Precision M4600 Owners Lounge

[offbyone]

I am not surprised by only 3 hours with a 6 cell battery. Has anyone who has the bigger battery evaluated the up time?

[armsys]

Originally Posted by Althernai

Thank you everyone for the battery life estimates. It looks like the machine only gets 2-3 hours. Does anyone know why?

Althernai,
Could the unusually short battery life be caused by:
1. Defective battery;
2. you're running a hard disk, not SSD;
3. Always keep both the LCD and hard disk on in the Power Saving Option;
4. Runnign graphics intensive software such as games;
5. Connecting to the external power-consuming USB device(s)?

[armsys]

Originally Posted by MrGordon

Here's how to remove the keyboard with pictures, this allows you access to the 2 DIMM slots under the keyboard.

MrGordon,
Thanks for posting the pics. What's the fan air flow direction? Do the both fans blow air up toward the keyboard?

[afhstingray]

well i dont see what the problem is, my old precision M4400 could get 4.5 hours if you really really really stretched it, i.e. turned down screen refresh rate, disabled all devices, brightnes minimum etc with the 9 cell battery.

with brightness turned down a little, surfing with wifi etc i'd get 3.5 hours

the lenovo gets 6 hours because it can completely turn off the graphics as far as i know.

[afhstingray]

Originally Posted by armsys

MrGordon,
Thanks for posting the pics. What's the fan air flow direction? Do the both fans blow air up toward the keyboard?

OF COURSE NOT!! lol..... the fans intake from the bottom of the computer and spit the hot air out of the back.

[armsys]

MrGordon,
I notice you have a 9-cell battery.
1. When ordering your M4600, did you order additional batteries? If not, why?
2. What's the wattage? 97Wh or 87Wh?
97Wh isn't available in China and Hong Kong.

[armsys]

Originally Posted by afhstingray

OF COURSE NOT!! lol..... the fans intake from the bottom of the computer and spit the hot air out of the back.

Thanks. At least, now I've to be careful not to block the bottom and the back.

[afhstingray]

Originally Posted by armsys

MrGordon,
I notice you have a 9-cell battery.
1. When ordering your M4600, did you order additional batteries? If not, why?
2. What's the wattage? 97Wh or 87Wh?
97Wh isn't available in China and Hong Kong.

mine came with 97Wh, personally i didnt order additional batteries because i'm using this as a desktop replacement, so it wont be away from power for long periods of time.

if you want something with good battery life, the lenovo W520 is a much better option

[armsys]

afhstingray,
The reason I asked why not ordering multiple batteries is, in the past, Dell couldn't not supply me the battery 3 years after.
Yes, thanks to your posts, I did some research on Lenovo W520 but Lenovo doesn't allow me to customize the notebook such as dual SSDs.

[armsys]

Originally Posted by afhstingray

mine came with 97Wh,...

Are you located in UK? I must protest to Dell HK. How come you can get the highest capacity battery?