Dell PD598 Conserving Battery Power, Power Management Modes

Using a Battery 45

Check the Battery Health

NOTE: You can check battery health in one of two ways: by using the charge gauge on the battery as described

below and by using the Battery Meter in Dell QuickSet. For information about QuickSet, right-click the icon in

the taskbar, and click Help.

To check the battery health, press and hold the status button on the battery charge gauge for at least

3 seconds. If no lights appear, the battery is in good condition, and more than 80 percent of its original

charge capacity remains. Each light represents incremental degradation. If five lights appear, less than

60percent of the charge capacity remains, and you should consider replacing the battery. See

"Specifications" on page 137 for more information about the battery operating time.

NOTICE: To avoid losing or corrupting data, save your work immediately after a low-battery warning. Then

connect the computer to an electrical outlet. If the battery runs completely out of power, hibernate mode begins

automatically.

By default, a pop-up window warns you when the battery charge is approximately 90 percent depleted.

You can change the settings for the battery alarms in QuickSet or the Power Options Properties window.

See "Configuring Power Management Settings" on page47 for information about accessing QuickSet or

the Power Options Properties window.

Conserving Battery Power

Perform the following actions to conserve battery power:

• Connect the computer to an electrical outlet when possible because battery life is largely determined

by the number of times the battery is used and recharged.

• Place the computer in standby mode or hibernate mode when you leave the computer unattended for

long periods of time. See "Power Management Modes" on page45 for more information about standby

and hibernate modes.

• Use the Power Management Wizard

to select options to optimize your computer’s power usage. These

options can also be set to change when you press the power button, close the display, or press

<Fn><Esc>.

NOTE: See "Power Management Modes" on page45 for more information on conserving battery power.

Power Management Modes

Standby mode conserves power by turning off the display and the hard drive after a predetermined

period of inactivity (a time-out). When the computer exits standby mode, it returns to the same

operating state it was in before entering standby mode.

NOTICE: If your computer loses AC or battery power while in standby mode, it may lose data.

PD598a01.book Page 45 Monday, February 6, 2006 2:24 PM