Question from Charlene: My friend bought a new Dell laptop a couple of months ago but she hates it because she can’t get used to Windows 10.
She went and found another laptop with Windows 8.1 on it and she offered to sell me the one with Windows 10 for half what she paid for it.
The problem is the screen dims every time you unplug the charger and I’m afraid something might be wrong with it. She says it’s normal for a laptop to dim the screen when the charger is unplugged, but my old laptop never did that.
I have two questions for you. First, do you think something’s wrong with this laptop, or is this normal?
And second, if there’s something wrong with it, will Dell fix it for me under the warranty even though I’m not the person that bought it?
Rick’s answer: I have great news for you Charlene. There’s absolutely nothing wrong with the Dell laptop, and if your friend is willing to sell it to you for half what she paid for it, I’d take that deal in a heartbeat since it’s only two months old.
The Dell’s screen dims when the charger is unplugged because its “On Battery” power plan is set to dim the screen in order to conserve the battery charge.
You can easily change the power plan to prevent the screen from dimming if you wish. That will make it easier to read the screen, but you’ll have to charge the battery more often.
To do that, simply search for Power Options and navigate to the”On battery” settings screen. Once there, disable the Dim the display setting.
I hope this helps Charlene. Good luck!
Bonus tip: This post explains why you need a surge protector for your laptop.
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