SkyFire IV 14" Battery

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tasdha

Active member
Hi

Yesterday I got my SkyFire laptop, and I'm very impressed. It has a GTX 850m and i5-4210m. Its incredibly fast.

But, the battery is awful. It doesn't even last 2 hours most times, and only charges up to 96%(so the light is always orange, as opposed to blue). Have I got a defect battery? What should I do?


Thanks
 
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TheGeeza

Guest
Is that battery life while playing games or during general use?
 
mantadog

mantadog

Superhero Level Poster
2 hours seems reasonable enough to me, the 96% thing I'm not sure about. Though I don't think it indicates a dodgy battery if its lasting 2 hours.
 
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tasdha

Active member
mantadog said:
2 hours seems reasonable enough to me, the 96% thing I'm not sure about. Though I don't think it indicates a dodgy battery if its lasting 2 hours.
Click to expand...

I'd say its closer to 1 and a half hours. Yesterday it lasted 2 but today it lasted 1.5hours from 96% just browsing the web. This is with power saving profile on btw
 
vanthus

vanthus

Member Resting in Peace
Not sure about the 96% issue,might be worth giving PCS a call about that,but the the description of the battery on the configurator does say The realistic average run-time is 1.5 to 3 hours.
Quote from description.
"On our notebook configurator there is sometimes the option of upgrading your battery or ordering additional batteries. The length of time a laptop battery will operate varies on individual notebook computers, based on the applications being used (i.e. high end graphics, gaming), the number of times something is saved or retrieved from the hard drive, how often the CD/DVD drive is used, and the amount of memory in the notebook. The realistic average run-time is 1.5 to 3 hours, but obviously the more you use the notebook, and the more devices you order when configuring the notebook, the lower the battery life will be. Using devices like a wireless adapter will also reduce the battery life."
 
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TheGeeza

Guest
It's possible that once charged the battery stops charging and will slowly drop even while plugged in. With some laptops it won't start recharging until it gets below 95%. Unplug it, get the battery down a bit again (say to 90%) and plug it in again and see if it charges then.
 
T

tasdha

Active member
Thanks TheGeeza and vanthus, do you think there would be much of an improvement if I set the processor to Max 70% on power saving mode?


Also, plugging it in at 90% doesn't help, it still only goes up to 96% and stays there. I'm gonna try give them a call on Monday.
 
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Jamie0202

Enthusiast
A program like CPUID HWMonitor will tell you the wear level of your battery, comparing the designed charge capacity against the actual maximum charge capacity. I wouldn't expect a brand new laptop battery to be at anything more than 5% wear. I've had mine 8 months and currently have only 7% wear.
 
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tasdha

Active member
Jamie0202 said:
A program like CPUID HWMonitor will tell you the wear level of your battery, comparing the designed charge capacity against the actual maximum charge capacity. I wouldn't expect a brand new laptop battery to be at anything more than 5% wear. I've had mine 8 months and currently have only 7% wear.
Click to expand...

Hey thanks I downloaded it... am I right in saying it says my battery wear is FIFTEEN percent?!?!?

BATTERY.png
 
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TheGeeza

Guest
tasdha said:
Hey thanks I downloaded it... am I right in saying it says my battery wear is FIFTEEN percent?!?!?

View attachment 5418
Click to expand...

That battery life is about right for high powered laptops but that 15% is very strange. Doesn't seem right at all. My old Toshiba sat is 25% and that is 8 years old.
You should probably give PCS a call about it.
 
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Jamie0202

Enthusiast
I agree with TheGeeza. Here's a screen of my 8 month old Optimus V 17.3" which has been used almost daily since I got it, both on mains and on battery. I would call PCS.

Image 1.jpg
 
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tasdha

Active member
Cheers guys. I've given a call, I had to do an RMA and now they're gonna pick up the laptop + battery on thursday. Will keep you posted.
 
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tasdha

Active member
Got my laptop back today, so it took 8 days, including saturday, sunday and bank holiday monday. that is incredibly fast, props to PCS.

They replaced the battery and its now completely fine.
 
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ariadne2

Silver Level Poster
Thanks for that, good to know current turnaround isn't as long as I had expected, as mine was collected on 26/8 hopefully i will get it back next week sometime )
 
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