Solution for all Vaio Battery Drain issues?

Background (skip this if you dont care hehe):
I was running an FW and noticing huge percentage drop when I would hibernate and leave it unplugged overnight, sometimes it would be about 30%. However the percentage would always remain 30% lower then when I powered it down for a while so I figured my battery life was not affected overall and that the battery indicator was wrong. Well it turns out that I was wrong, I can usually squeeze out 2 min per percentage if I leave my computer idle and allow the screen saver to popup while on battery. However after the 30% drain overnight I noticed my overall battery life was affected severely, with 1 overnight on hibernate session my battery life went from on average 2 min per percentage to 1.33 min per percentage.

Possible Solution:
Turn on battery care function on the Vaio Control Center and set the custom setting at 100%. Having done this my battery during hibernate (and shutdown) overnight drops only 1-2%. Goodluck and let me know if it works for you!

 

Hm, interesting.
I set battery care to their recommended level (80%), and I lost a few percent overnight. However, after that, my FW stayed on, say, 72% for more than 10 minutes. So I guess only the percentage meter is draining, and not the actual battery life (if that makes any sense).

 

Just did it I'll live it there and tell you the results later

 

After 4 hours still, it drops 10%

 

Just taking out the battery solves any issues, no ?

 

ya but that is a hassle to do, especially for someone traveling from class to class in college. i'm noticing significantly less battery drain while using battery care at 100% is it just me? if it helps im on Windows 7 7600 RTM.

 

Is there a downside to using the battery care at 100%? I mean, I have no idea what the thing does anyway but there must be a reason why the default number is something other than 100 %.

 

Me too Can anyone please explain more about this battery care function thing, how it works and what do the numbers mean? Thanks.

 

I think that battery would last longer in 80% than the 100% option. When its set to 50% the battery's life would be much longer.

P.S. I haven't tried it.

 

IT DID WORK for me! Now there's only a 7% drop in 12 hours (It only worked when I started the computer again)
I haven't tried the 80% thing or others as well. Once again, can anyone explain this for me?

 

No it didnt't!

7% in 12 hours is ridiculous high.

In a "normal" notebook you have about 2% in 30 days!!!

TDO

 

No , IT didn't work coz 7 % is very stupid !! i can get 1% per month with my other laptops

 

If 7% is so good, what sort of drop were you getting before?

S

 

7 for me was already good lol, before it was like 20% and someone even suffered more.

 

I vouch that it is definately a software issue. When I first got my TZ, there is no battery drain at all. I can leave the battery in for a week and there will be no drain. Then I decided to turn on battery care, and that began my battery drain issue. I will try playing around with battery care and see.

 

i used the care function, set the max battery at 100%.. here is whats happening with me

Keep in mind this laptop and battery are only 1 week old

Twice I have charged the battery to 100% overnight. In the morning I wake up, turn the system on and verify that the battery is at 100%, I then fully shut down the system and head off to work. When I get home (both times) I turn the laptop on and find out the battery has drained down to the low 80%. This cant be normal, right? Im sure I have all the settings where they need to be (including the power saver backdrop,) is this a bad battery or am I missing something. Thanks

Gabe

PS - This morning, working off 85%, I was surfing the net only and in about 20 Minutes time, that battery drained to about 60%

 

I never noticed this drain, although I have not bought the Vaio system that I am eyeing. I will keep an eye on this feature once I get my shiny new vaio next week

 

Mine used to drain like that too but it get better after I used BCF as said, I'll try the 80%, 50% and let you know later

 

I think it really drains when its turned off.

Also there could be some issues with battery meter. Sometimes it stays at some point and then gown down... who knows what will happen in Sony's customized Win7.

 

haha ive read so many threads like this hoping that it would solve my battery drain issue but still WE cant get a solution. Sony really has to sort this damn problem... its pissing me off and everyone else who owne's a Sony

 

You are damn right, LittleWing2008. Tomorrrow someone from Sony will call me to ask what percentage has been left in my battery that at an original load of 80% has been left out of the device since 12 days then.

 

I could be wrong, but my guess is they're going to say "Oh, your battery is bad", send you a new one that depletes just as quickly, and repeat that until you get tired of playing that game.

 

I would have bought a sony Z if it was not for this battery issue....

It's about time that a company like Sony sorts out this problem...

 

getting 2.5 hrs out of my SR with 60% brightness.......terrible

 

What were you doing on it?

S

 

so using battery care to set it as 80% would make the battery last longer?

 

I'm mildly disappointed, too. My laptop from 3 years ago gets slightly more minutes. I assumed that new technology, although it's more powerful, would bring even better power savings. But I feel I should have selected the Intel IGP instead of Radeon; I'm thinking that sucks up a lot of battery life (but correct me if I'm wrong on this).

 

I'm not sure if it works entirely but, instead of losing 20-30%. 10 hours being off, I booted up and only lose 6-7%. It's definitely an improvement.

 

My TZ with battery care set at 80./.

Shut the computer down with 80./. and after 12hrs turned it on and it was 73.5./.

Will also try 100./. and 50./. 4 the same amount of time

 

Sony doesn't consider this a problem, therefore, they don't need to come up with a solution. Here is Sony's statement on this issue:

"The battery of a notebook computer will continue to drain even when it is completely turned off because the computer constantly uses a small amount of power to maintain different built-in tools and functions. This is by design and is normal operation.

To avoid having the battery drain completely, periodically attach the AC Adaptor and recharge the battery.

NOTE: The battery will drain an average of 10-15% a day, even when off, depending on the environment, temperature, and power requirements of the enabled software tools and functions."

Source: http://www.kb.sony.com/selfservice/microsites/search.do?cmd=displayKC&docType=kc&externalId=C223674&sliceId=1&docTypeID=DT_KNOWLEDGEARTICLES_1_1&dialogID=117014236&stateId=1%200%2047118395

 

I see that kb was last modified on 04-28-2009. I'm disappointed with Sony's design. All this time I thought it was a battery problem and now that the original battery that came with the laptop is now a year old, I just purchased a large capacity battery for my laptop, understanding that laptop batteries rarely are able to keep their charge >90% capacity after its a year old. Have I been misinformed/misguided?

 

batteries do not last as long if they sit at 100% charge for months at a time. in fact, their lifespans are cut significantly.

if you expect to be plugged into a wall most of the time, drop your battery care down to 50%. you'll get max lifespan out of your battery. honestly, I wish more laptops had the feature built in.