Notebook Power saving....

[bharatwaja]

I was thinking, since all the components and ports of a notebook require power flowing through them, even when they are not in use, is it possible to turn off the ports, like, for eg, Can I turn off the HDMI port when I am not using it? Same possible with Ethernet port?

And how to do it? Does disabling the ports in Device Manager turn off the power flow to them or if not, is there any way to do it?

That would result in atleast a minimal increase in battery life right?

 

[NitrouseXpress60]

I disabled my parallel port and 56k modem through device manager. I haven't seen a noticeable increase in battery life, if it even effects it.

 

[bharatwaja]

I guessed that much, but I want to know, if disabling it in the Device Manager shuts off power to the port or not....?

 

[FleshLight]

Yeah, it does. But if nothing is plugged in, the power savings are negligible.

 

[aceO07]

Yes, disabling ports will save power. It saves me about ~0.6-0.8w when I disable dual monitor support on my laptop. When it disabled, my laptop hovers around 7.3-7.5w. When it's enabled, it's using about 8w. That's the power usage with screen (lowest level) and wireless on while web browsing.

I haven't tried disabling usb ports, but I think they automatically go into power saving mode anyways.

 

[bharatwaja]

0.6 to 0.8w? Approximately, in terms of battery life? say 20 to 30 mins? or is it too much of an estimate? 10 mins wud be appropriate?

 

[herm0016]

Originally posted by: bharatwaja
0.6 to 0.8w? Approximately, in terms of battery life? say 20 to 30 mins? or is it too much of an estimate? 10 mins wud be appropriate?

probably more like 1 or 2 min.

 

[bharatwaja]

Pretty much useless then.... i'm looking to improve the battery life on my U330, so far I can get about 3hrs and 30 min at 3/10 brightness, wifi and bluetooth off max power saving mode..... If i could get 30 more mins, I can get through one day of classes in college.... I doubt I can get anymore that this by the look of things...

 

[IlllI]

to improve the battery life = get a bigger battery

 

[bharatwaja]

Originally posted by: clandren
to improve the battery life = get a bigger battery

I would if I there is a 9-cell battery for the U330, If there is one, I cant find it anywhere....

But the main reason for me getting the U330 was its mobility, getting a 9-cell throws that outta the window...

 

[996GT2]

Originally posted by: bharatwaja

Originally posted by: clandren
to improve the battery life = get a bigger battery

I would if I there is a 9-cell battery for the U330, If there is one, I cant find it anywhere....

But the main reason for me getting the U330 was its mobility, getting a 9-cell throws that outta the window...

Does the U330 have an Ultrabay?

On most Thinkpads, you can remove the DVD drive from the Ultrabay and hot-swap in a second 4 cell battery or second hard drive. Can you do something similar on an Ideapad?

FWIW I get about 6 hours of battery life in my Thinkpad T61 using both the Ultrabay battery and the 9 cell.

 

[bharatwaja]

I am looking into this now, AFAIK there is no ultrabay in the U330... But I am checking now just to make sure.... Also does anyone know if there is a 9-cell battery for the U330? I can't find one anywhere.

 

[Parasitic]

Turning down the backlighting on your screen is probably going to result in the most amount of power savings. Did you also try to use programs like RMClock to customize SpeedStep settings?

 

[aceO07]

Originally posted by: bharatwaja
0.6 to 0.8w? Approximately, in terms of battery life? say 20 to 30 mins? or is it too much of an estimate? 10 mins wud be appropriate?

Probably 10 minutes for me My laptop does around 2hrs since it's old battery and only 65-70% full charge. It only averages 8watts, so saving even 0.5w helps. Of course if your laptops uses more power to begin with, then saving that 0.5w might not be noticeable.

Originally posted by: Parasitic
Turning down the backlighting on your screen is probably going to result in the most amount of power savings. Did you also try to use programs like RMClock to customize SpeedStep settings?

Yup, what Parasitic said. Use RMClock to squeeze the most out of your cpu. Also use it to undervolt your cpu if you got the time and don't mind try it. Set the screen to be the lowest if you can bare it.

On the thinkpad's power management program, there is an option to squeeze battery life. I think I might get 20 minutes extra out of it if I enabled it. I have never tried it, but that I think that's what time it quotes me. It's really for emergencies or extra long unexpected meetings since you wouldn't want to use the laptop like that normally. Everything is set to max power save and sleep if inactive more often.

 

[aceO07]

I'm trying out the battery 'stretch' option on my thinkpad. My power usage for a core2duo drops to around 7.8w and increases as needed. Quoted time is 6 to 7hours. Of course this is depending on what I'm doing on it at the current time (I re-enabled wireless to make this post.).

It does the following:
minimize screen brightness
turn off display after 30 seconds of idle
decrease video color quality
disable wireless radios
disable optical drives
mute audio

 

[bharatwaja]

I have reduced the screen brightness further and keep the wifi off while in class (now that helps me concentrate in classes too!)... has increased battery life by about 45 mins to 1 hour, depending on the amout I spend online (with wifi on)......... so as of now I can get through a whole day in college....

But I still can't find a 9-cell for the Ideapad U330...

 

[Parasitic]

May be time to undervolt the processor. I'm sure that the Atom is already fairly low in consumption, but it doesn't hurt to try RMClock.

 

[bharatwaja]

Originally posted by: Parasitic
May be time to undervolt the processor. I'm sure that the Atom is already fairly low in consumption, but it doesn't hurt to try RMClock.

ATOM??

 

[BlueAcolyte]

Originally posted by: bharatwaja

Originally posted by: Parasitic
May be time to undervolt the processor. I'm sure that the Atom is already fairly low in consumption, but it doesn't hurt to try RMClock.

ATOM??

I lol'd... In his sig, it say's its a new-gen C2D (TDP 25w). There was an undervolting guide on this forum at some point. Search for it.

 

[bharatwaja]

I saw that guide on notebookreview a while back, i tried it, but couldn't get much extra battery life out of it.