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106459
December 7th, 2013 06:00
XPS 15 9530 Battery Life
This XPS 15 9530 laptop (SSD/91WH Battery) can't get much over 9 hours of battery life, even at total idle, screen fully dimmed (no auto brightness), and just the desktop screen showing from a fresh restart.
YET,,,, the Dell website brags about 11 hours battery life at a mid brightness setting when actually doing web surfing.
When this 9530 is in a similar web browsing activity mode with mostly dimmed screen, battery life shows around 6 to 7 hours.
A Dell 15z with a 65Wh battery and sandy bridge CPU makes 9-10 hours at the same idle conditions, and matches battery life in similar browsing applications.
This 9530 laptop has a 50% larger battery, and 'Haswell' CPU that should be quite a bit better than the 15z, and should at least closely match the Dell claims for battery life.
Any software/hardware options available, short of returning the 9530, to gain the advertised benefits of a large battery and Haswell technology?
drjoe66
11 Posts
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December 7th, 2013 07:00
I ran the same experiment on my brand new XPS 15 5930. I don't even get 6 hours with hardly any load on the system. The 11 hours are a flat lie to make people buy the system
Ken PC
76 Posts
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December 14th, 2013 21:00
I hear some distinct feedback on some forums about XPS Battery life, or the distinct lack thereof.
One thing I did find, was that the Intel video drivers as-installed are at least part of the culprit. But the newest intel video drivers (version ending in 3345) might quit when trying to install over the Dell installed drivers.
So go to programs or device manager and uninstall the intel video driver. Restart to make sure that the device manager list only shows a generic Microsoft driver, then install the intel driver from the intel website ending in 3345.
A test I often run, just as a capability test, is to let the laptop run idling with screen to minimum brightness, auto dimming off, but setting the screen turn off time to 1 or 2 hours so it is ALWAYS on.
As received I MIGHT get 10hrs, but most often around 9. Now it is common to get 11+ with the same test by only changing the Intel video drivers. Battery life in other higher power use scenarios also seems somewhat improved compared to the v3325 driver installed by Dell. And the system runs noticeably cooler at idle
Frustrating to have to have to figure it out, but it does measurably help my system.
Since then I have just done a clean install, and will be checking how the system works. Early returns indicate the improved battery life compared to the Dell install remains.