Dell 600m Battery life??

[mtbiac]

How long are you guys getting on a single batt with the new 600m?? I am considering getting either a centrino based system, P4-M, or Mobile Athlon system but am unsure which will yield best battery life? I am assuming the Centrino will... but am unsure. Any additional info would be super.

THANKS

mike-

 

[Derango]

my 600m gets about 3.5 hours while playing simcity 4 80% of that time.

 

[First]

Assuming identical (or nearly identical) hardware (including the battery itself), Centrino/Pentium M notebooks will average over an hour more of battery life over Athlon XP-M and Pentium 4-M laptops. It's the only way to go if you care at all about battery life.

If weight isn't too much of a concern you can get over 8 hours with a Centrino/Pentium M laptop by adding a high-capacity (usually 9-cell) battery, but adds a bit of weight.

 

[BlazingSaddles]

hmm... i've only been surfing and occasionally listenign to music, and i get about only 2 1/2 hours of battery life.... is there any settings to mess around with to get more battery life? is my battery a dud? i was hopin for 4 hour battery life too

 

[ChaosX2]

Adjusting the Screen Brightness and setting the power settings to max battery will get you to 4 hours.

I've only used it on batteries in my classes where I only surfed the net and had word loaded up. After about 1 hour and 15 min I had about 73% battery left. This is with the XP settings at max battery and the lowest screen brightness.

 

[Avatar26]

I get about 3 hours & 20 minutes on a single battery, I have settings at max battery.
Keep in mind, I am surfing the net (wireless), running Winamp, and also have messaging programs up.

 

[Sonarcade]

I have yet to plug in my battery because I'm afraid of overcharging the battery thereby reducing its life. If anyone has any pointers on how to go about keeping the battery's life as long as possible(please no smart aleck comments like "keep it stored and use the AC") especially for someone who mostly runs his 600m on an AC. I read about the computer or the battery having some trickle charge chip that prevents overcharging on dell's forums, but have no solid answer as to what worked for Dell users...or any laptop user for that matter(assuming that they operate identically regardless of make). Thanks.

 

[BlazingSaddles]

wait, i'm a little confused, when the settings are on max-battery, does it only effect how long before the monitor and hard disks are turned off, and when the system goes on standby/hibernates? thus, if i am using the laptop constantly, will the 'max-battery' power scheme do anything at all?

thanks

 

[superhuang]

Originally posted by: BlazingSaddles
wait, i'm a little confused, when the settings are on max-battery, does it only effect how long before the monitor and hard disks are turned off, and when the system goes on standby/hibernates? thus, if i am using the laptop constantly, will the 'max-battery' power scheme do anything at all?

thanks

In XP, the frequency of a Pentium III-M/IV-M/M processor is tied in with the power profile being used. 'Max Battery', for example, sets my laptop to half its normal frequency. See here for more information, and about SpeedStep in general.

 

[Koing]

Originally posted by: Sonarcade
I have yet to plug in my battery because I'm afraid of overcharging the battery thereby reducing its life. If anyone has any pointers on how to go about keeping the battery's life as long as possible(please no smart aleck comments like "keep it stored and use the AC") especially for someone who mostly runs his 600m on an AC. I read about the computer or the battery having some trickle charge chip that prevents overcharging on dell's forums, but have no solid answer as to what worked for Dell users...or any laptop user for that matter(assuming that they operate identically regardless of make). Thanks.

Charge it when its low or when you need to.

No real hard and fast thing to discharge a laptop battery and charge it again. After a few years usage it will have to be replaced anyway.

I have a lithium battery in my laptop I just charge it when its needed. I still get 3.5hrs battery life.....

 

[Sith]

Here are some guidelines from this site:

http://www.buchmann.ca/Chap10-page6.asp

Charge the Li-ion often, except before a long storage. Avoid repeated deep discharges.

Keep the Li-ion battery cool. Prevent storage in a hot car. Never freeze a battery.

If your laptop is capable of running without a battery and fixed power is used most of the time, remove the battery and store it in a cool place.

Avoid purchasing spare Li-ion batteries for later use. Observe manufacturing date when purchasing. Do not buy old stock, even if sold at clearance prices.

 

[Sonarcade]

I just tested my 600m and it runs for around 2 hours and 30 minutes with speedstep enabled and on the "Always On" Power Scheme while I was headed down a 3 hour trip. I'll try with max batteries since I didn't realize that there was a power scheme for that purpose. Who knew it would make that much of a difference? I hope it makes a difference for mine or back to Dell you go, battery.

 

[Derango]

The reason your battery life sucked was that always on runs it at its maximum speed all the time.