Vista's Aero Sucking Notebook Batteries Dry? May 5, 2007
Read more Laptops , Portable Media , Software
You think a feature named after a chocolate bar filled with air bubbles would be lighter on power consumption, but no.
It’s hardly surprising that Vista, which sports a new 3-D user interface called Aero, should be a little heavy on the juice in notebooks. However, reports are continuing to arrive that say Vista with Aero enabled, hoovers up battery power like a coke addict. Microsoft disagrees but, a HP notebook engineer has commented: “It’s a little scary”, over at ZDNet, and as a result HP has implemented its own battery saving tweaks to keep customers happy.
Of course, you don’t have to have Aero running but then that’s like buying a really cool HDTV and only ever watching standard-def telly. IDC points out reasonably that battery life also took a kick in the nads when Windows and Windows XP first appeared on notebooks, but that things improved over time.
Have you tried the Vista mobile experience and if so, how’s that working out for you? Let us know.- Martin Lynch
Editor and Contributor | Martin Lynch
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Comments
I have a hp laptop with both windows xp and vista ultimate in it.
I can run Windows xp for around 2.30 hour but with vista just around 1.50 hrs
I can make its run longer if i reduced the screen light, or by turning off the aero feature.
anyways with the updates I think Vista is getting better
I'm using a Samsung Q35 (12.1" screen) and my battery life on Vista is roughly 4 hours. This is with Aero turned off, wifi on, processor throttling and moderate back light with casual use. I'm happy enough with battery life although I did try to compare Kubuntu 7.04 with Vista when it came to battery life but I couldn't stand not having Aero for so long - I guess Microsoft is winning in that department! Aside, its a very useable OS.
I am running Vista Ultimate (and Office 2007) on a Lenovo X60s with the larger 8 cell battery.
Under Windows XP, mainly whilst doing email and browsing the web, I used to get around 6 hours (genuine not theoretical) life out of a full charge.
Under Vista it appears that I get slightly less, at around 5 and a bit hours. But it is worth it!
Batteries for laptops have a unique challenge - they must be small and lightweight. In fact, the laptop battery should be invisible to the user and deliver enough power to endure a five-hour flight from Toronto to Vancouver.