Dell XPS M1330: How do I make the screen brighter when on battery?

I'm excited that I just bought a new Dell XPS M1330 laptop and got what I feel is a really good deal on the unit. Problem is, when I plug the laptop into the wall, it's super-bright and the screen looks great, crisp and colorful. Pull the plug and even though I crank the brightness all the way up and sidestep all the battery saving display settings, it's still so faint that I can barely see what's on the screen. What's the scoop? I didn't buy a laptop so that I'd end up tethered to the wall!

Dave's Answer:

I also picked up a Dell XPS M1330 recently, from the Dell Outlet Store, and got a super deal: 4GB RAM, 250GB drive, 3.2 pounds, and four hours of battery life, all for under $700. Very nice. Except... I had exactly the same problem you described: when I had the laptop plugged in, the screen looked wonderful, nice and bright. When it was running on battery power, however, it was significantly less bright, so much dimmer, in fact, that I was tempted to send it back to Dell as a defective unit.

Instead, I went onto the Dell support forums and did a bunch of searching, finally finding out that there's a core laptop device setting in the "BIOS" that also affects the brightness of the screen when you're running off battery (versus plugged in). Why it's in the BIOS I don't really understand as that's not an area where you want regular non-geeky customers messing around, but with my unit, at least, I really can't imagine anyone who would get this laptop and not promptly want to adjust this setting.

One of those Windows/PC weirdnesses, I guess. :-)

Anyway, before you go and fiddle with the BIOS, there are two places you can adjust the brightness, both of which you should check. The first is the regular brightness control, which you can access by pressing Fn-Up Arrow and Fn-Down Arrow. Max that out, which should look like this:

In addition, go to Control Panel and choose "Adjust commonly used mobility settings":

vista control panels commonly used mobile setttings

Once you click on that, you'll see a bunch of options:

In addition to the Brightness setting on the top left (which is identical to the up and down arrow brightness control) there's also a "Display Settings" option on the bottom of this window. Click on "Configure" and you'll now see the Dell QuickSet custom display options. Choose "Display" --> "Brightness Options" and you'll see this:

You can try disabling the entire Intel DPST feature, but if you want to keep it enabled, at least slide the control so that you're indicating you prefer a better quality display even at the price of slightly shorter battery life.

Now, you've made all those adjustments. Did it work? If not, time to jump into the BIOS.

Take a deep breath.

Now, reboot your system and when it's just starting up, press F2. You'll move into the BIOS configuration area, which is primitive and basically all text.

Use the down arrow to find "Video" and press "Enter" to show the options there. You'll see two: "Brightness" and "Brightness (AC)". The first is what you want, and when I first looked at mine, here's what I saw:

I pressed Enter once again, then used the right arrow to adjust the indicator from "3" to "8" (max brightness). Now it looked like this:

Looks good. I press Enter to accept it, and then choose "Save & Exit".

Now your display should be just as bright when you're running off battery as it is when you're plugged into the wall. Finally!

My tip? Use the brightness controls to step down one value on brightness.

Categorized: Windows PC Help (Article 8863, Written by Dave Taylor)
Tagged: dell xps m1330, display brightness, microsoft windows vista, pc bios
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Comments

I have a XPS M1330 and the screen brightness on battery seems to be not complainable. In fact, when I press the Fn + Up Arrow keys to max out the brightness setting it gets closer to the brightness as when wired.

I believe, if at all, the setting is to conserve on battery power so when you switch to battery it gets dimmer. If you really don't care about the battery charge longevity then I think setting this in BIOS makes sense. I would just leave it at the default setting.

Posted by: DemoGeek at June 3, 2009 6:38 PM

Thanks for this. It worked beautifully the first time I tried it (didn't even have to go to the BIOS). However, since I reinstalled Windows on my weeks-old computer, the LCD panel brightness control screen won't save the changes. I move the lever over to Max Quality, but it's back at Max Battery when I open it up again. What am I doing wrong? (I do hit apply and then OK when making the changes.)

