Why doesn't my new laptop estimate how much longer it can run on battery power?

2

Why doesn't my HP Mini 210 netbook display an estimate of the amount of time it can run on battery power? My only previous laptop (an old Dell Latitude D600) could do this. I downgraded the HP from Windows 7 Starter to Windows XP immediately after I got it, so I don't know if this feature worked out of the box.

Is there anything I can do to get a real time battery run time estimate like my Dell has?

Here are some screenshots of the power meter control panel from both laptops (both XP SP3), to show what I'm taking about:

Dell D600 (battery is at 84%, and can run the laptop for an estimated 2 hours 19 minutes):

Dell D600 Power Meter

HP Mini 210 (battery is at 100%, but who knows what that means, since there's no estimate. It won't give an estimate if the battery is less than 100%, either):

HP Mini 210 Power Meter

Kaypro II

Posted 2010-08-01T05:33:57.207

Reputation: 1 359

Maybe it needs calibrating? Might be worth letting it do a full discharge/recharge cycle and see if it can then estimate. – None – 2010-08-01T19:08:45.890

Answers

2

Time is needed to be calculated. The estimated time is calculated by the voltage loss per minute. It takes time to grab enough statistics to estimate the time. Give the battery some time (let it drop under 90%).

What you can do is to try recalibrate your battery in BIOS. It may refresh the settings in the battery. You can try to update your BIOS as well.

Raptor

Posted 2010-08-01T05:33:57.207

Reputation: 956

That can't be it: it still doesn't show an estimate even after the battery has drained a bit. I just happened to take the screenshot when it was at 100%, it does the same thing at 90%, 80%, etc.

I see no battery options in the BIOS, either. – Kaypro II – 2010-08-01T17:51:38.543

Asked: 2010-08-01T05:33:57.207

Viewed: 1 985 times

Active: 2011-09-26T04:40:32.010