Miscellaneous laptop discussions : Battery life for new HP laptops
Battery life for new HP laptops
by abe-tolentino - 1/17/08 5:06 PMI am in the process of evaluating new laptops to replace my ancient (almost 6 years) and very pokey Compaq.
I have pretty much narrowed my decision to one of 3 HP Pavillion models. The main difference between two of them is the size of the battery. The DV2727 has a 12-cell battery listed as lasting over 4 hours. The DV2715 has a 6-cell battery listed as lasting 3 hours. Both are 1.67GHz dual cores with a 14.1" screen and integrated Intel graphics. Then there is the DV6757 that has all the same features as the 27xx models, but with a 15.4" screen, discrete 256MB NVidia graphics, and HDMI out (but no high-def drive). The 6757 has a 6-cell battery. All systems have the same 1280x800 display. The 27xx systems use a 65W AC adapter and the 6757 uses a 90W adapter.
What I'd like to know is if a larger screen and/or discrete graphics will drain the battery considerably more than if I got a laptop with a 14.1" screen. This will be my work computer, I plan to use the system mostly for office work rather than gaming and watching movies.
Thanks for your help!
You're onto them.
by R. Proffitt
- 1/17/08 6:39 PM
In reply to: Battery life for new HP laptops by abe-tolentino
As the screen size goes up or down so does the power requirement to run them. You also can affect the run time by selecting bigger or small WATT HOURS batteries.
No one seems to share the old tips on how to get good battery life. So without reservation here's a few.
1. Don't skimp or go nuts on RAM. Try 1GB for XP, 2GB for Vista.
2. Turn down the screen brightness.
3. Have the screen turn off in 2 minutes when not in use.
4. Take control of the CPU speed. Lock it to it's lowest when on battery power.
5. No gaming while on battery power.
Good hunting.
Bob
One more thought
by abe-tolentino - 1/18/08 5:10 AM In reply to: You're onto them. by R. Proffitt
I know that laptop manufacturers try to optimize (within reason) their systems for the battery they ship with, but would a dual core machine (which all of the HPs I am looking at are -- T5450s) use more or less battery power than a single core machine.
On one hand, I would expect it to use less battery power because the voltage requirements for new procs is lower, but also because two cores can share the load of a demanding task, as opposed to a single core that has to run under full load longer.
On the other hand, there are two cores working, as opposed to one, so wouldn't they drain more juice combined?
It's all so confusing; I probably shouldn't wait 6 years between computer purchases...
Less.
by R. Proffitt - 1/18/08 6:06 AM
In reply to: One more thought by abe-tolentino
The newer dual core CPU have more tricks than your old dog. You may find naysayers but the brutal truth is not hard to find.
Hope this helps,
Bob
Too Much Memory?
by PhotoAnimal - 1/19/08 5:28 AM In reply to: You're onto them. by R. Proffitt
I'm a firm believer that you want to max out the memory on whatever laptop you buy. By maxing out memory, you are minimizing the amount of disk usage, one of the main components of battery usage.
What are you using your laptop for? If you are looking at a workstation replacement, you will pay a price in battery life but performance is a necessary evil. (Especially if you want your computer to be useful for years to come.) If you are just using it occassionaly for bringing work with you, look at some of the newer models with ram-drives. Without having to power a motor, these drives are much lower power consumers but in general are smaller and more expensive.
I've found that keeping the display at as low a brightness as you are comfortable with will significantly affect battery life.
Why we pause at 2.0 GB today.
by R. Proffitt - 1/19/08 7:42 AM
In reply to: Too Much Memory? by PhotoAnimal
Most versions of Windows today limit application space to 2.0GB.
Here's a link about the 2.0 GB issue and Windows XP -> http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=xp+2.0+gb+ram+limit
This discussion is about battery life so armed with that issue and that Vista, XP have little (less than a percent in tests) over 2.0 GB we can pause at 2.0 today.
If I did jump to 3 or 4 then I've increased my memory's power requirements without a reduction in less disk accesses.
Bob
Why we pause at 2.0 GB today.
by PhotoAnimal - 1/19/08 11:59 AM In reply to: Why we pause at 2.0 GB today. by R. Proffitt
For most HP laptops, I think 2 Gig is the max. The last 3 I've bought only will allow 2 SODIMM modules with 1 Gig max/ each. I would not run Vista with less than 2 Gigs. The last time I tried with 1 gig its performance was painfull.
