M1210 Battery... 6-Cell vs. 9-Cell Questions...

I have a couple of questions about the M1210 battery, for anyone that knows...

1) The M1210 is listed as weighing 4.37 lbs. with the 6-cell battery. How much does it weigh with the 9-cell battery?

2) The M1210 is listed as lasting up to 7 hours 54 minutes with the 9-cell battery. How long does it last with the 6-cell battery?

Thanks!

 

1. I'm not 100% sure since I haven't weighed it, but probably around 4.5 to 4.8 lbs with the 9 cell.

2. That's a complete overstatement since you're likely to get a setup that eats more power. I cannot get 8 hours of battery life on the 9 cell. At most, I can push 5 hours and 15 minutes but that's like on with screen brightness at minimum idling. With the 6 cell, for general work (surfing, word processing, etc), you can probably push 3.5 hours.

 

1. The weight increase will be insignificant because the batteries shown very little weight differences.

2. The nine cell batteries generally last 60% longer then the 6 cell.

If the question is "is it worth it to upgrade" I would have to say yes because not only will you get more battery life with practically no added wait but you wont regret your purchase later.

 

Thanks guys!

 

That's not true. There is a noticeable .4 pound weight difference between the 6 and 9 cell.

I don't mean to be an arse, but reading his old posts, that .4 lbs might be the deal breaker.

 

You're right. An extra .4 pound weight difference probably would be a deal breaker. Thanks for the info, Sirius.

 

I doubt you would notice 0.4 lbs. Now it weighs 4.77 lbs instead of 4.37 lbs. The 9 cell battery is worth the money and the 0.4 lb increase in weight.

 

I'm trying to give him an honest answer based on his old threads. If he still feels true to those comments he made, he might want to stay away from the 9 cell. Maybe away from the whole xps M1210's in general. If you're picky about a half pound, I wouldn't suggest this for you. Maybe something like the premium SZ's you were looking into. Why do you keep dangling back at Dell? I'd just go with the SZ Premium. I hope you don't take this the wrong way, I'm just trying to look out for you.

 

Yep, Sirius_GTO is right. I'm trying to avoid anything over 4 lbs., yet still get decent battery life -- and a faster hard drive, if possible.

Good question. I guess it's because I'm comfortable with Dell. I've bought quite a few of them (desktops and laptops) and have always been happy. And I get a nice deal thanks to Dell's EPP program. Plus I played with an M1210 the other day and really liked it -- except for the weight.

Here's the thing: I looked at and used a couple of SZs. Nice machine, no doubt. But I already have a 15.4" Dell 6000, and I'd like something that's noticeably smaller. The SZ is pretty close to the same size as the 15.4"... but the 12.1" M1210 (or D420) is smaller. I think a 12.1" laptop might be perfect for me:

Dell Inspiron 6000 (my current laptop)
Dimensions (W x D x H): 14.02 x 10.45 x 1.52

Sony VAIO SZ
Dimensions (W x D x H): 12.5 x 9.3 x 1.3

Dell XPS M1210
Dimensions (W x D x H): 11.7 x 8.7 x 1.2

Dell D420
Dimensions (W x D x H): 11.6 x 8.25 x 1

Not at all. I totally appreciate the help.


EDIT: oh, one more reason why I keep gravitating back to Dell is because I'd really like to get built-in Broadband for Cingular's 3G network ( not EDGE). Cingular's 3G Broadband is available in the M1210 and the D420, but not in a Sony (Sony only offers Sprint Broadband or Cingular's slow-as-molasses EDGE).

 

Where's the info that a 9 cell adds 0.4 lb of weight? According to Dell.ca the difference between the 6 cell and 9 cell for XPS 1210 is 0.18 lb (0.7 lb for 6 cell and 0.88 lb for 9 cell). I got this info from choosing the "Help Me Choose" button under Battery Options in the config screen. Has anyone ever actually weighed two identically configured systems except for the 9 vs. 6 cell battery?

 

You can always go for the Vaio TZ. I mean, that's a true ultraportable. It's a little on the weak side though. My friend has one and it's a really nice machine, but performance wise it is pretty poor, but what do you expect from such a small machine?

You're going to have to make sacrifices and determine what works for you.

 

the battery is more than a .18 pound difference for sure. Have you held these two in your hands? I'm sticking to the .4 pound weight difference.

 

No, I haven't held them in my hands. I was just wondering where you got the 0.4 lb. number from... It's understandable for an entire system to have a different weight than stated by Dell (different config) but it doesn't make much sense for a battery to differ that much. Of course I've never held the two to compare (I've only held a 9 cell battery one)...but then again, judging by your post, the 0.4 lb. isn't an exact number either.