how long does your m1330's battery last??

mine only last 2 - 2.5 hours with a 6 cell. and the only thing i'm doing is using wireless surfing on internet with 5/8 brightness. is that correct?

my friend's sony sz650 last almost 4- 5 hours with a 6 cell doing almost the same thing, i know his backlite LED consumes less power.. but, that's a huge difference :S (he uses 8400gs too)

PD: i also disabled vista AERO in order so save power

 

I dont know about the sony, but you have to see not how many cells the battery pack has, but what sort of Whr it has.

I dont have a 6 cell so I can't compare, the 9 gets me about 4-5hrs wi-fi on, screen at half brites.

 

i use dachshund's battery doubler, so average, i usually get about 4 hours on a 6 cell, 56 Whr battery, give or take 10 minutes. this is with brightness at 5/8, wireless surfing w/ bt, and objectdock and dachshunds hare, battery doubler, and anti crash constantly on. thank you dachshund.
i have:
-t7300
-2 GB ram
-120 5400rpm
-vista premium/xp pro
-LED
-X3100

 

hmm..
u have LED and x3100.. i should have chose that config

i have t7300, 120 5400rpm, 2gb ram, 8400gs CCFL..

how can i know what sort of Whr it has?

PD: in RightMark CPU clock Utility it shows:
battery device: DELL NX5117
Designed capacity 57720 mWh
fully charged capacity: 53702 mWh

 

IT says on the back of the battery.

9 cells are 85Whr. 6 cells are 56Whr

As far as I'm concerned, the 8400GS sucks a lot of juice. My D630 with the faster CPU and regular CCFL screen gets about 1 hour more use on average both using XP. The D630 is on the same rating 85Whr 9 cell battery.

 

What's a battery doubler? Can you link me to yours?

 

its software.

http://www.dachshundsoftware.com/index.html

left side, go to 'software' then browse from there. pm for more info. but not tonight. sleepy.

PS. works with vista. all of them work with vista. i know, i have them.

 

OP your battery tests are not normal maybe you got a faulty battery? Btw, are you using it in power saving mode with bluetooth disabled? Even in reviews when the XPS M1330 has been tested in performance mode with no power saving features disabled i.e at full brightness and bluetooth on etc it came out at 2 hours 55 minutes. The SZ with the x3100 graphics card under the same conditions faired only 25 minutes better.
http://www.trustedreviews.com/notebooks/review/2007/10/11/Dell-XPS-M1330/p1
Another battery test from C-Net conducted a battery draining test in performance mode for this laptop and the results showed 2 hours 30 minutes.

You using power saving mode with brightness lowered and other power saving methods should be be able to get quite better results than these above results.

Btw, i can get about 4 hours with wifi on, bluetooth disabled and in power saving mode with brightness lowered to about 2/3. The specs of my laptop are in my sig. I am to using the same video card as you. If i disabled wifi and did word processing only my battery life would increase.

There have been some past posts about this-

http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=171064
http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=156600
http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=171197

 

I'm using balanced profile, 5/8, wireless on, bluetooth off.
web surfing = 2 - 2.5 hours
playing Warcraft III = 1.5 hours aprox



PD: i m going to try that battery doubler.. however it seems to unbelievable

 

Nice roundup, thanks

 

Try it in power saver mode.
There seems to be quite a big variation in the battery life that you get for web surfing. So you can sometimes can get 2 hours you say and then sometimes you can get 2 hours 50 minutes?
Seeing that people have exceeded that battery life in performance mode i think your battery maybe at fault. Try power saver mode though i am interested to read your results.
I think that the LED screen may help slightly but i don't think that it will really make a major difference in battery life.



Btw, gaming well that will take up your battery life more.

 

4 cell= 2 hours

 

hmm I'm sure i have 6 cell, because the battery says capacity: 56mHr

 

I get about 3hrs 50mins on my 6cell m1330. This is with aero turned off, sidebar turned off, half brightness, bluetooth off, wifi on.

 

So weird... The battery doubler says my battery capacity is at 1hr 15mins. And Vista's battery remaining estimation always gives like four hours at the beginning, but I always end up getting <2hrs. Is there something wrong with my battery?

 

vista's battery meter always say i have 4 hours battery life. but i just let my notebook stands there doing nothing, 10 min later it shows my notebook remains 3 hours ...
even i have 2 % battery, it may show like 50 min as remain...

that's crazy...

 

i wouldnt trust vista's battery meter thing cuz it fluctuates as you work. like you could nothing, and itll say 5 hours or something, and then open something and say 3 hours.

 

I just tested twice my 6cell battery

brightness 5/8, wifi on, bluetooth off, aero off, side bar off, mode: POWER SAVER

the only thing I was doing is net surfing, answering post at notebookreview, looking for wallpapers etc..

the first time last only 2 hours and 35 minutes, second time 2 hours and 48 min

do you think i got defective battery? should I call DELL to change it? (would they? )

 

yeah, you probably should call dell to exchange it or get a new one. if it really is a 6 cell, those are some low scores. sorry, dude.

