Battery longevity tips

Hello DELL-Bill B

I ordered my Studio XPS 1640 on Jun 22 2009 and didn't ship my laptop until July 6 2009. The battery that came with the Studio XPS 1640 is a 6-CELL 56 WHR battery which on a full 100% charge lasts on the Balanced power option last less tha 1.5 hrs. It takes almost as long to get it charged up to the 100% mark again. This is from surfing the net, reading emails and replying them. An ocassional news video and web video conversation. That would be about as long to which I would have to plug into the mains to continue and also recharge the battery.

1.  I got the laptop while in New Jersey. I am currently on assignment posting in Singapore. I got the complete care option and 3 year warranty. By which time my assignment would end and I would move back to New Jersey. As I am currently in Singapore, how would I go about getting the battery replaced, would I have to send the battery back to the U.S. for a replacement of could I get replacement in Singapore.
2. When I got my laptop the only disk that I received with the laptop were : the Driver and utilities reinstall disk, Operating System reintall Vista ultimate 64Bit Sp1 disk, The McAfee Security Disk and Software Kit disk for MS Office. Are the programs like Face recogtion software, Roxio Creator, PowerDvd DX on any of these disk and if not, could I get the program disks for these programs in the event the laptop requires reinstallation.

I would very much appreciate clarification to my questions as I have gone through quite a bit of the posts and have not found the answers to my queries. Many Thanks.

Apek,

Brightness control for the Studio XPS 1640 ONLY.

Most Dell laptops, you can control the brightness by pressing and holding the Fn key and the brightness keys at the same time. The Brightness keys look like the sun with arrows. Some are located on the top row(on the F keys) and some work with the arrow keys, depending on the keyboard the computer has.

Brightness on a battery is remembered by what the last setting was. Brightness on power is also remembered by what you last setting was.

Rick

I just got off the phone with dell about my wife battery in her 2 year old inspiron e1705.  They agree that it is going bad but there is just a 1 year warranty with the battery.  They want $125.00 for a new one.  I have one coming for $50.00 including shipping from http://www.batteryedge.com/category_s/4067.htm  ll have to see how well it works and keep and eye on it for excess heat.

I am not sure of the exact policy on how to get a replacement battery under warranty on a system bought in the US that is now in Singapore. I think your best bet is to call tech support in Singapore and advise them of the 1.5  hr charge time. They should be able to direct you to the best solution. I think if you register at MyDellDownloads, you can get downloads for any missing applications.

anyone have any suggestions for a new battery for a dell XPS M140?  the org battery died, and I order a new one off of e-bay from hi-etech.  they claimed it came with a 12-month warranty.  the battery died after just 3-months, and hi-tech refuses to send me a new one or refund my money.

don't do business with hi-etech.

anyhow, should I have just bought the battery from dell directly?

thanks!