FIRST TIME XPS M1530 Use: BATTERY QUESTIONS

Hi I just got the new XPS M1530.

1. I would like to know how to know what is the indicator if the battery HAS BEEN FULLY CHARGED?

2. How to make the battery has the best performance?
My friend told me that FIRST TIME AFTER I GOT THE NOTEBOOK, I must charge it FULL and use it until LOW Batt indicator shown up and I must REPEAT that STEP 2-3 times?
Is it TRUE?

3. I will be using my laptops MAJORLY at home only and I plan to take off the battery and use the AC Adapter.
Is it ok if the battery to be NOT USED?
How long is the best time to keep BATTERY NOT USED?

Thank you very much.

 

I'm not sure if the M1530 is the same as the other Dell laptops I've seen, but from what I've seen, charging the battery 0~90% is solid green. Charging 90~100% is occasional blinking green.

Also, no no no no. Do not intentionally cycle your battery. It really isn't necessary unless you ABSOLUTELY MUST have a calibrated battery meter. New batteries work well enough out of the box, and modern battery meters are fairly accurate without calibration.

 

1) Well, the battery icon in the system tray, the LED and also the indicator button on the battery will show that

2) There's a guide right here.

3) That's fine.

 

Yes I know that. But where is the LED indicator? Is it only inside? NEAR the POWER button? But I saw there is not GREEN color. It is BLUE LED active if the POWER is on. So all the LED is BLUE, including DELL Direct Media button and the touch panel on the RIGHT side.

So how to manage the battery to get the best performance? I've fully charged it for 8 hours last night for FIRST time charging.

Thanks.

 

The LEDs are on the battery

http://www.dell-m1330-info.com/images/dell_xps_m1330_battery.jpg

There isn't anything special you need to do for the battery to work properly. These batteries are smart and they know what to do. The only time you should take any special care is when you are storing it for a long period of time, it shouldn't be fully charged nor completely empty.

 

I am charging it with the notebook in closed position, is it ok to open it in CHARGING MODE?

There is no EXTERNAL LED / Indicator?

Thank you very much.

 

Yes you can open and close your laptop as you please without worrying about the battery. There is no special procedure in dealing with a laptop, just let it do its thing.

 

Ok, I see.
1. So it's quite difficult that I must lift the notebook and see the BOTTOM side, isn't it?
Is there any simpler and easier way to do this?

2. In general, approximately how long to keep the battery not used? How many months, days or week?

3. Some friends told me to FULLY CHARGED the battery before it is KEPT for a Long Period.
Is it a wrong opinion? If it is wrong, what is the effect of FULLY charged the battery before it is KEPT for a long period?

4. Why does the battery should not FULLY charged or Empty before it is KEPT for a long period?

Please, explain to me because I don't really understand about this.

Thanks a lot..

 

Did you read the guide?

 

1) I'd suggest reading the guide.

2) Hakuna matata. Or something to that effect. No worries. No matter how you slice it, your battery isn't going to be great as it ages. You could leave it charged at 38% and keep it in your fridge to preserve the temperature and the charge cycles and it will still not hold a charge as well as it did when brand new. You can calibrate it, subject it to regular charges, whatever. As it ages, it's gonna worsen.

So I say use it, abuse it, and when it gets old 24 months from now, buy a new one. (Laptop or battery. some people like new laptops after 2 years anyway. If not, just pick up a new battery)

I beat the stuffing out of my old Dell laptop's battery. 6 years later, it can't go 15 minutes without discharging. But the laptop is so slow anyway, who cares?

I keep it plugged in all the time and just use it as a backup system. If I really needed it, you can always go online and eBay an affordable new battery.

All in all, less worries. And spend the time enjoying your new laptop!

 

You have to calm down. It seems everytime you're given advice you just ask more questions. Just relax and use/charge your battery whenever you need to.

 

And use a calmer font.

 

So if I use the AC adapter with the battery plugged in my laptop is OK?

I don't understand, how to CALIBRATE the battery?

Ok, it's quite expensive I guess for buying the battery.

Thank you very much.

 

If you use the AC adapter with the battery in, your laptop is OK. I always use it that way, so that if the cord were to get jerked out, my computer wouldn't crash. But you can also run it with the battery out; just be careful about the cord.

 

If you use your laptop with both the battey and AC charger plugged in, the battery will charge until 100%, then it will be bypassed, so as not to keep it from charging and discharging (which depletes its ability to hold charge).

So in other words, if you leave both the AC adapter and battery plugged in it will not have any effect on the battery at all.
But you will still have the piece of mind that if the AC adapter did get pulled out, the computer would just revert to battery power and remain switched on.

Hope this helps you out

 

What is your laptop hooligan001? Is it really ok? Because I've got suggestions from friends and I also have read the battery guide on this forum which tend on the suggestion that if I use laptop with cord plugged in and battery also, the battery life will reduced faster and the performance also will degrades.

Thank you.

 

I have a Dell XPS M1530, and i too was worried about the battery life reducing faster if i left it plugged in.

I did some research though, and i have discovered that once it is fully charged, the batery does not get used.

Hope this helps

EDIT: See here and here for more information.

 

Seriously, guys?

 

How long have you been testing on your laptop? And how can you know that once the battery has been FULLY charged and the AC cable still plugged in, it is automatically discharged?

Thank you.

 

hey I am curious now as my m1530 is always plugged in with the battery installed and I just noticed that my battery is at 83% and NOT charging. The health on my battery is good but why wont it charge up to 100%? I unplugged it and ran the battery all the way dead and let it charge back up but it stopped at 83% again. My laptop is less then a year old!

 

The 85whr battery for my m1530 started dying just over 9months in. I run it on the adapter pretty much 24/7 since it's my desktop replacement. I've ran it on battery about 20-30 times and battery life was great. Just over 9 months in the laptop shut off while i was running it on the battery. It still had over 50% when it turned off. It wouldn't turn on until I plugged it on. When I opened up RightMark CPU Clock Utility to check the battery info, I saw that my 85whr battery is now only a 45whr battery. About a month after It did the same thing as before and turned off with around 50% battery left. I went to check the battery info and it showed that the battery can only hold 25whr. I called dell and got a new battery since it was within a yr. Not sure if i just had a bad battery or if leaving it in while on AC power hurt the battery life.

 

I got my M1530 for 10 months now. Still lasts me as long as i got it i can get arround 2 hours 30 minutes out of it on energy saving with screen lowest and using wifi and do some surfing and messaging. Never did any callibration and when at home i just leave it plugged in...