 

you can check your battery wear w/ Notebook hardware control. It's a pretty cool software with no burden on system resources.

http://www.pbus-167.com/nhc/nhc.htm#anchor_download

Make sure to download the bug fix version - which is for DELL systems

My 9cell's wear is 25% which is bit too much after only 1 month of use, and dell is replacing it.

Try to do the same thing since battery isn't under warranty - Dell will only replace it if the system is fairly new.

 

well i bout my system at the end of july

i downloaded that stuff, and it says

voltage: 12942mV
type: lithium Ion
Capacity: 57720 mWh
manufacturer: DP-LGC52
full capacity: 53702 mWh
wear level 6%

can you please post yours so i can compare??

 

xdz3r0, would you happen to have a battery life benchmark with Battery Doubler disabled for comparisons sake? I'm curious how big of an impact it will have on longevity.

Similarly, do you find Hare makes a big difference in Vista?

I'm interested in the progs but tbh their site looks so sketchy

 

Well i have the exact same configuration as the guy (sorry didnt check name) who thinks his battery lasts too little, and for me it lasts just as little as well.

So maybe LED does make a huge damn difference? 40 minute difference? Seems like a bit too much but it seems rather unlikely we both got faulty batteries! Unless.. how long does yours take to charge? Ive noticed mine takes a really long time to load, now i dont have previous experience with laptops except the ones ive been lent, and they seem to charge much faster than mine :O

Has anyone noticed now long it takes so i can make a comparison?

 

ill do some tests on sunday maybe. when theres time.

i cant really notice hare. but with it off, there IS some noticeable lag. but not too much. but yeah, it makes a difference. maybe the not the biggest or most noticeable difference, but a difference nonetheless.

 

never noticed :S i think like 1 -1.5 hours power off charging and 2- 2.5 power on charging

I asked dell they are going to replace my battery

 

Please let me know how it turns out! I also have a suspicion my screen is messed up, it leaks like hell... the whites are white but the blacks are greyish black, so i dont know about that, maybe its normal for lcds (ive always used normal computer monitors)

 

alright so for some times

my config:
-t7300 2.0 GHz 4MB L2 cache
-2GB ram
-120GB 5400rpm 2.5" SATA HDD
-intel integrated GMA X3100
-LED display
-fpr
-4965 AGN
-bluetooth 355 model
-windows vista home premium


this is w/ the following en/dis abled:
-4/8 brightness (my eyes hurt from having on 5+ for too long)
-wifi/bt on
-hare enabled
-web browsing
-ms word open and me randomly punching keys in it occasionally
-stardock objectdock, daschund hare, anti-crash, zoom, (battery doubler for 1st test) running

with battery doubler on:
i checked the battery remaining every 20%. it remained that for nearly every 20% passed, i was using for about 50 or so mins.

100% - ...min
80% - 52 min
60% - 102 min
40% - 153 min
20% - 202 min
0% - 251 min

so with battery doubler on, it lasted 4 h 11 mins.

now for with battery doubler off:

100% - ...min
80% - 46 min
60% - 94 min
40% - 122 min
20% - 160 min
0% - 198 min

3 h 18 min

this might vary from your battery times. this is mine. both tests were conducted doing the same thing. anything else? anything i missed?

 

Wow that difference is quite significant. I tried it out but didn't get anything like that. I'm on Vista, and I'm not sure if it's compatible, are you on Vista as well?

Also, was that on a 6 cell?

 

this battery doubler thing doesnt seem to work properly in vista- the icon doesnt appear in the system tray. can anybody help? (im running the latest version of this app btw)

 

still waiting my battery replace..

 

yeah, it was on vista, and for me, it was completely compatible. the intergrator shows up in the system tray thingy.

yes, the tests were conducted using a 6 cell, its the only one i have.

 

With the 6 cell I get just under 3 hrs with LED screen and dells suggested power settings. I think the closest I have gotten to three hours was 2:50

 

Dell's recommended settings are not the best really. Power saver mode in Vista is better. Dell's recommended power settings is the same as balanced mode in Vista i tried it once and never used it again. It is not the best power saving method when you are on battery power. Also make sure that you have bluetooth disabled if you are on battery as that can take of about 20 minutes of battery life. Also turn of the side bar when you are on battery power. I don't know if you do this or not but it is best to lower your brightness to at least about half brightness when on battery power. Maybe you should try it again.

I have over 5 hours showing on the clock when i start up Vista with Aero of and wifi on. I won't get that but i should be able to get slightly more than 4 hours. I have a 6 cell battery to and i usually keep my brightness levels about 2/3. I am also using the A05 bios which for me i have found to be better for battery life.

