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Inspiron G5 15 5500, battery life bogus
Good morning,
I recently purchased an Inspiron G5 15 5500 with Alienware Control Center Suite installed; now reinstalled and updated, also latest bios 1.4.2 running W10 mostly for the purpose of running some specific games and more specifically the RC flight simulator RC9 from Horizon Hobby.
The Issue
The battery is supposed to have an average life of 10 hours; this battery has been thoroughly cycled three times now (each time as the discharge starts reports something less than 10 hours remaining) and yet rapidly the stats indicate a more realistic remaining time of something less than two (2) hours.
I have not looked at the battery yet, nor do I know whether it has the 3 cell polymer or the 6 cell polymer battery, or something else like maybe the 4 cell. Of course I am disappointed that the advertised battery life of 10 hours is actually the more common and mediocre 2- battery life of most power notebooks. This notebook is not being run hard (yet) and is balanced for performance , thermal conservatism , and battery life... two (2) hours is ridiculous; what gives ?
Which Inspiron models ship with the 3 cell polymer, the 6 cell polymer ??
Can models with the three (3) cell polymer be upgraded to the larger battery ?
This is the first notebook I have purchased with an embedded polymer battery that cannot be removed except by dismantling the unit, which is also ridiculous. Who designed this thing ?
OK, that's it for now; everyone have a great day and happy hacking.
marcushh
ejn63
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September 9th, 2020 04:00
Which Inspiron models ship with the 3 cell polymer, the 6 cell polymer ??
This model appears to ship with either a 3- or 4-cell battery.
Can models with the three (3) cell polymer be upgraded to the larger battery ?
Yes, as long as there is no 2.5" drive in the system. If there is, it needs to be removed (the battery takes up the space required by the 2.5" drive.
This is the first notebook I have purchased with an embedded polymer battery that cannot be removed except by dismantling the unit, which is also ridiculous. Who designed this thing ?
If you know of a new system that doesn't have an internal battery, please tell. At least Dell doesn't glue the battery to the chassis, unlike that other major manufacturer has been doing for some time now.
marcushh
44 Posts
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September 9th, 2020 11:00
hi, thank you for the quick reply.
My unit has the larger storage capacity; I assume it has the 2.5 drive installed, but while in warranty I'm not about to take it apart and look!
Thanks for the answer... the spec sheets in the hardware manual claim that the batt can be either 3 cell or 6 cell; I'm a little surprised with the 4 cell option. Anyway , explains why the unit doesn't have the best battery life. Don't get me wrong, the unit does have the primary stuff I bought it for; i7 six(6) cores, the 1660 Ti GeForce GTX graphics processor from NVidia, and Direct X 12. Alienware features and Killer Controller are add-ons that I was not expecting but will make the experience better.
I have several other notebooks (for various purposes, mostly running Mint Linux) that have removable batteries. The HP Pavilion g6 (I have three batts for that one), and the Lenovo (IBM) T61 ThinkPad(s) for which I also have three batts; two of them extra capacity (they stick out of the back of the unit slightly).
The G5 15 5500 would be better (this only a very minor point) if the polymer batts could be removed (especially for storage and transport) for both longevity, storage, safety. I'm used to taking a unit to a conference (whether coding or gaming) and being able to snap another batt in place on-the-fly; I can't do that obviously with the Inspiron G5 without taking tools along, and then only when the warranty expires.
Please don't misunderstand me-- I am a 99.99% happy camper, and this unit has precisely what I need for this particular application(s) and for the price point I am very very happy at this point.
Again, thanks for your info, and thanks for listening.
marcushh