Inspiron 1420 screen brightness issue (not your usual 'problem')

Hawdy ppl!

Ok so I've got an Inspiron 1420 running vista ultimate. I've had some bug issues in the past where I would set the screen brightness to 100% in both battery mode and plugged-in mode and it will still look dim but those issues always got resolved after a reboot.

This time the problem persists and it really bugs me. So I've got the screen brightness in both modes (battery and wire) to 100%. When I unplug my laptop the screen lights up to 100%. The moment I plug it back in - BAM it goes to about 70% ALTHOUGH the settings indicate that it's @ 100% screen brightness. I then try to manually increase the brightness by hitting Fn-Arrow up multiple times but nothing happens. If I change the plugged-in mode settings to say 80% (from 100%) I will immediately see a slight decrease in brightness. In other words it's as if the screen really is at 100% brightness when plugged-in but this level is just not bright enough because the moment I unplug the adapter the screen will light up significantly (provided that both settings are set to 100%).

I would really appreciate if anyone can give me a hand with this. I checked all possible settings and couldn't find a solution. Why would my screen be dimmer when plugged in and brighter when unplugged provided that both modes are set to 100% brightness?? Please help!

 

Try going into your BIOS and looking at the settings. Press F2 when the Dell splash screen loads. Go to the video setting and adjust the brightness for battery power and AC power.

 

Dude I LOVE YOU!

I didn't even know these BIOS settings exist. I have no clue how did they get changed but I'm so glad my eyes no longer hurt when I plug my laptop in.

Thanks heaps for your help! Appreciated!

 

Haha, that's exactly what happened to a friend of mine, also with the Inspiron 1420...I guess that's just a common oddity for that model.