Posted by: kelley at July 16, 2009 11:44 PM

THANK YOU SO MUCH!!

I have been trying to get my screen to brighten up for ages! I read what to do with the BIOS and it worked like a charm! I just want to thank you for posting this, I no longer have to squint at my screen to see anything!

Posted by: Nish at September 29, 2009 10:46 PM

Thank you so much...I searched for a long time for a solution post-Windows 7 and this solution was perfect and easy...it took MAYBE 2 minutes! :) This is my new favorite site.

Posted by: Christopher at November 15, 2009 4:34 PM

You're a top man. Your advice on doing the restart and adjusting the brightness via the BIOS worked a treat. Much appreciated mate.

Posted by: Zahid at December 5, 2009 7:45 AM

thank you so much! after everthing that i have tried the BIOs did the trick. i am really excited and i appreciate this help so much!

Posted by: Bekkay at January 6, 2010 5:17 PM

thank you this screen has been bothering me for ever it was so damn bright

Posted by: erik at January 10, 2010 9:46 PM

Thanks alot for this help. I upgraded my xps m1330 a few months ago to windows 7 and the screen had this exact same problem. I tried to google for some help several times but never found any site that had the exact issues i was experiencing. Don't know what i typed in Google differently this time but got this site and it worked like a charm. Saved me some money and time. I was almost at the point of upgrading my laptop or taking it to an expert.

Posted by: mr.le at February 17, 2010 12:08 AM

Thank u so much....i found many blogs...and non of them help me until now...

Posted by: steph at March 9, 2010 8:31 AM

Thanks Dave.

This was the last piece of a puzzle that started with a Nvidia failure (no news there & fixed with the hairdryer trick), and progressed to motherboard failure.

Changed out for a fresh motherboard, this time with Intel graphics, new heatsink and a rebuild with 2 screws leftover!

Upside - PC runs virtually stone cold. Overheating days are gone.
Downside - the new fan is a little noisy compared to the old.

Job done for under $200 via ebay.

Only downside was a very dim monitor on battery, even with fn up all the way, but your BIOS change has fixed that!

Many thanks, and if anyone wants the sources for parts and instructions twitter me @taffersonline.

Posted by: Richard at June 20, 2010 6:15 AM

WOW! I've been dealing with this issue since I bought my XPS a couple of years ago! Can't believe it was this simple and right there in setup all the time! Kinda like the Wizard of Oz!

Thanks, Dave! I'm finally completely happy with this machine!

Posted by: JT at September 18, 2010 5:20 PM

I just wanted to join the choir of voices singing your praises, sir. Thank you so much.

Posted by: Matthew at October 27, 2010 12:07 PM

your a straight genius Thank you so much!!!!!

Posted by: Nuggz at November 26, 2010 1:04 AM

Brilliant! Not only the screen, but you. I suffered with this for a long time, and you have now given me the best holiday gift - less frustration with my Dell. Happy New Year!

Posted by: Lee Fagan at December 28, 2010 9:10 AM

THANK YOU so much for that BIOS pearl! My screen is bright as ever!

Posted by: GG at February 27, 2011 7:56 AM

Dave, you're a STAR! Now I can see what I'm doing on my laptop even on a bright day. Thank you :)

Posted by: Vaida at May 23, 2011 11:51 AM

thanks so much from the philippines!

Posted by: xps at October 17, 2011 10:16 AM

i am trying to install windows 7 on my dell XPS M1330 with vista os but it is requesting that i upgrade the BIOS, please advise

Posted by: Heritage at November 2, 2011 10:05 AM

I have something to say, now that you mention it, but ...

I do have a lot to say, and questions of my own for that matter, but first I'd like to say thank you for all your efforts on this Web site by buying you a cup of coffee!

I do have a comment, now that you mention it!