Battery drain problem on new Vaio SR?

I agree. More people should contact Sony about this, maybe with a combined effort.

I don't really care because I don't have Sony laptop at the moment.

 

I have some doubt that this will change something

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Solution 31129

Description:

My battery loses charge even when my VAIO is not switched on.

Solution:

This is normal, as the notebook (depending on the model) still needs to keep some parts on "standby" power even when the unit is switched off.
If you want to keep the battery full for a longer period, we recommend to take the battery out of the unit when not used.

 

How loud is the SR in a silent room and how much heat does it produce with the 7200rpm hdd and ATI gpu. Is the fan continously working at full speed like the xps m1330 or is it normal ?

 

OK all of you guys.... I installed RMClock... And I found what I was talking about.

So it does indeed charge up to it's full potential. 54830mWh.

However, in unplugging it for a few minutes, it dramatically lost about 1% a minute. I unplugged it about 10ish minutes ago, and it's at 91.4% or so, which is 50120mWh.

It seems to stop the dramatic drop by 91.2%-ish, which is about 49999mWh.

Here is my proposition to all of you. This battery is supposedly only allowed a 48000mWh capacity, am I correct? So therefore... it takes a higher charge in order to readjust itself and actually give you that full 48000mWh perhaps?

I don't know about the laptop being off and draining it though...

 

Unusual! But then again, it really doesn't tell us anything, because the problem may still lie within the battery's sensors.

 

I thought it was quite unusual right now as well.

Currently:
43890mWh is 80%, so since I unplugged it at about 4:15 PM PST, it has lost 20%. (It is currently about 4:45).

It guesstimates that it loses 18720mW an hour or so.

Honestly, I'm not sure what to say at this point. @_@

(RM Clock's estimation for when the battery will run out agrees with Vista, 2 hours 19 minutes as of this edit at 4:46 PM)

 

The 54830mWh is probably = 4800mAh.
It is easy to confuse the mWh and to think that is the exact same thing as the mAh but it is not.

You see this post here there i was thinking that my 6 cell battery had a mAh rating of 64XX but i was incorrect as my battery only has a capacity of 5800mAh.
http://forum.notebookreview.com/showpost.php?p=3836626&postcount=511
http://forum.notebookreview.com/showpost.php?p=3840246&postcount=516

 

Ah, I see. Then I have no clue why the first few thousand wMh drain so fast, and then the rest go a bit slower.... Very odd. @_@

Hmm, I see now. Well, I didn't know the conversion or anything. I haven't really had time to look up power conversion stuff, as I had to leave the place I was at shortly after that post.

 

i agree phil. i think people who are bothered by this and own a vaio should let sony know. i dont have one but would love to buy one, but only if this was fixed.

according to this, there is actual battery drain rather than just an incorrect battery indicator in vista which was the other problem.

my biggest concern with all this was a post that hamud made about not turning his vaio on for a few days and it wouldnt turn on at all on battery as it had fully drained.

 

Boo and Hiss.

I really like the SR for the form the factor but this is a deal breaker.
Good battery life is high up on my wish list.

Do any of you with the SR intend on returning the laptop? I certainly would. A brand new $1400 computer should not have any glaring, functional defects out of the box.

 

Nope!
beside the battery problems, the SR is an awesome laptop!

 

Honestly, it doesn't really matter to me. You see, I bought it from Newegg. Can't really return it now anyway.

I do like it anyway, I like the form, screen, functions, etcetc.... I don't know if I'd trade it for anything else, since I don't know if an IdeaPad would suit me. As I do like the better processor in the SR. I wish I had a slightly better one, but we all have wants and wishes, isn't that right?

Honestly, I don't really use the battery that much. I don't really have a need to take it to classes, as all I would do is just be distracted by it.

 

Ok..I have one suggestion and it may work.. Reset the hardware settings in the BIOS to default. Perhaps sony changed something that wasnt supposed to be changed... Then see if there are any more drain problems.

This is the only thing I can think of. I hope this works... It would be cool if a few people could try it out to see results...

 

I did and same problem ?? pplz what is your HD type ?? is it toshiba or what ??
i think the drain happen coz of the toshibe HD ??

