e1405 questions

Hi guys,
I just bought and recieved an Inspiron e1405 and am satisfied with laptop but I have a few concerns that I was hoping some members here could address. When I first started the laptop the battery life was at 8+ hours max, the second and third time the battery life hovered around 7-8 hours max. Even though there was some slight reduction in the battery life I was fine with it. Recently though, it has been consistently at 5+ hrs max, rarely hitting the 6 hr mark. I have been running my laptop with the brightest screen setting since I got it so I assume this is not TOO much of an issue. The battery life also seems to drain very quickly, falling to 99 perecent after only 2-5 minutes, and consistently at that rate thereafter. Another concern I had was supposed "light leakage" at the bottom of the screen. I do notice a sort of gray glare but I simply attribute this to light bouncing off the screen (I have the true-life display), and have not seen anything out of the ordinary per usual laptop displays. If someone could perhaps produce a comparison shot of what "light leakage" is compare to standard laptop display quality I would appreciate it.

Here are the specs of my lappy:

Dell Inspiron MXC061
Intel Core 2 CPU T7200 2GHZ
1.32 Ghz (not sure what this means), 1.99 GB of Ram


Thanks again guys

 

about half way down the page:

http://www.notebookreview.com/default.asp?newsID=2950&review=Dell+Inspiron+e1405

 

are you switching settings on the dell quickset from maximum battery to maximum performance? That could make a difference. One of the most advised tips is to charge the battery full and drain it all the way to 5 percent and then charge it up again and freeze it.

They say that helps a lot with batteries. Hopefully someone will clarify.

 

Battery usage is different every time unless you're running controlled lab tests. It's very common to have a half hour or more discrepancy on a 2-3 hour battery or a full hour or more on a 6-8 hour battery like the 1405. You'd be surprised at how much extra battery life you can use up just by using the HD more or having the brightness up a notch. WiFi drains power too.

You said your battery drops by 1 percent every 2-5 minutes? We'll call the average 3.5 minutes per percent of battery life....
so then we get 3.5 minutes * 100 percent = 350 minutes = about 6 hours.

I think that's normal on high brightness. It is on my 1405 anyway.

Honestly though I would only ever judge battery life after a full few cycles rather than what it is out of the box. You can be the fudge factor, not having all the settings correct the first time you run it down, after all =)

If you see further degradation of your battery pack in the next week, I'd consider chatting with a dell rep (never call, the chat is so much more productive) and seeing what they have to say.

EDIT: Are you just reading the estimated battery life that gets read out when you query the battery? That doesn't accurately portray battery life or drain, since it only gets updated in 5-second refreshes...

 

This is a really great forum and I really aprpeciate the quick, thorough and helpful responses. Thank you Zander for that comparison pic. I guess I must be leaking a little bit of light because I do see that white glow ever so slightly, but I havent totally convinced myself that its not just glare-in either case it doesnt and hasnt bothered me. Otaku, as for the battery life, I dont go off the readings because I realized that the time left is usually just an estimation, since it can change with settings and the like just as you said. Before my battery dies in a few minutes I wil have gotten a solid 3 hours (maybe just reaching 4), but this is very dissapointing compared to what I was running at when I first booted the laptop. I hope I havent done excessive damage to the battery. Also, I am confident with the machine I have built but can someone give me a summary of what I can expect out of it in terms of performance and gaming? I thought I had a fairly powerful machine but I know that I need a graphics card. THe issue I am having with that is knowing what graphics cards are compatible with my system/system settings.

 

Have you seen what you can eke out battery-wise with your brightness cranked down to halfway? Also are you using the stock or extended battery?

I have an e1405 with first-gen core duo, and the extended battery. On half-brightness I can consistently see 9 hours (but I am mostly typing and listening to music, no WiFi. Also I have quickset/NHC set to maximum battery life) but when I have brightness turned halfway up, use WiFi and go to normal power settings that number dives to 7 or so.

If I dare to go with max brightness and max performance, I will probably be dead and gone in 5 hours. I don't really do that, so I can't say for sure =)

I dunno if you've damaged the battery, maybe just have too high an expectation of it? I wish I had firsthand info on my battery times (I swapped for the bigger battery on the third day of ownership, so...) with the stock battery. Hopefully somebody else with an e1405 can shed some additional light on this. I heard that 5-6 hours is what should be expected with the stock battery.

I do however think that the low end of 3 hours is still less than what should be expected of the e1405 series, especially if you are being frugal with power settings and the like. Did you happen to leave a CD in the drive or have the system running on performance mode?

Not to beat a dead horse here but I really hate to think you're winding up disappointed with the e1405's battery life (which I can't stop exclaiming about having previously owned big battery eating portables) because of a bum battery or incorrect settings.

As for graphics, you're stuck with what you got. The intel GMA950 chip is hardwired to the board, and no upgrade is at all possible.

 

Should I expect 3-4 hours out of a 9cell battery? The ugprade was for free and I appreciated that but the rep told me that it would last for 8+ hours. Ive never heard of this kind of endurance out a battery before so I was impressed with the figure but only had that result the first 3 or so times using my laptop. I am wondering if I was given a refurbed battery. I spoke to a Dell rep via chat today and he told me that 3-4 hours is what I should get out of my 9 cell. I understand people make mistakes and the rep could have been wrong but I have been reading about people getting 5-9 hour figures from their batteries and am dissapointed that I am not getting the same result with similar settings

 

On that battery 3 hours is really unacceptable. You should be able to get at least 4 hours with every single bell and whistle turned on and turned up. I can't imagine what you're doing that would drain that thing so friggin' quick.

If you're still within the return timeframe, I'd tell the dell rep you're really displeased and are seriously considering returning it. See if you can lean on them a bit and get a new battery. Tell them that at purchase the rep said you should expect 6 or more hours out of the unit at your usage level. Also make sure the rep you're speaking to knows you have the extended battery (the one that sticks out about an inch) because they may be assuming you have the stock battery.

Good luck, and don't be afraid to tell them you're not happy.