85whr (9 cell) battery life

Hi all,

I am considering ordering a Dell 1420 or 1520. It'll be used for surfing, programming, and playing some movies at times. No games. I'm looking for the longest possible battery life. I imagine the Vostro would perform about the same? Does anybody know approximately how long a battery charge should last with the following configs, with wifi on and normal internet / document use.

* ~1.6ghz intel dual core
* x3100 video
* 1440x900 glossy screen
* 9 cell / 85whr battery
* Brightness etc., toned down as normal when on battery.

Greg.

 

Should last about 3 hours

 

on my laptop i get 3.5 hours with wifi on and screen max brightness and balanced mode

4.5-5 hours with wifi on and screen half brightness and balanced mode

6+ hours with wifi off and screen half brightness and max battery mode selected

 

That Nizzy that's about what I expected. I was shooting for 5 hours. I'm assuming the x3100 will yield somewhat better battery life.

 

My 6 cell on my 1420 lasts about 3-4 hours on max brightness, wifi on, balanced mode.

 

my 9 cell battery serves me very well, it can last with max brightness and wifi on for around up to 5 hours or so. the only thing that annoys me is its weight..

 

I'm a little lower than Nizzy. Although, most of the time i'm on Performance mode.

 

and you have the 8600gt which requires more power, and you have a 7200rpm drive...but still to get those numbers with your hardware is impressive.

 

I easily get over 5 hours on my setup. Powersaver plan + wifi on + 50% brightness + bluetooth on

 

wow.... I would expect it to be better for the 1520. after switching to XP my 1720, under max battery life mode and 50% screen lasts for nearly 5 hours if I am just surfing the web or doing homework.

 

Sweet, five hours is my goal. That's a full flight from Seattle to NY without switching batteries. That was unheard of not too long ago.

 

my only last around 2 hrs and it is only 1.5 yrs old. I already getting message popup to ask for replacement, is this normal? Should I call Dell support?

 

I got 5 hours once on my Inspiron 1520. I was using notebook hardware control to go into max battery and display on very dim.

 

This happed to my M90 and chated with Dell CS, and they next day to me for free. Call Dell, and they probably want you to go though regular hoops, but it's all worth it when you receive the new battery.

 

I called them this morning like you mention they made be go though hoops but even that they only suggest me to buy a replacement. Nothing they will do when it is out of warranty. Any suggestion? Should I call their customer support to compliant?

 

I know the D630 gets something like 6 hours with the X3100. I only get 4.5 hours with the 135m on a 6 cell at half brightness, wifi on, laptop/portable mode.

So on a 9 cell with X3100 I figure you'd get well over 7 hours as long as you weren't watching a DVD. If you are watching DVDs then expect to only get 2.5-3 hours.

 

With my laptop in my sig i get over 5 hours with wifi on, brightness set to 1/2 while just surfing the internet.

 

If your system is out of warrenty, you are out of luck. You are going to have buy your replacement. I stepped away from Ebay awhile ago, so I don't know how much the batteries goes for these days on Ebay, and trustworthy of their products/sellers. But if you are going to buy from Dell, I suggest you to wait till the holiday seasons over. I was going to buy a battery for 700m couple of months ago and I saw it at $75-80 range, and last time I checked few days ago, ithat exact same battery has doubled the price.

 

More I think about it, I should put X3100 on my next notebook. I wonder 7 hrs is really possible though. In few days I am going to make decision on my next Dell (Vostro 1400) and it's going to have both 6 cell and 9 cell. If anybody can confirm, 10+ hours away from any plug is just too sweet to pass on.