 

How loud is the SR in a silent room and how much heat does it produce with the 7200rpm hdd and ATI gpu. Is the fan continously working at full speed like the xps m1330 or is it normal ?

 

this thread is about the battery drain problem
please create a new thread if you want to talk about something else

well anyways
the fan does not run at full speed all the time, it's a VERY quiet and cool running laptop

 

Hi guys, I just took your advice and installed RMClock, however it is showing exactly the same stats as the vista indicator. Does this means the vista indicator is working right for me, my battery is okay or not? I am using SR12 (intel 4500mhd) and the indicator was 2hrs+ @ 98% (it was 100% charged, i removed it for 24hrs+ and put it back and it is 98%). I am hoping to get 5hrs+...

 

they show the exact same estimate because they both get the stats from the same source..

your battery is okay, its the system that's draining the power..

 

thanks! should i keep RMClock then? or uninstall? i installed it because the posts above seemed to suggest that it is more accurate than the vista indicator... apparently it's the same?

 

Well i thought it would be more accurate too, but they turned out to be the same... i don't think its the software's fault though.. it's gotta be one of the hardware's problem.. i dont know... nobody has a solution to this yet
Well if you're not going to undervolt or anything, I don't think you really need RMClock, it shows your laptop's power consumption rate when your using the laptop on battery.. i dont know if that's useful to you..

Edit: if you wanna get as much battery life as you can get, turn off the unnecessary background processes, turn off indexing, disable unneeded windows features, and download Vista Battery Saver (it helps a little)

 

how do i uninstall RMClock? cannot find it in the uninstall software list, i cannot find it in ccleaner uninstall tool as well... and there is no uninstall shortcut in RMClock folder

 

It resides under C:\Program Files. Simply deleting it from there
It is not embedded anywhere else
after you delete the files, run ccleaner and use the registry cleaner to delete its registry entries

 

thanks - RMClock deleted, there doesn't seem to be any registry entry either (ccleaner did not pick up any)...

i have found out however that i do get the battery drain issue. if i shutdown, leave the battery inside the laptop, and then power on again some minutes later (let's say 10 mins), the indicator now shows 10% less than what it was before. i tried it twice in a row. dropped from 57% to 45%, then shutdown and power on now to 34%.

has anyone got this problem fixed? is it a problem with the battery itself or is it the laptop? if laptop is it the same with every one (in which case exchanging for another SR isn't going to help)?

 

yeah as far as i know most (if not all) SR users on here are having battery drain problem.. and there is no solution to this yet, and sony has even made even move to fix this..

its not a battery problem.. its probably something with the hardware or the BIOS of the computer, not sure... i don't think exchanging for another SR is gonna help

 

ok strange thing now... i am still at 34% as i type this post. it was 34% when i typed my last post above, and now it is still 34%...

 

yeah it does that too... that's why I don't really pay attention to the battery meter... it's weird..

 

should turn off battery care function, drain it off completely, and recharge to 100%? i just got the laptop and this is the 1st charge.

 

You're recommended to do that..
but that didnt really do anything for me, the problem is still there.

If you leave your laptop plugged in most of the time, you should leave the battery care function on, because overcharging the battery can make the battery degrade and shorten its lifespan

 

i mean if i want to test how much battery life i can get per full charge i will have to disable the battery care function right? else i won't be able to charge to 100% (is that how it works? charge to 50% and then stop)?

 

yep, it won't fully charge the battery unless you have the battery care off (unless you set it to 100%).

actually you can set it to stop charging at 50%, 80%, or at 100%

 

hi sorry another question - how do i get it drained completely, it shut down on its own before reaching 0%

 

click F2 when you turn on the computer, let the computer go into BIOS... and then just let the battery drain

REP = Thanks + Love

 

i got into the bios and wow i never seen such a barebones bios before... my other laptops had bios that allowed you to set many things, not this sony laptop...

 

Should I remove the battery if I leave my pc plugged in all the time?

