[ngalbrai]

Laptop - Dell M1330 4gb/200gb/2.2Ghz/128 MB Geforce 8400M GS

Playing DVDs on Windows Media player (and tested on Realplayer) on laptop running from battery all fine for a few mins then screen goes blank and systems doesn't respond to anything, have to do a reboot.

Running on mains is fine.

So, suspected some sort of Vista power management "feature" thats gone awry?

Using "high performance" with all power saving (HD, Display etc) settings turned off it still happens?

Very frustrating as one of the reasons for getting the laptop was to watch DVDs on the go...

Any ideas/suggestions?

[floppybootstomp]

Is there power still left in the battery after the screen goes blank? I would assume there is as you say you have to do a reboot and I'm again assuming it boots back into Vista on battery power.

If the battery is flat however then it would seem it can't supply enough current to play DVD's on the laptop.

How old is the battery? It may need replacing.

The fact DVD movies play ok on mains power does indicate the battery can't supply enough current for that function.

Have you tried shutting down all background processes, anti-virus etc? That may help.