 

dammit.. can i downgrade from a06 to A05?

they sent me a new 6 cell battery, with wifi on, 5/8, power saver mode, when vista star only show me 2 hour 45min(100%). how can u possible get 5 hours or 4 hours

 

i have A06. can i get windows mobility center for xp? cuz i just set up a dualboot, and for me, xp runs usually for about 20-30 mins more, give or take about 5 mins.

 

Hi rachuck, could you send me A05 bios version? I have a new XPS 1330 with the A06 and I'm getting less than three hours with the 6 cell (LED, Brightness 4/8, Wifi and BT On, Aero and Sidebar off, only web surfing), so I don't know if the battery is faulty.

Besides, with this A06 bios i heard also the whining noise from the left side of the computer when I'm using it

Thanks a lot!

 

Hi i have tried A06 and with that at 2/3 brightness using power saver in Vista and not Dell's recommended settings i was able to get 3 hours 30 minutes with wifi on web browsing with BT off so you should be able to achieve that at least using those same settings. This was with my computer set up to allow Vista to do what is best for my computer and i did not turn Aero of.
Maybe you should turn your BT of as that consumes about 20-25 minutes of battery life.
If you want me to send you the A05 bios you will need to PM me with an email address where to send it to and i will do so.

 

Well, I was not using power save mode, but balanced. And I forget to mention that I have the 8400GS. So maybe this two and the BT on, make the difference.

I will try your suggestions, but If you don't mind, I will send a PM too so you could send me A05 bios revision, cause the main benefit of the A06 (not high pitch noise) is not working in my notebook.

Thanks a lot rachuck!!!

 

well, thanx to rachuck, I was able to downgrade my A06 to A05. and the vista battery meter now shows 3 hours 27min (idle) instead of 2 hours 40 min when I was using A06. (CCFL, t7300, 8400gs, 2gb ram, power saver mode, 5/8 brightness, wifi on, bt off )

 

kossel that is great to read. If you lower your brightness down a bit you should be able to get a bit more as well. I only ever run mine at 2/3 brightness which is a good setting for me.

Going from balanced mode to power saver mode you could well gain about 30 minutes in battery life and gain 20 for the bluetooth. I also have the 8400GS card. Like i wrote before i can get 4 hours with the 8400GS card at 2/3 brightness with wifi on and bluetooth of.

I wrote this in another thread what i wrote below but i may as well post it here as well.

I can get 6 hours showing on the clock when i start up with bluetooth and wifi disabled with Works open so my computer is not idle. I have the fingerprint software disabled here as well which i don't normally do and brightness turned all the way down which i don't do normally either. I also have Aero of as well here. This would work very well for word processing only.
http://usera.imagecave.com/rachuk/forum3.JPG
I turn of Windows updater as well as sometimes before when i have been on battery i have had it running and downloading stuff when i was not even aware and that will use up some of your battery life.

It is better to use Firefox i have found as well if you are on battery power and use a good ad blocker.

The LED screen is meant to help conserve power as well i don't think it will be that much of a difference but Sony do give a 2 hour battery life between the CCFL SZ and the LED version.

John Ratsey also posted a useful tip in this thread as well.
http://forum.notebookreview.com/showpost.php?p=2638822&postcount=88

 

OMG 6 hours 7 min, that's insane !!

 

Mmm, interesting if it's true that
Deep discharge can reset the wear down to a lower value

 

Could anyone upload the A05 bios somewhere or send it to me. I would like to see the difference in battery time on my m1330.

Thanks

 

Planet Vikram has kindly uploaded the A05 bios that i sent them here so that people can download it now.
This is the link

http://www.esnips.com/doc/470a050e-e600-4459-a1c8-9c25721db644/M1330A05

 

So with the Battery Doubler software it says it disables usb ports etc, but if i put a usb into the laptop will they turn back on?

 

don;t know :S i have it, and i feel my laptop normal

 

and... what's the difference between the A05 and A06 bios between the battery life? My first 1330 with A05 had longer battery life than the one i have now with A06, however this does not whine as loud as the other did and wouldn't like to have it again... can i downgrade /upgrade with no problem?

 

Yes why not you can just download the A06 from the Dell website as for my differences check my posting history for the threads i started i made a post about it and see what i found. I have flashed mine with A02, A06 and i am now back to using A05.

 

simply put, yes, the ports will turn back on once it detects a connected device. i just tried it again for myself, to confirm.

 

guys..i read the posts abt battery life...how should i increase my battery charge..will any one out plz lay down all the adjstment need to be made..how does one check brightness level..like few ppl over here said 5/8..2/3..?
disabling bluetooth,using powersaver...r enough?or there is more to it..how much is general time would 6 cell last?3 hrs?in normall web usage?
battery doubler is trial version software rite?