Dell Batteries

Doyle_G

I'm thinking of buying a Dell studio 15 laptop but I need a battery that'll last me a few hours (not every lecture hall will have a plug ). I've been given the option of purchasing a 9 cell lithium ion battery instead of the standard 6 cell. how long is a 9 cell battery likely to last me if i'm a)using the internet and b) just viewing word documents?

Thanks

Gazza22

I've a 9 cell on my XPS M1530. It has got daily use for a year and a half, only recently has the performance deteriorated but i reckon it's still working at 60% capacity. There's a one year guarantee on batteries afaik but for simple apps like you mentioned (and if you charge battery correctly) you should get at least 2 years with good performance from it.

Doyle_G

so how many hour out of a full battery would i get? just want to check before I fork out the extra cash!

Abelloid

Gazza22 wrote: »

I've a 9 cell on my XPS M1530. It has got daily use for a year and a half, only recently has the performance deteriorated but i reckon it's still working at 60% capacity. There's a one year guarantee on batteries afaik but for simple apps like you mentioned (and if you charge battery correctly) you should get at least 2 years with good performance from it.

That's some battery - I would have said hours.

Gazza22

I'm guessing here, on a studio 15, in power saver mode, Centrino processor and only using lappy for word and browsing...

A full 9 cell battery should give you about 6 hours

Doyle_G

6 hours?? that's much better than i thought!! :eek:

Alanstrainor

Gazza22 wrote: »

I'm guessing here, on a studio 15, in power saver mode, Centrino processor and only using lappy for word and browsing...

A full 9 cell battery should give you about 6 hours

That's being very generous imo, i'd be thinking 4 hours, maybe 5 at a push from a 15" laptop even with a 9 cell.

Secoundrow

Hey my advice would be get it from dell with a 6 cell,

Then buy a after market 9-cell lit-ion battery for it on the internet
Then you have two batterys which is very handy indeed;)

With the two you should be able to stretch about 6 & half hours out of your machine.


Heres a example;

http://shop.battery.co.uk/cgi-bin/ic/battery/PW823.html



Edit: just saw that linked battery is for a studio 17
but ya get the picture;)

Voodu Child

It depends to a large degree on the spec. Avoid a powerful graphics card if you are looking for good battery life. Same goes for CPU, although actually the more expensive CPUs are often built on smaller process sizes and consume less power. 5400rpm HDD will consume less power than a 7200rpm..... LED-backlit screen should be better than a CCFL one.

Tbh, if battery life is your only concern, there are other options. Some of the CULV laptops will get great battery life, and that's without a bulky 9-cell. They're low on performance, but perfectly adequate for word-processing, web-browsing etc. Acer Timeline etc, although there are a lot of manufacturers coming out with similar models.

Make sure you get a laptop with a Win7 upgrade option, as it has better power management. I saw a good % improvement on battery life with Win7, over 5hrs with a 9-cell (M1530).

paulhealy1991

ive the studio 15 with the 512mb graphics card. its the top seller option one on the website left standard. the 6 cell battery would give ya a max of 4 hours fully charged if uve power saver option enbled with screen on low. no problems with it yet o ya i think the 9 cell battery sticks out a bit from the back

Doyle_G

i don't mind the battery sticking out a bit... all I want is a descent battery that'll last me a few hours