[username]

I just got my Dell Mini 9 a week ago with Ubuntu 8.04 installed.

Few questions about the battery:

1. Mine charges in about 1.5 hours (off), is that normal?
2. When charged it says charged to 30.1 Wh, and it says capacity is 32.6 Wh, how do I get it to charge fully to 32.6?
3. When my sceen shuts off after being idle or when i boot up, Ubuntu does not remember my brightness setting from before?
4. On my full charge, with wifi and lowest brightness, Ubuntu says 3 hours 30 minutes? how do i increase that, i heard people were getting over 4 hours? is that with a different OS? is there a better OS for better battery life?

thanks all!

[username]

Also, in says
Capacity: 92% (Good)

why can't i get 100% capacity?

thanks again

[reflex]

Welcome. I'll try to answer your questions.

1. I haven't timed my Mini 9's charge time, but 1.5 hours sounds reasonable. Generally, lithium-ion batteries will charge almost full very quickly (under an hour), then slowly top off the charge.

2. I expect that's the difference between the nominal/specification capacity and actual.

3. Dunno. Try looking under power management.

4. That's just a estimate. You may get more or less battery life, depending on how hard you're using the Mini. And even though the Mini 9's CPU is very efficient compared to a standard laptop's, CPU use can make a big difference in battery life.

As for other OSs, I don't think Windows gets better battery life than Linux on the Mini 9. I think OSX is worse on the Mini 9 (due to incomplete hackintosh hardware support).

[username]

Originally Posted by reflex

Welcome. I'll try to answer your questions.

1. I haven't timed my Mini 9's charge time, but 1.5 hours sounds reasonable. Generally, lithium-ion batteries will charge almost full very quickly (under an hour), then slowly top off the charge.

2. I expect that's the difference between the nominal/specification capacity and actual.

3. Dunno. Try looking under power management.

4. That's just a estimate. You may get more or less battery life, depending on how hard you're using the Mini. And even though the Mini 9's CPU is very efficient compared to a standard laptop's, CPU use can make a big difference in battery life.

As for other OSs, I don't think Windows gets better battery life than Linux on the Mini 9. I think OSX is worse on the Mini 9 (due to incomplete hackintosh hardware support).

Thanks..

So i decided to charge my battery fully then discharge it fully (no suspend, let it run until it dies). then i recharged it for 12hours and now i see that 100% charged is 96% of the battery capacity (31.5 Wh/32.6 Wh)

has anyone seen this before?
should i do it again?
is bad to run the computer until dies fully?

thanks again!!

[iggykoopa]

That's probably because the 100% is design capacity... The most it can ever hold. As you use the battery it will gradually lose the ability to recharge fully. Unless it drops dramatically all of a sudden I wouldn't worry about it.

[Dettery]

it is reasonable to charge for about1.5 hours .as for the 85% storage, i want to see it is like your perfert pursuit and the real reality.
cannot remember the setting? have you set it in advance?

[Heraclitus]

My battery charges in about the same time period.
It is better not to fully discharge for a longer battery life. More time you will spend with the power cord, longer life you will get.