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    short battery life- How Do I make it last longer?

    Discussion in 'Dell' started by dontedon, Dec 30, 2006.

  1. dontedon

    dontedon Newbie

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    My battery gives me about 2 hours-just surfing and occasionally downloading music, programs. What configurations do I make for more time?

    Dell INS 1200 win xp
     
    dontedon, Dec 30, 2006
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  2. the master 123

    the master 123 Notebook Enthusiast

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    what is you hardware specs. I can't find anything for that hardware. To get the info goto all program\acceriess\system tools\system infomation.
     
    the master 123, Dec 30, 2006
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  3. Zellio

    Zellio The Dark Knight

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    Hi, welcome to the desktop forums. Desktops don't have batteries usually, try asking in the laptop forums.
     
    Zellio, Dec 30, 2006
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  4. Fred from NYC

    Fred from NYC Notebook Evangelist

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    I assume you are referring to the Dell Inspiron 1200. The Dell forum would be a good place to get help.
     
    Fred from NYC, Dec 30, 2006
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  5. chrisyano

    chrisyano Hall Monitor NBR Reviewer

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    You can lower your screen brightness, undervolt your processor, and underclock your GPU. Turning off your wireless card will also save some battery life.

    How much battery life did you get when it was new? I'm guessing it's a two year old battery at this time. Li-Ion batteries are not made to last forever, so capacity loss is normal.

    Please read through the battery guide for more information.
     
    chrisyano, Dec 30, 2006
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  6. Greg

    Greg Notebook Nobel Laureate

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    Check out the Cooling Guide for a how-to on undervolting and underclocking a little. Anything that helps to cool a notebook will generally help it get a better battery life.

    Also, I think the i1200 has integrated Intel graphics. You may not be able to underclock those, but the Intel GPUs are fairly low powered anyway so you won't have to worry about it.

    But I agree with Chris: an old battery is probably the cause here.
     
    Greg, Dec 30, 2006
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