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need help!! battery life on 600m

post #1 of 4
11/9/04 at 6:06pm
Thread Starter 
today is my first time to use the 600m without plugging it into the wall (AC).

I plug the laptop to the AC everytime when I use it. I just unplug it before I go to sleep. I turned on the laptop w/o plugged into the AC. I noticed the battery level started at 99%. I quickly changed the setting in SpeedSwitchXP to Max. Battery performance. It seems reports to be able to last 4.23hrs (now it drops to 94% within last 13 mins. just checked email and enterred few entries in Quicken). The CPU speed is down from 1.6G to 222mhz.

just a sec ago, the battery % was 94% but it reported it could only hold 3hrs 56mins.. then jump back to 4 hrs

do you guys think it is normal? My laptop is just 2 weeks old. If it is not normal, do you think I should contact Dell and exchange for a brand new battery?

what is the expected battery life on 600m on DC if i select

1) max performance
or
2) max battery life

any feedback is very welcome.
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post #2 of 4
11/9/04 at 6:24pm
That is normal. The readings for time remaining and percentage remaining are not what I would call.... accurate or reliable. They jump around a lot and shouldn't really be relied on for anything more than a rough guide, but about 4 - 4.5 hours is what is expected from the 600m and it seems around that mark. Don't panic, it is not a big issue...

Stu
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post #3 of 4
11/9/04 at 6:30pm
battery time estimates are based on current power consumption, -estimated- battery capacity and -estimated- battery charge. The capacity can vary within lots of batterys by a bit, and will degrade over time as the battery is cycled through lots of charges. The remaining charge is usually based on current voltage and sometimes the temperature of the battery - which isn't super accurate.

If you just unplugged the laptop, the computer doesn't have many datapoints of power usage on which to base its estimates. If you've changed the processor speed, which will change power consumption, you'll skew the measurements even more.

In short, I wouldn't put too much creedence in what the battery meter says, especially early in the discharge cycle. Run the battery until it reaches 3% or so and see how long that takes. That'll give you an accurate view of battery performance vs. the power meter. Cycling the battery through a few full charge/discharge cycles usually increases run time as well.
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post #4 of 4
11/9/04 at 6:45pm
Thread Starter 
thanks for all input and i will try to use the laptop till the battery level drops to very low, and see how long it can really last.

planning a trip to oversea in Feb so I want to make sure I can get out the max battery level as possible.
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