Dell complaints

[akaaborg]

A Dell Tech Support person just told me that the ATI video on my brand new laptop will drain a fully charged battery in less than an hour by only surfing the web.

I don't believe that and was wondering if anyone knew what the average battery life is on a dell 1501, this one has the AMD processor and an ATI video screen.

I personally have heard that AMD processors are easier on a battery than Intel's.

Anyway, since this 2nd battery is worse than the original battery, I think there's something wrong somewhere in the wiring.

BTW, the battery charges and the test buttons on the bottom of the unit seem to show the correct test results.

Thanks for any feedback and or help.

[Rocke_T_Sinetist]

Portables running on batteries don't make very practical performance platforms.

You may be able to command the ATI to stay in standard-resolution mode. When it switches to rendered graphics, it DOES consume a great deal of power and give off a great deal of heat. Sorry, I don't know the current ATI driver options or commands to suggest how to go about that.

If something goes wrong with the wiring, the whole thing quits. Portables are marginal to start with and don't withstand incipient faults.
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Rocke T Sinetist
as in, 'it doesn't take a...'

[diashto]

[akaaborg]

Hi and thank you all for your replies.

I'm in the amd website and wondered if this is the correct thing to download:

AMD Athlon™ 64/FX Processor Driver for Windows XP and Windows Server 2003 Version (x86 and x64 exe) 1.3.2.16 - Allows the system to automatically adjust the CPU speed, voltage and power combination that match the instantaneous user performance need. Download this Setup Installation program (EXE) to automatically update all the files necessary for installation. This package is recommended for users whom desire a graphical user interface for installation. This .EXE driver is a user friendly localized software installation of the driver designed for end-users. This driver supports AMD Athlon 64/FX processors on Windows XP SP2, Windows 2003 SP1 x84 and x64 Editions.

I found some Cool & Quiet drivers but none for Windows XP. BTW, I really don't know what I'm doing so any hints are more than appreciated!

Thanks.

[Rocke_T_Sinetist]

That may be a good package, I haven't seen it firsthand.

But don't install anything labeled for XP on a Vista system! Many complaints have arisen with peripherals plugged into Vista where their drivers are incompatible.

Under 'power settings' there is a choice to make the slightly dimmer display the default during battery operation. Also, batteries stored for some time (like before being sold) may not reach their full capacity until 1) charged uninterrupted for 8-10 hours and 2) discharged to where they shut off and again charged uninterrupted.
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Rocke T Sinetist
as in, 'it doesn't take a...'

[diashto]

[Kierra]

I have an Inspiron E1705 with an Nvidia 7900 Go GS and it unfortunately does drain the batteries fast unless I'm just doing Word without any graphics. But this is with an intel core duo processor so maybe that's part of the problem. I almost never run on battery power.

[akaaborg]

Hmmm, kept trying to reply but reply button on bottom of page took me to forum index page. The top reply button did work.

Anyway, I'm using XP, I didn't want to get Vista at all. I will try those drivers and thanks for looking into that.

One question, I have another inspiron laptop that has dual core Intel processor and is the same as my newer dell except it's one year older.

I thought I'd swap the batteries out to see if the Intel laptop's battery would hold up better in my AMD laptop.

I don't about that yet, however, when I put the latest battery that went with the AMD laptop into the Intel laptop, a bell rang on startup stating it didn't recognize the battery etc.

Why would one laptop recognize a battery and work, but not the new battery in the older laptop?

As far as I can tell, both batteries seem, look and fit the same, although the Intel's battery had a higher capacity number.

Did Dell sell me a lower capacity battery with my new laptop?
(That's if capacity means what I think it means, I'm no battery expert.)

I cant read the Intel's battery at the moment, but the new Li-ion battery has rating of 14.8V, Type HK421, Capacity 29WH. Later I will take out the old battery and compare the numbers and post them. I must say I'm a bit baffled by these numbers and the apparent incompatibility issue.

Thanks again and I'll be back.

[Rocke_T_Sinetist]

Batteries have a computer inside them, that's where the ID comes from. Dell is very paranoid about customers using aftermarket batteries, so they check the ID and won't work if it's different.

In this case, the older one doesn't have the ID file for the new battery so it assumes it's not Dell. The same thing happens with new drives plugged into old systems, there is no ID file for the new product.

Reflashing BIOS sometimes solves those anomalies, but reflashing is not without risk. If it fails, the motherboard has to be replaced.
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Rocke T Sinetist
as in, 'it doesn't take a...'

[FallenAngel]

Makes me wonder if it's not the VRM itself inside the laptop that is the cause of the issue?

Seen this happen several times with older laptops, both Inspiron and Latitude, and the module was at fault.