Only Getting 4hrs of Battery Life

[ctitanic]

I suppose it comes down to this: Are there enough advantages to the form factor/pen ability etc of the SP3 to make it worth compromising the way you are using it slightly (plugging it in at lunchtime or reducing screen brightness) in order to get the battery life you desire? If not then I guess there's no point and it's time to send it back as you will never be happy.

Personally I always take manufacturers battery life claims and mpg claims etc with a pinch of salt and if the claimed battery life was all I was basing a purchase on (without looking at real user reviews and comparing for a more balanced view) I'd probably want to find a device that was offering more than I expected to achieve to compensate for this.

According to SEAT my ibiza 1.2 TSI petrol offers 50mpg fuel efficiency (this is UK gallons by the way). For all it's new technology, brake energy regeneration etc I get 36mpg on my regular driving which is only about 8mpg more than my previous old tech petrol engine. Sure I can see 50mpg if travelling at 50mph on a flat road... but that doesn't happen very often due to the way I use the car :-(

That's true but at Microsoft Surface site they have a note explaining that the battery life may be different on other users and that they changed the configuration to achieve the number. They also mention that they were just browsing 25 sites. this implies that the contest of webpages may change the battery life! So I really don't understand what's his complain!

 

[ctitanic]

As far as the battery life is concerned, is it better to let battery drain and then fully charge it instead of keeping it plugged in for several days? I know in the early days that was a problem but i'm not sure it still is.

Microsoft recommends at least once a month to leave the battery drain up to 10%.

 

[CFCSupporter]

Microsoft recommends at least once a month to leave the battery drain up to 10%.

Otherwise I can leave it plugged in as much as I want?
That's a relieve!!

 

[ctitanic]

Otherwise I can leave it plugged in as much as I want?
That's a relieve!!

Yes, having it connected won't harm anything.

 

[GreyFox7]

Correct!

ALL means you too! You're not helping right now.

 

[ctitanic]

What should you change to increase battery life:
1- The easier way to gain battery life is to reduce brightness. I had my SP3 at 60% and getting around 6.5 hours of battery. Reducing the brightness from around 35% to 40% increased battery life to around 8 hours.
2- The next recommendation would be to adjust display off time in the Balance Power Plan, I'm using 3 minutes
3- Leave in the Indexing options only the folders where you have your libraries: Music, Videos and Documents. Remove "Download" and other folders like Windows, Program Files, etc.
4- Remove from Start up all tasks and services that you don't need like Google update, google crash manager, etc. CCleaner is a tool that can help you in this task.
5- Do not keep Apps opened if you don't need them. Close what ever you are not using, do not leave it opened in the background.
6- Turn off all the notifications that are not really needed.
7- You can turn off Bluetooth adapter to gain few more minutes in an emergency
8- Microsoft recommends at least once a month to leave the battery drain up to 10%.

 

[ctitanic]

ALL means you too! You're not helping right now.

Believe me! I know that!

 

[ManUnited]

And what are you expecting from this conversation?

Civility.

Yesterday, you wrote a reply to me in another thread stating, "We don't have anything else to offer you." Yet, you seem to reply to every post I write even when they are not addressed to you. If my line of questioning is so out of order or frustrates you so much, why reply? Why not agree to disagree and allow me (and others — I am not the OP of this thread) to carry on a conversation with other members who may be experiencing similar issues (see @dman27 post) or may use the SP3 in a similar setting (see @kristalsoldier post)?

I have publicly thanked you in other threads and I do appreciate your knowledge. I just don't understand why you object to me carrying out this conversation with others?

 

[ctitanic]

You are absolutely right. I'm just wasting my time.

 

[hughlle]

I don't understand all the debate. It is like advertised miles per gallon. It is a best case scenario, not all case scenario. Drive everywhere in 3rd gear and of course you won't achieve the claim, drive everywhere at 120mph, of course you won't meet the claim. It's very simple. Noone has been deceived, noone has been lied to, you're getting exactly what you should be given your usage.

 

[leeshor]

Just to let everyone here know, this thread may soon be going into lock mode as it has run its course and is beginning to go in circles. It is becoming less and less helpful/useful to anyone.

This same discussion regarding battery life has gone on in several other (non Surface), forums for phones and tablets and it usually ends the same way and with solutions that don't work for some people but do for others.

I strongly suggest everyone give it a rest as there is no one solution to fit everyone's needs and work/usage habits.

 

[dman27]

@ManchesterUnited. Are you able to see the screen for your presentations at 60% brightness or lower?

I would hate using it at this level, as it's a big change for me coming from every other platform but I'm going to try it for today. I have found the info presented in this discussion VERY informative, particularly the notification schedule for emails. I have changed this from updating "as received" to once an hour in email.

I will reduce the brightness to 45% or so and try to get used to it to test the battery difference. This will be the hardest for me, as my office lights or pretty bright and the glare is much more pronounced at such a lower setting.

I adamantly believe we should not have to go to these extremes to achieve even 3/4 of the stated battery life but am willing to give it a try.

So far, each time I come back to use the screen at this level I find myself squinting to type or read and the colors look washed out and indistinct.

Battery Bar is reporting a discharge rate of about 7000Mw compared to about 9000Mw at my usual brightness of about 85-90%.

I do want to ask is there a way to adjust or suspend the Livecomm process? I think this is the OneDrive updater. It seems to use a lot of the CPU process.