I've wrestled with the laptop question myself. If I were on an airplane, 15.4 is too large, I'd opt for an 11". I finally came to the conclusion that I really don't get much real work done on a plane so the screen size issue was eliminated. I opted for a 17" laptop because I find it much easier on the eyes and it has a real 101 key keyboard which is very useful for numerical entry. I've also found Battery life to be a non-issue. Most places have a place to plug in. For those rare instances that it becomes an issue, I bought one of the larger batteries as a second battery and use it when needed.
Battery
by Drummer102 - 1/19/08 12:07 PM In reply to: Why we pause at 2.0 GB today. by PhotoAnimalIf you do not care about price that much look at the HP Pavilion dv2700t because with a 12 cell batter it says 7 hours. Look on the HP web site.
Bob suggested to me
by PudgyOne - 1/17/08 7:47 PM In reply to: Battery life for new HP laptops by abe-tolentinoto use this program
http://www.diefer.de/speedswitchxp/
Unknown when, HP is teaming up with Sonata. The batteries are suppose to last for sometime.
More on the post here.
http://forums.cnet.com/5208-6620_102-0.html?forumID=44&threadID=278707
Rick
Batterly life measures
by hogan - 1/19/08 1:18 AM In reply to: Battery life for new HP laptops by abe-tolentinoIf you use apps on your pc, then it will drain the battery. A larger screen will make more demands because there are more pixels to update on the screen but the main thing that drains the power is the processor, then the lighting for the screen (this won't be much different for laptop size screens).
Check the battery life on the spec with the unit, this is the best measure of its capability.
You will have noticed that you get better performance when plugged into the mains anyway and if you want to save power, you are better off using mains power directly when possible and don't leave your batter to charge all the time.
battery life is hard to come by
by vewert - 1/19/08 6:18 AM In reply to: Batterly life measures by hoganI've had my HP for a year and two months and so far so good its still as fast as the day I bought it. However, the battery life is not as good as some competitors like for instance the macbook boasts 5 hours of battery life but technically I've heard gets around 3.5 hours. This HP after a year with the same battery gets almost 2 hours with brightness turned down and all the tricks. I wonder if its time to opt for a new battery myself to increase work time while on the go.
Any advice on getting a new battery or not?
battery life!!
by rester - 1/19/08 7:05 AM In reply to: battery life is hard to come by by vewertafter all these years of cutting everything down to a minimum while running on battery power things have not improved much.i have finally solved the problem.get a auto power supply,plugs into a cigar lighter plug.then hook it up to an 8D battery,available at any auto store.you can then run at full bore for about a week.just get a cart with wheels to move around.:-)
Battery Life and Screen Size
by matt614 - 1/19/08 8:03 AM In reply to: Battery life for new HP laptops by abe-tolentinoIf both screens offer the same resolution and that is the only difference, the power drain between a 14.1 and a 15.4 should be negligable. The real question should be, is 3 or 4 hours of battery life really what you consider good?
I have used a Motion Computing Tablet PC for two years. I routinely get 7 - 9 hours of battery life. Even with the extra battery it has attached (like 5 mm thick at most), it weighs in at well under 5 pounds. You can use it just like a laptop, using the excellent bluetooth keyboard and mouse, plus the advantage of being able to actually use it like a note pad and many other features. Also consider Dell and Sony, which are, at least in my opinion, far superior.
14.1 vs. 15.4 I see about 18 percent more power.
by R. Proffitt - 1/19/08 8:42 AM
In reply to: Battery Life and Screen Size by matt614
That's hardly insignificant.
14.1 is about 100 square inches
15.4 is about 118 square inches
If we keep the lumen output the same in both screens...
Try not to be bright.
by morrie 52 - 1/20/08 6:02 AM In reply to: Battery life for new HP laptops by abe-tolentinoJust thought that you should keep screen brightness down as much as possible,as my Samsung 46" when used with default settings user 260 watts,but with my settings users 85 watts,so you can see that power savings can be quite large so long as you have a comfortable setting?
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