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    bluetooth drains battery

    Discussion in 'Dell XPS and Studio XPS' started by phongoli0, Dec 4, 2009.

  1. phongoli0

    phongoli0 Notebook Guru

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    does the bluetooth module drain the battery in the studio xps 16. and is it a significant amount?
     
    phongoli0, Dec 4, 2009
    #1
  2. Caudovittatus

    Caudovittatus Notebook Enthusiast

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    Bluetooth on any laptop will drain the battery; I can't speak for the XPS 16 specifically, but in my experience, having it switched on but not transmitting does have some effect on battery life (not massive), if you're actively using the bluetooth though it has a more significant effect on battery.

    My main use is to sometimes tether my Windows mobile phone to the laptop via bluetooth as a 3G cellular modem. That seemed to reduce my battery life by around 30 mins (based on a new battery in an XPS M1710 - I would normally get ~2 - 2.5 hours out of the machine otherwise).
     
    Caudovittatus, Dec 4, 2009
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  3. millermagic

    millermagic Rockin the pinktop

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    Bluetooth is going to take a bit of extra energy to run as do wireless cards. It's not going to be significant - cutting battery life in 1/2 - but it is present. Once you turn the laptop off (or bluetooth card off), it wont be draining anything.
     
    millermagic, Dec 4, 2009
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  4. funky monk

    funky monk Notebook Deity

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    This is just a question, but is it even possible for us to have the wifi off while having the bluetooth on? If you press the wifi touch button it turns off both and as far as I'm aware you can't turn the wifi off through the system tray like you can with the bluetooth
     
    funky monk, Dec 4, 2009
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  5. Unreasnbl

    Unreasnbl Notebook Guru

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    There is a BIOS setting on my M1530 that changes what the WiFi switch turns on and off. I have mine set to turn off the WiFi but to leave on the bluetooth and my Sprint modem.
     
    Unreasnbl, Dec 4, 2009
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  6. fred2028

    fred2028 Sexy member

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    When I had BT turned on on my old 1640 I did notice a shorter battery life, probably 10-20 minutes. Since then it's been disabled, and I just enable it when I need it.
     
    fred2028, Dec 4, 2009
    #6