Dell Inspiron 8600 laptop is too dark outside the house

[sxb]

I love my new Dell Inspiron 8600 laptop for 4-tabling on Party. The only problem I have is that the screen is too dark for me to see clearly when I'm using it on battery outside of my house. Is there any way for me to change the setting so that when on battery the screen is as bright as when connected to the power outlet.

[AcmeSalesRep]

[ QUOTE ]
I love my new Dell Inspiron 8600 laptop for 4-tabling on Party. The only problem I have is that the screen is too dark for me to see clearly when I'm using it on battery outside of my house. Is there any way for me to change the setting so that when on battery the screen is as bright as when connected to the power outlet.

[/ QUOTE ]

Increase the brightness and see if that solves your problem. When you are plugged in, the computer usually will be set to maximum brightness. When you are running off the battery, the brightness is usually lower to increase battery life.

Acme

[wh1t3bread]

You do need to increase the brightness level when running on battery power. This is going to be a setting in your BIOS that you will have to change for that laptop.

To enter the BIOS press F12 (I think) when booting up. Look for your "VIDEO" settings and then find the "BRIGHTNESS" setting while running on "battery". Set this setting accordingly (to the max if you want). This will eat your battery up faster though, so be prepared for that. Exit the BIOS and save the changes and you should be good to go.

[AcmeSalesRep]

[ QUOTE ]
You do need to increase the brightness level when running on battery power. This is going to be a setting in your BIOS that you will have to change for that laptop.

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My machine allows me to change the brightness on the fly...no need to reboot and enter the BIOS or anything. I don't even need to enter the control panels...

Acme

[wh1t3bread]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
You do need to increase the brightness level when running on battery power. This is going to be a setting in your BIOS that you will have to change for that laptop.

[/ QUOTE ]

My machine allows me to change the brightness on the fly...no need to reboot and enter the BIOS or anything. I don't even need to enter the control panels...

Acme

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Dell 8600? I have a 6000 and I you have to enter the BIOS on my machine to change that setting. I assumed it was the same for other models.

[AcmeSalesRep]

[ QUOTE ]
Dell 8600? I have a 6000 and I you have to enter the BIOS on my machine to change that setting. I assumed it was the same for other models.

[/ QUOTE ]

No. Not a Dell 8600. An older Dell 4150. But it works the same way on every Dell, Gateway, and Toshiba machine I have ever seen. You press (and hold) the "Fn" key in the lower left and then use the up/down arrows to change the brightness.

Looking online, the current models (6000 and 9300) both have the same controls...and the older ones I have worked with have them. I would be very surprised if this is not the exact way it works on the Dell 8600.

Acme

[wh1t3bread]

Ah, that works too. Very cool.