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    Extending the battery on an XPS

    Discussion in 'Dell' started by johnsimpson, Feb 28, 2005.

  1. johnsimpson

    johnsimpson Notebook Enthusiast

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    Last night was my first attempt at travelling with my new Dell XPS and was I disappointed. I planned ahead and bought a second battery so I could watch movies on my flight.

    I burned through two batteries in under two hours and twenty minutes.

    I tried to set my power schemes to battery save mode and dimmed the screen to the lowest setting, but still no good.

    Does anyone have any tips for tweaking battery life to watch a DVD?

    Thanks,

    John
     
    johnsimpson, Feb 28, 2005
    #1
  2. ZaZ

    ZaZ Super Model Super Moderator

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    You could rip the discs to your hard drive using DVD Decrypter. Hard drives consume much less power than optical drives. Two hours and 20 minutes does seem low for two batteries. Which version of the XPS do you have?






    I know things, things that could get me killed


    Thinkpad T41:
    * 1.6Ghz Pentium M * 768Mb Memory * 40Gb Hitachi 7200RPM * Panasonic UJ-845-B DVD+RW *
     
    ZaZ, Feb 28, 2005
    #2
  3. PowerSlave

    PowerSlave Newbie

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    <blockquote id='quote'> quote:<hr height='1' noshade id='quote'>Originally posted by johnsimpson
     
    Last edited by a moderator: May 8, 2015
    PowerSlave, Feb 28, 2005
    #3
  4. Shadow7789

    Shadow7789 Notebook Enthusiast

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    I agree, with PowerSlave, If you don't know what a Northwood is, it is a Pentium 4 from 2.4GHz-3.2GHz (I think there is also a 3.4GHz one also), they run off a 800 MHz FSB, and have 512Kb of L2 Cache. They are definitly MUCH more power efficient then the Prescotts. Also, your GPU may be taking alot of power also. If you right click on your desktop and go to properties-->Settings (Tab)-->Advanced (Button)-->Powerplay (Tab)-->Powerplay Settings (Button) you can change if your GPU underclocks it's self when it is on batteries, that should save some power.

    Inspiron 8600 * WUXGA * Intel Pentium M (Dothan) 725 (1.6 GHz) * 1024 MB of DDR333 * Mobility Radeon 9600 Pro Turbo with 128 MB @ 350/250 * 60 GB HD 5400RPM * CDRW/DVD Combo Drive
     
    Shadow7789, Feb 28, 2005
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  5. johnsimpson

    johnsimpson Notebook Enthusiast

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    Thanks guys. I'm not ready to change out the processor just yet as I only use battery mode when I'm flying and want to watch a DVD.

    I had already set the PowerPlay functions and it appeared to have very little impact.

    John
     
    johnsimpson, Mar 1, 2005
    #5
  6. fsacj

    fsacj Notebook Consultant NBR Reviewer

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    Uhh, isn't a portable DVD player cheaper than an extra battery and Northwood CPU?
     
    fsacj, Mar 1, 2005
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  7. Conscript

    Conscript Notebook Geek

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    Yeah, I'd just get a $99 or whatever DVD player and watch it on that.

    Buying an XPS for the DVD watching capabilities is like swatting flies with a nuclear weapon.
     
    Conscript, Mar 1, 2005
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  8. PowerSlave

    PowerSlave Newbie

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    <blockquote id='quote'> quote:<hr height='1' noshade id='quote'>Originally posted by Conscript
     
    Last edited by a moderator: May 8, 2015
    PowerSlave, Mar 1, 2005
    #8