E1705 DVD bay battery and 7900 GS question?

Called Dell to see about an upgrade on the video card no problem. I told them I needed to get more time out of the battery so I had heard the 7900 GS used less power. The lady told me yes placed the order then she told me there was also a DVD drive Bay battery that would add battery time. Is there really a drive bay battery for the E1705? She also told me when I asked to schedule an installation to follow the directions it would be fine. I am fine with that but will it mess the warranty up?

 

what are you upgrading from?, it should be fairly easy,just take your time and follow the directions, it wont void your warranty, and if your getting the part through your warranty, that should be covered as well, if you were getting it through a different channel, ie just flat out buying it, your laptop would still be covered, but not the card

 

I am buying it to replace my 7800. But I bought it through the replacement parts she did understand the problem. Actually was one of the best transactions lately with Dell. Is the battery for real? I have no problem with changing the part just if my warranty gets the shaft. The last one I changed they told me had to be done by a tech he scratched my puter I was very upset;-(

 

mmm I think you have to actually take out a screw at the bottom to slide out the optical drive... So I'm not sure how practical that battery would be even if available.

However, there's a 9-cell 83whr battery option available for e1705 that will definitely provide longer battery life time than 6-cell 60whr standard battery.

 

I have a 9 cell and have only been able to get about 2.5 hours and that was a very dark screen. I think because I have 2GB RAM and 7200RM drive.

 

2gb ram and 7200RPM drive do not have any significant effect on your battery life. It is influenced by video card, LCD and processor and how old your battery is.

 

2.5hrs is normal for e1705 btw

 

I realize that but I bought it with the 3 hour core duo in mind. But as of yet that problem is not fixed that is microsoft and intel though. I did think though that the RAM and drive had more impact than that. I am just stressed with Dell in general. I am trying to stay off my soap box. They have given me the run around so long that I was going to sell the computer until I found it was worth little of nothing compared to what I paid. It is a long story and I am really trying not to degrade them so I will let it rest. The 7900 GS is supposed to be better on the battery and when the core 2 duo gets more available maybe it will work in the inspiron. Again a better battery performance from what I can read.

 

LapQuest, your 7900gs will be covered by the remainder of your warranty since you bought it from Dell & that part is an approved part for the E1705. By the way, how much did you get it from Dell Spare Parts? I'm thinking of doing the same too.

 

It was about $365 it is more than adding it to a new system. But I am hoping for some time added on to the battery life. I realize 2.5 hours is normal but leaving the house does not always give me an ac outlet in 2.5 hours usually it is longer.

 

I think you would be better served by just buying a spare battery or two, the 7900 isnt going to net you that much extra time, another 9cell to swap out would double your mobile usage time, not to mention be much much cheaper

 

I know a spare battery would be good but I have an extra battery it never gets used bum shoulder and all. I also want this to last as long as possible. I have to leave home and not return for several hours at a time. But the other reason for getting the 7900 is possibly lower cooling. Less power = lower temps usually. I am trying to make this thing enjoyable for myself. I have had many problems with the initial Dell installation and the software that came with it. I do like it but only now am I beggining to like using it. The other thing the video card has that I do not is new drivers. Mine has not been updated since January. The 7900 GS has one on Nvidia's websight. So I think there are more reasons than just the battery. I do not like spending the money. But if there could be a bright light to this computer maybe this is it. Honestly I was Dells biggest fan until recently. I was glad to tell people they were from my state and to recommend them but now I am not sure. This very laptop I am trying to find a way for some other people to be happy. When they purchased I talked them into it. It is so bad one had to format the drive to get rid of the problems. The other one can't because he has been sent the wrong CD for Windows XP. I feel like I have let them down so I am trying to find the fixes that may help. I know every one makes mistakes but this one has cost those two money on their jobs. I hope this helps clarify why I am upset with Dell and why I would not recommend them at this point to any one. These would be here on this board but they work 7 days a week on call 24 hours a day. I know there are other E1705 computers out there with the same problems. It was so bad that I was called on my cell phone from a very expensive sat phone for over an hour and tried to talk these people through a fix. It did not get solved they could not remove the problem they could not make it run fast enough I did all I could on my dime. Dell wanted them to send it in. They could not until they came back from offshore. They therefore had to format one just to get a working computer. Does this make more sense -$-$-$-$-$. It is not just me I am trying to do this for. We are still not sure of anything except Wild tangent was in every case involved. Dell installed that piece of garbage.

 

There is no media bay battery for the inspiron notebooks. They all fixed optical drives. Some of the latitudes offer this feature.

 

I was afarid of that. So if it fits does it work or screw my system up?