Dell Studio 15 battery life

i just bout a studio 15 and have had it for a few days and the battery life is really crap, in power save mode i only get like 2 hrs 30 mins max from the battery, is this normal??? if it is where can i get an upgraded battery that will last a decent amount of time

 

I think it's normal for a 15.4" laptop.
Dell has some larger capacity batteries.

 

It's normal for both the 15 and the 17 with the six cell battery. You should be getting 3 - 3.5 hours with the 9 cell.

A lot of people have the screen brightness up high while on battery and this kills the power really quickly. Using the 3450 for games also greatly shortens the battery life.

There is a rumour that fuel cell batterys will be making an appearance in the next few years. They already exist but are currently far too prohibitive in price to be practical. When they become mainstream you will be looking at 24hrs on full bore before the cell is exhausted. Not sure if the cells are rechargeable though as I belive they are hydrogen cells. That would likely mean they would need specialist topup much like those calorgas cylinders of old.

 

ok, i remember seeing this fuel cell powered r/c car, and they came with a hydrogen station thing to charge the car that ran on fuel cell, but anyway, i've been looking for agess for a 9 cell battery and i cant find one anywhere

 

Yeah fuel cells are still not feasible for the consumer market. Once they make their way though, it will be awesome. Unfortunately, I foresee airlines banning them, as they could easily be turned into an 'explosive device'. If I cant bring my shampoo bottle onto the plane, why would they allow a box full of hydrogen gas on???

Oh and just buy the battery from dell...it should be on their website.

 

ye, the bit about the plane will definately be reailty but i intially looked on the dell website but they dont have a section for the studi laptops which is odd

 

Buying the 9 cell seperately is way too expensive, its something like 300$ if am not wrong. Why dont you try on ebay?

 

looked on ebay, only 6 cell ones tere, i might just buy another 6 cell battery

 

I got my studio15 with LED display (a $125 upgrade) vs. getting the 9 cell battery (a $169 upgrade), plus the LED display gives you a higher resolution that the stock WXGA display. I am getting 3+ hrs on my 6cell battery with the LED display using the Power Saver Vista power option. I would expect that if you have the 6 cell battery and the non-LED display 2-2.5hr battery life should be expected. Of course, what you are doing on the laptop can play into the battery life as well. Playing games and watching DVD's will draw more power from the battery than word processing or surfing the web.

 

I get around 2.5+ hours on my Studio 15, so it seems normal to me.

 

mine is the higest spec studio 15 you can get apart from it doesnt have a blu-ray drive, and i have a wxga+ but i dont play any games on it, just normal web browsing and some video clips here and still only get like 2hrs 30mins in the power save mode by clicking the right bottom battery logo

 

How much more does the 9 cell battery weigh over the 6 cell battery? I like the idea of getting the larger battery from a power consumption perspective, but I'm wondering about the weight.

Also, how about the size of the 9 cell battery? Does it "stick out" and make the laptop bulkier?

I'm thinking of purchasing the Dell Studio-15 and I would like to understand these trade offs to help in defining my purchase options.

 

I am not sure about the weight difference, but the 9 cell battery extends down. It is kind of like a stand.

 

Am I correct then in assuming that means it 'sticks out'. ..... Hmm ... not sure I want something that really "sticks out".

Does the "extension" make getting the laptop in/out of the laptop bag a bit more difficult? What is the "angle" like on the keyboard, if it is propt up by the 9-cell battery?

 

Yeah it sticks out and is not flush with the rest of the case like the 6 cell. It isn't a large angle when it props up the notebook.. It shouldn't make it harder to get out of a bag.

 

same, and a little bit more since I undervolted. I also disable the built-in ethernet port and sometimes turn down the brightness one or two levels since the screen is much brighter than my older Inspiron 6400.

 

I managed to find some YouTube videos, illustrating the 6-cell battery, and others with the 9-cell battery.

As you indicated, the 6-cell is flush such that the bottom is flat, while the 9-cell is like a very small permanent "stand" that very slightly props up the laptop. From what I can see in those videos, the 9-cell implementation was professionally done, and it is likely worth getting, IF there is no major weight impact.

I wish I had a better handle on the weight.

 

I just wonder if anybody tested RMClock on this 'baby" ...

 

Actually, even if it's a hydroben fuel cell, it may be able to produce more hydrogen out of water when you plug it in (through the process of electrolysis), thereby recharging it-- it could either extract water from the atmosphere or ask for you to pour some in. I could even imagine small hydrogen canisters with which you quickly refuel the battery (instead of having to use separate fuel cells)

 

RMClock works fine.

 

RMClock isn't really working fine for me. The lowest voltage I can go is 1.00V for all multipliers. Wonder why.

 

That's weird. I have a T5750, and I can't undervolt less than 0.95V, which is the bare minimum AFAIK. Never heard of a floor of 1.00V - I don't think it would be a T8300-specific limit though but every CPU is different, so...

For me, multipliers 6 to 10 are set at the minimum 0.95V, and my 12X multiplier is set to 1.065V. Stability is great (never had a crash or hang-up), normal computer temperature is 35-37oC and max temperature (running two ORTHOS stress tests at once) is 60oC. Before undervolting, max temperature was 79oC, with my 12X multiplier set at 1.25V.

 

The ones for phones I have seen were one time use batteries then you return it to the company and they refuel them and send them back out. Eventually though, I would love to see 'rechargeable' fuel cells for notebooks.

 

Theres actually ones in prototype form now, in the line of supercapacitors, which have the ability to store massive charge levels. (Initially with the intention of use for power plant, excess power storage).
These are much more likely (I think) to replace lithiums than hydrogen fuel cells. Especially when all the issues with hydrogen are taken into account

- Inability to store indefinitely wihtout severe leakage.
- Relatively low energy per unit volume.
- losses in the geneation of hydrogen.
- General danger of having a highly compressed explosive sitting on your lap

bty sorry for getting off topic, but kind of had to give my $0.02