Re:Is Dell ControlPoint Battery Saving?

JohnOwonga · 12-01-2009 2:29pm #1

Hello

Is Dell ControlPoint Battery Saving Exclusive To Dell

Re:Dell Laptops 15.4 inch Monitor Dell Lattitude E6500 and Dell 6400 Battery Performance
90 Watt AC adapter with cord wrapping
4-cell, 6-cell or 9-cell extended life primary batteries
84Whr high capacity battery slice (optional)

Here's what I read from a pdf file I downloaded off www.dell.co.uk website

"All-Day Mobile Computing From Dell

Latitude Mainstream laptops introduce a dramatic step forward in battery life. Achieve up to 19 hours of Battery Life on the E6400 with the combination of our standard 9-cell battery,new high-capacity battery slice,and exclusive Dell ControlPoint (TradeMark) software.Stay connected with anytime,anywhere wireless connectivity with support for current and emerging wireless technologies (Wi-Fi,High Performance Wireless-N,mobile broadband Wimax Bluetooth."

The Dell Sales agent said in real life these laptops manage only 9 hours,these are obviously geared towards the business sector who need to be on the road all day still its nice to have :)whats the best battery life you can get on a 15.4 inch monitor for the retail home user

Are Dell the only Computer Manufacturers that do these 9 hours extended life
high capacity battery slice (optional)

Apparently this technology has been around for the last 4 to 5 years its in the www.dell.co.uk (small business section) but it still seems very expensive have Dell got the Monopoly on this?
Because I asked PcWorld.co.uk they said the max any laptop they sell
in regards to Battery Life was 3 hours and that was been optomistic.

I obviously appreciate it depends what you are doing on it i.e watch YouTube.com versus basic emailing.

Are there any alternatives besides Dell that manage 9 hours battery life at a value for money price?.

Thanks

croo · 13-01-2009 9:52am

The idea of all day computing on a single battery caught my attention too but it seems the figures quoted by dell are under very special circumstances ... this article for example http://www.zdnet.com.au/reviews/hardware/laptops/soa/Dell-Latitude-E6500/0,2000065761,339291487,00.htm claims just 91 minutes for the largest 9-cell battery at full brightness watching a DVD! Now with the DVD spinning constantly that would be very tough on the battery ok... but still, I usually managed to (just about) watch a 2 hour DVD on all my previous notebooks.

Anyway from the comments on that link, and around the web in general, I think you can probably expect some small improvements if LED backlighting and the P-series processors are selected. 19 hours or even all day (9 hours) I suspect, sadly, is pure marketing BS. I know someone planning to order one very soon so I expect I will know for sure soon enough.

JohnOwonga · 13-01-2009 6:08pm

I know the way Dell behaves it seems like Marketing BS everything they say is very suspect but if it was misleading surely they would be hit with a lot of aftersales returns plus severe damage to brand reputation.

There is a website not sure if its still going www.ihatedell.org

Regards

croo · 13-01-2009 8:04pm

Well I don't hate dell--not using them at the moment but in the past did and their machines never gave me problems--but even on their website the comments from some, otherwise happy customers, indicate a 2.5 hours battery life. Others do say battery life is good as well mind.

Interesting when I was researching these machines (for the friend who ordered one) I learned that the SDD drives do not mean better battery life than the old HD ... which was a real surprise. I would have thought all that disk spinning was very battery intensive.

I would guess the bulk of the power savings are coming from the LED backlighting and the new 45 nm P-Series processors. Anyway I guess I will find out for sure in the coming weeks.

I was a bit surprised when I read the customer comments on the dell site at the many references to poor build quality. I had been worried that quality might be negatively effected by the recent news re 1900 workers losing their jobs - I could understand a lack of enthusiasm for quality after recent announcements. I hope my friend isn't making a big mistake ... these are very pricey machines (his is over €2k) even a hint of bad build quality at these prices is worrying if you ask me.

But all of this has nothing to do with Open Source, except to say; if their ControlPoint software (which I also read on their website has quality issues) is what they say is responsible for the enhanced battery life then these machines would not seem to be a good choice for linux users as I guess this software is only available to microsoft users!

Either way, I am personally very skeptical that these machine will run 9 hours on their standard batteries - I will update this thread when I see the real thing but I don't expect that for a few weeks yet.

