Downside of 6-cell battery — screen angle

Has anyone else found it slightly annoying that the 6-cell battery limits how far back you can angle the screen? If I get too close to the screen, especially if it's on my lap, the screen starts fading out because of the high viewing angle. It doesn't help that the battery also tilts the whole machine as well, making the situation worse. It's nice to have the extra battery life but it seems like the 6-cell model was an afterthought and not designed as a unit.

I find it strange that the horizontal viewing angle is so great, but the vertical range is so narrow. The slightest change makes a big difference, especially when watching movies with a lot of black on the screen. If you're not in exactly the right place you either lose contrast or dark areas start looking like film negatives. Too bad since it's such a gorgeous display.

 

well, it doesn't really tilt the machine THAT bad, but it does limit the viewing angle...

 

I often use the AA1 opened all the way, so the 6-cell might not be that great for me... are there photos online somewhere showing the reduced angle?

(I figured the bigger battery would simply take up the space between the screen-frame and main chassis, but I guess it sticks out more than that)

 

I posted photos showing the screen angle with the 6-cell:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/13180727@N07/sets/72157606839702861/

The screen opens to 140 degrees. They had to shift the cells downwards just to get any clearance for the screen, because the hinge is so far forward. What they should have done is pushed the hinge further back, but that would have meant a new case design. Obviously they went the cheap route.

I have found that by adjusting the display adapter settings (less brightness and slightly less contrast) I get a better vertical viewing range. It's not ideal, but it's OK.

Wish list for the next gen: 180 degree screen opening with 6-cell battery, louder speakers, softer touchpad buttons, higher res webcam.

 

Softer touch pad buttons - use the pad properly and you don't need the buttons

 

I do, but sometime it's easier to use the buttons, e.g. for drag and drop, especially when reclining.

 

Also the bottom of the case looks larger. Must be to accommodate the 120 GB HD?

 

I don't think losing 5-10 degrees is so bad, annoying that the battery couldn't be designed better maybe.

 

Well assuming you never want to use context menus, or any other right click operations, or mouse pasting (pressing both buttons at once simulates the middle button on a normal mouse, of course in linux this pastes the selected text to the current window).

 

Does the 6 cell battery add much weight?

It does look a little tacked on. They could have done better. :roll:

 

Judging by the photo, the max viewing angle of the 6-cell is 135 degrees. I measured my 3-cell's max angle as being 148 degrees.

That might not seem like much of a difference, but the AA1's colors seem most accurate when viewed from slightly below straight on. Even when viewing it straight on, the colors start to get a bit washed out and it's unusable when viewed from anything above straight on (try flipping it over so the screen's upside-down, and you'll notice the difference).

When using the AA1 on a desk I don't need it opened up all the way. But when using it on a lap, I find that the 3-cell's max angle is optimal.

 

When i tap the top right of my pad i get a right click, when i tap the top left i get a left click. I achieved these settings (and some other things, like Page Down in lower left) using the original drivers that came with my 150.

 

Does that work in Linpus? I couldn't find a way to enable it and I'd like to not have to use the loud touch pad button to right-click.

 

I've just checked and it does with the default configuration, the difference is that left click is bottom left, right click is bottom right.

 

It more like 140 degrees with the 6-cell (I measured also). I'm surprised that the 3-cell doesn't open much more than that. I agree, looking at the screen below the perpendicular is optimal. Too bad they didn't give the lid more swing--seems like it would be such a simple thing.

 

My clinometer puts the angle of the 3-cell, fully open, at 145 degrees. I guess if you own a 6-cell and want to compare then you should full open it, then remove the battery and see how much further it moves, I'm guessing not much at all.

 

I measured again and make it 138 with the battery and 147 without. 160 would have been nice.

 

Yeah that works. Thanks for the tip!

 

there are tap for right click and middle click
right click is about 1/8 inch in from the right on the bottom
middle is about 1/8 inch in from the right on the top

 

Does anyone know if the 6 cell battery will work in my 110? I assume it would as the internals of the 150 and 110 appear to be the same. It would be nice to double the battery life in my 110. Just think 5 hours of heavy use on a single charge. NICE!

Only problem would be where to find one. Any ideas?