 

i think that is generally recommended, but what i wonder is, since there is the battery care function can i just leave it inside? some people say yes, some say no. *confused*

 

yeah it would be best if you take the battery out and store it at a cool place (if you're gonna leave it plugged in most of the time)

 

Can anyone confirm if this problem exists with Windows XP? This problem is keeping from pulling the trigger on the SR.

Hi everyone BTW.

 

yep...same problem on XP.
It is a hardware problem ...not OS...
Also i guess a ACPI bios bug , this is why everyone gets bad estimates on working time.
well, great notebook overall, but SONY should already have done a BIOS update for the SR.
I ve already made a complain , EVERYONE should send emails to SONY regarding this, otherwise they may think "it is just some-few weird guys replying..."

 

If i was to buy the SR and they came up with a fix, would warranty cover the fix or would i be forced to pay for the repair? I really need to buy a pc soon and there's no way I can stand the m1330. Sigh...

 

Yeah if they ever came up with a fix, it would probably just be a BIOS update.. which we can download for free

 

i must be honest, I LOVE this notebook, small, great LCD, great keyboard, weight...but ... i cant stand it anymore...two nights ago it was like 50% when i switch it off ...now it is5 % !!!
I am going to the store tomorrow , i had it for 15 days - hoping sony release a bios -, i sent several emails to sony, i tried everything logic...this is my 4th notebook in 13 years, i had a compaq, a toshiba, sony, asus, and neither of these had so big battery drain issue...even my old compaq in 1995 was better and it had NiCa batteries!

this is a huge flaw, sony already had problems with batteries some time ago, i cant understand how can they still make these "related" problems today?!?!

Something must be getting energy , and a lot , when it is off, and i how can they ignore all the recent complains ? even the Z series now?!

Everyone should be sending complains ! Personally i will try to exchange mine tomorrow.

If ,in future , sony gets it working ok , then , i will sure buy one again ( i really loved the SR19 in these 15 days i used it ..), but i didn't pay this kind of money to get a a faulty notebook right from the start

 

Unfortunately, I can't find another 13 inch with the same build/specs/battery life for the price (at the moment at least) and since I will mainly use it at home, I'll just have to wait and hope for Sony to see the light and release a solution.

 

I want to return it coz of this problem !! but unfortunately , I can't coz i bought it from newegg !!
so I have to wait for bios update !! i called sony 100 times and they sent me new battery but the same problem !!

 

Then it's obviously not the battery, as I have thought since the beginning.

It's a problem with the laptop bios or some hardware in it itself that I'm not sure is causing the problem. Hmm.

 

A temperary solution is to pull the battery out after you shut down (in AC). It is a little bit of inconvenience, but it saves the battery from cycling the discharge=charge cycle.

 

the solution is for someone to physically remove parts and narrow down which ones causing the drain!

 

How about we start with disabling the webcam? I read that in the Asus Eee 7xx models, the webcam was one component that was causing the battery drain to happen in those models. The behavior is similar with the 7xx afaik.

 

I agree with that. You might be able to get away with disabling via BIOS (or maybe even software), but maybe not. Might be easier to start that way, and then go to physical removal if needed. Some of those devices may be tricky to remove--although you may be able to disconnect power in that case.

Possible culprits:
These can all wake up computer, so are probably using some power:
Ethernet
Wireless
Modem
These may be less likely:
Webcam
Bluetooth
Fingerprint reader
Firewire?
Optical drive?

I would also disconnect all USB/Firewire devices, remove CD/DVD/memory cards/Express card.

It would also be worth disabling all ways except the power button from waking the computer (keyboard, touchpad, open lid, etc.). Not sure how many of these work on the SR.

 

i did all these things ,, and same problem !! I called sony and they sent me new battery and same problem too with the new battery !! but there is another guy who bought one with extended battery not the standard one and he didn't face this problem !!

and when you removed the battery that doesn't solve this problem coz the battery will go to 90 or 91 % just in 2 or 3 minutes so it doesn't really 100 %

so the problem with the battery itself or what >>>?????????? that's will make me crazy !!

 

Just thinking - "your battery saver settings", they would have to be embedded in the battery as my SZ will also charge only to 80% (my setting) when its off and plugged in.

Maybe Sony messed something up ont he SR?