this to save power, otherwise battery life would suck big time. There are other forms of throttling also as mentioned above.

Also about the battery. Imho keeping the battery in is much safer, then taking it out. You risk damaging your laptop if you accidentally unplug it, or a power outtage. A battery is much easier and cheaper to replace, then other components.

 

Okay, thanks for the advice.
When the battery is 100%,
I would just press Fn+F2 to disable the battery charging, right?

 

I think you need to press FN+F2 two times.
Anyways, when you do it, an OSD icon shows up showing whatever "enabled", "disabled" or "energy level".. so it wouldn't be too hard

 

okay, thanks.