Dell Latitude C540 - Manual (Page 34)

Using a Battery
Battery Performance
Checking the Battery Charge
Charging the Battery
Removing a Battery
Installing a Battery
Storing a Battery
Battery Performance
NOTE: Batteries for portable computers are covered only during the initial one-year period of the
limited warranty for your computer. For more information about the Dell warranty for your computer,
see the System Information Guide.
For optimal computer performance and to help preserve BIOS settings, operate your Dell™ portable
computer with the main battery installed at all times. Use a battery to run the computer when the computer
is not connected to an electrical outlet. One battery is supplied as standard equipment in the battery bay.
The computer ships standard with an 8-cell, 4460-mAh lithium-ion battery that optimizes system
performance. The computer also supports the 3800- and 3600-mAh batteries you may have received with
earlier Dell computers, but battery life is significantly decreased with these older batteries. Any battery rated
lower than 3600 mAh is not supported and will cause the light to flash orange, indicating insufficient
charge capacity.
Battery performance varies depending on operating conditions. With average usage, you may expect from 3
to 4 hours of operating life from a single fully loaded battery. You can install an optional second battery in
the module bay to significantly increase operating time.
Operating life is significantly reduced when you perform operations including, but not limited to, the
following:
NOTE: Dell recommends that you connect your computer to an electrical outlet when writing to a CD.
Using optical drives, especially DVD and CD-RW drives
Using wireless communications devices, PC Cards, or USB devices
Using high display-brightness settings, 3D screen savers, or other power-intensive programs such as
3D games
Running power-intensive programs
Running the computer in maximum performance mode