JohnOwonga · 13-01-2009 9:05pm

croo wrote: »

Well I don't hate dell--not using them at the moment but in the past did and their machines never gave me problems--but even on their website the comments from some, otherwise happy customers, indicate a 2.5 hours battery life. Others do say battery life is good as well mind.

Interesting when I was researching these machines (for the friend who ordered one) I learned that the SDD drives do not mean better battery life than the old HD ... which was a real surprise. I would have thought all that spinning was very disk intensive.

I would guess the bulk of the power savings are coming the the LED backlighting and the new 45 nm P-Series processors. Anyway I guess I will find out in the coming weeks.

I was a bit surprised when I read the customer comments on the dell site at the many references to poor build quality. I had been worried that it might be negatively effected by the recent news re 1900 workers losing their jobs - I could understand a lack of enthusiasm for quality after recent announcements. I hope my friend isn't making a big mistake ... these are very pricey machines (his is over €2k) even a hint of bad build quality at these prices is worrying if you ask me.

But all of this has nothing to do with Open Source, except to say; if their ControlPoint software (which I also read on their website has quality issues) is what they say is responsible for the enhanced battery life then these machines would not seem to be a good choice for linux users as I guess this software is only available to microsoft users!

Either way, I am personally very skeptical that these machine will run 9 hours on their standard batteries - I will update this thread when I see the real thing but I don't expect that for a few weeks yet.

>>>>>>>>

A Pc Tech Repair Man from the city centre was unaware of Dell's super long lasting battery life he fixes software problems online over the internet
he recommended Dell pc's ,he said he was aware of a Sony laptap that could manage 13 hours with software tweaking a minimal brightness on display I asked which Sony model exactly but he was unable to remember.

Dell's United States Website www.dell.com do machines installed with Linux Umbuntu with Linux you have problems with User friendliness even browsing websites like www.betfair.co.uk there are problems.

Dell even do Dos operating systems used in cash register systems etc for the advanced computer Nerds.

Dell is essentially distance selling with even having credit card protection
all different scenarios can develope there is nothing like been able to go directly to the retailer you purchased the goods from and deal with them

face to face

Thats why Aldi Supermarket Medion Computer Brand and Lidl's Targa Computer Brand with a 3 years gaurantee respectively.

No super long battery life laptops as yet maybe if we contacted their
Marketing department they may take it on board there has to be some "Snag Factor" in my opinion.

Check out www.targa.co.uk The Targa Traveller 1534 what do you think of this laptop?
I do not know about the price just think it was sold on the mainland United Kingdom Christmas 2008 I do not know the price I rang Lidl and Targa about this apparently Northern Ireland (UK) is treated as the Island of Ireland for marketing purposes correct if I am wrong.

Do you know if this particular laptop is a good deal I have never experienced Lidls Targa Tech Support when things go seriously wrong

Regards

croo · 13-01-2009 10:09pm

As far as I'm aware the batteries are just standard Li-Ion batteries there is nothing special--but an extended 9 cell PLUS the 12 of the slice (which plugs into the docking port of the laptop) just gives it a lot more battery power. I think other suppliers also provide these. I know Toshiba do, but I would expect all the big corp. type laptop suppliers do!? Batteries are quiet heavy so I guess a 9 cell + 12 cell slice is quiet heavy!

Match that with the lower power consumption of the 45nm P-Series and perhaps more importantly replacing the backlighting with LEDs rather than florescent tubes seems to be the big savings.

I don't know much about the Targa brand, but I know people who bought fairly cheap Medion desktop machines from Aldi and they seem quiet good! I haven't heard any bad stores yet anyway.

There was a time when it took real skill to design & build a good laptop but I think generally laptops have moved into the realm of consumer items and are all just assembled from standard components... it will (I suspect) now all come down to the suppliers ability to select quality components rather than any real innovation on behalf of the big brands selling laptops.

If long life is important I think a smaller screen would be a good first step! I would look at the netbooks (like the eeePC from asus or the One from Acer) in this case... the seem to be all day machines. If you just need email & browsing then this could be just what's needed. If you need power you will most likely need to plug your full blown laptop in anyway because on batteries they typically step down to lower processing speeds.

So it all depends on what you need the machine for ... like all things it's about choosing the right tool for the right job.

Re:Is Dell ControlPoint Battery Saving?

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