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Dell Inspiron 700m battery drain problem

Discussion in 'PC Hardware' started by Joey, 2008/11/10.

  1. 2008/11/10
    Joey

    Joey Inactive Thread Starter

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    If i fully charge the battery on my 700m and don't use it for 2 days the battery is at least half drained when i turn it on. I always do a Shutdown when i shut the laptop off. The battery is fairly new from the Dell recall.
    If i take a the battery off the laptop when im not using it it stays charged, so it seems like the laptop is draining the battery when its off.

    Any ideas on where to start ?

    Thanks
     
    Joey,
    #1
  2. 2008/11/11
    PeteC

    PeteC SuperGeek Staff

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    I think it is the nature of the beast. On my first HP laptop and current EeePC the battery drains if not removed, but on my current HP laptop there is no drain if the battery is left installed.

    I know of people who have to remove the battery from camcorders to avoid the drain.

    Why it it is necessary I have no idea :)
     

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  4. 2008/11/11
    Arie

    Arie Administrator Administrator Staff

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    Which OS do you have?
     
    Arie,
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  5. 2008/11/11
    Joey

    Joey Inactive Thread Starter

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    I know there will be some drain but this is too much.

    I'm using XP Pro.
     
    Joey,
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  6. 2008/11/11
    dobhar Lifetime Subscription

    dobhar Inactive

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  7. 2008/11/11
    Joey

    Joey Inactive Thread Starter

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    That is for a laptop that is unplugged but still turned on, mine is shutdown and drains. Interesting article though, Thanks
     
    Joey,
    #6
  8. 2008/11/12
    mattman

    mattman Inactive Alumni

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    Look in the startup configuration settings (BIOS) for anything relating to "Wake On... "(eg Wake on LAN, Wake on modem, etc.), disable them. Look for any other settings that may be keeping the system "ready" while it is powered off. Be aware that if you do remove the battery, any settings made in the BIOS may be lost.

    Matt
     
  9. 2008/11/12
    dobhar Lifetime Subscription

    dobhar Inactive

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    Hi Matt...I happened to re-read Joey's first post and noticed he mentioned a Dell Inspiron 700m...what the heck...how did I miss that...I have a Dell Inspiron 700m at work that I'm using for various jobs. The BIOS is at version A07 (Latest). There is no option for "Wake on Lan" or "Wake on Modem "..nothing related. It's a Phoenix BIOS and it's quite sparse for options. For example in the Advanced section you only have 4 options...
    - USB Emulation: Enabled or Disabled
    - Lan Controller: Enabled or Disabled
    - Wireless Controller: <FN+F2> or Always off
    - Wireless: On or Off

    One thing I did do is purchase a large capacity Battery for it just after I started using it. I did some testing and I am not seeing this "drain" that Joey has on his 700m.
    http://www.impactcomputers.com/w5915.html
     
  10. 2008/11/12
    mattman

    mattman Inactive Alumni

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    Sparse...I like the terminology :D

    Sorry, I don't know Dell laptop BIOSes. You seem to have them "under control" :)

    Matt
     
  11. 2008/11/12
    dobhar Lifetime Subscription

    dobhar Inactive

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    LOLOLOL...I couldn't actually say what I wanted to say about the BIOS on my Dell Inspiron 700m. This BIOS version for this Laptop is the worst I've ever seen for Options...does not even have a section on the Battery...even the older Dell Inspiron's (1100's) and Latitude's (D510, D600) I work on have better. Love the BIOS versions for the newer Dell Latitude's...lots of options and info.
     
  12. 2008/11/12
    Joey

    Joey Inactive Thread Starter

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    I updated the bios to the latest version A07 and the problem seems to be gone. After i updated the bios i fully charged the battery and left it connected for 2 days without using it and when i booted up its at 92%, big difference :D

    Thanks everyone
     
  13. 2008/11/15
    dobhar Lifetime Subscription

    dobhar Inactive

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    Hi Joey...Glad to see that your problem is gone...:)

    I just checked Dell's "Driver and Downloads" page for our 700m for any info on the BIOS and found the reason for the update...
    Nothing on any heat issue. What was your version of BIOS prior to your upgrade? If older than A06 then maybe the probably one of the revios updates fixed the issue.

    Just courious...
     
  14. 2008/11/15
    Joey

    Joey Inactive Thread Starter

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    I believe it was A02 or A03. I also looked at the past Bios Fixes and didn't see anything about the battery
     
  15. 2008/11/15
    Joey

    Joey Inactive Thread Starter

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  16. 2008/11/15
    dobhar Lifetime Subscription

    dobhar Inactive

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    Yeah...I had already checked...I bought a new "Large Capacity" battery for it earlier this year and it wasn't listed.
     

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