Need some vista-xp battery info

zeke_mo

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Has anybody used a laptop running XP and then switched to Vista? If so, how does the battery life compare?
 
There were some initial problems. Energy conservation functions stopped working, fans ran full speed all the time, etc.

I have not heard anything lately. Check the FAQs at your manufacturers website before doing an upgrade. New drivers, etc. may be required.

If you plan on using the Vista "Eye Candy" desktops expect battery life to drop since Vista desktops use power hungry 3D video accellerators while XP desktop uses 2D graphcs.

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=laptop+battery+life+with+vista
 
I was using XP on my Tablet until January before I upgraded it to Vista. The battery life is somewhat similar, with XP being a little better.

I switch to the "Power Saver" scheme in Vista when I'm on battery - besides clocking down the CPU/GPU, that also makes the glass window-borders opaque, but doesn't disable Aero completely, so it's a nice balance.
 
I see, I just got my laptop a few days ago and I was wondering if I could get some more time from the battery if I went back to XP, but it seems like it wouldnt be worth reinstalling and what not. Thanks for the info.
 
Zeke You may be able to get some more battery time by optimizing the Vista laptop settings like Netryder said.

Also check the FAQs to make sure there are no driver quirks. Things like the fan on all the time, etc.

Is the battery life really disappointing or do you just want more life out of it?
 
I have an IBM and Vista and XP were just about the same. I did not notice any difference.

I like vista on how to change the power settings quickly.
 
Zeke You may be able to get some more battery time by optimizing the Vista laptop settings like Netryder said.

Also check the FAQs to make sure there are no driver quirks. Things like the fan on all the time, etc.

Is the battery life really disappointing or do you just want more life out of it?

I checked the settings and nothing I changed really give me that much of a boost, I think the most I saw was 10 mins. But drivers are vista are young, so we will see :)


I have an IBM and Vista and XP were just about the same. I did not notice any difference.

I like vista on how to change the power settings quickly.

I was impressed with the amount of settings there were, way more power management than xp.
 
Zeke

I saw 2 laptops today cheap enough I might buy one. One has a 4 cell battery the other has a 6 cell battery. I like the one with the 4 cell better but...

Can you check how many cells your laptop battery has or post the laptop model number. I'm suspecting the 4 cell batteries really suck (I've seen 9 cells on some better laptops) and I wanted to see which you had for comparison.

One reviewer said the four cell won't last 2 hours. So your battery life input and number of cells is of immediate interest to me.
 
Zeke

I saw 2 laptops today cheap enough I might buy one. One has a 4 cell battery the other has a 6 cell battery. I like the one with the 4 cell better but...

Can you check how many cells your laptop battery has or post the laptop model number. I'm suspecting the 4 cell batteries really suck (I've seen 9 cells on some better laptops) and I wanted to see which you had for comparison.

One reviewer said the four cell won't last 2 hours. So your battery life input and number of cells is of immediate interest to me.

Its a Sager 6630 with these specs:
15.4" WXGA (1280x800) TFT Active Matrix w/Intel® GMA950 w/up to 224MB DDR Memory
Intel® Core™2 Duo T7400 2.16GHz Processor w/4M L2 Cache - 667MHz FSB
2,048MB (2 SODIMMS) DDR2/667 Dual Channel Memory
80GB SATA/150 Hard Drive at 7,200 RPM
Combo 8x8x6x4x Dual Layer DVD +/-R/RW 5x DVD-RAM 24x CD-R/RW Drive w/Softwares
4-in-1 Memory Card Reader (MS/MSPRO/SD/MMC)
Built-in Intel® PRO/Wireless 3945 802.11a/b/g
Built-in Bluetooth Wireless
6-cell Smart Li-ion Battery
Windows Vista Premium - (64-Bit installed - 64 and 32-bit CD included)
Those are my specs and I get roughly 2hrs of battery life, so really it depends on hardware. What two computers are you looking at exactly?
 
It was these but with you getting 2 hrs on a 6 cell battery I can forget the 4 cell toshiba.

Your computer will use more power (more toys, faster CPU, faster HD, 4x the memory, and Premium w/Aero) so I should get 2.5, maybe 3 hours. I suspect these would not handle Premium w/Aero. And having just reviewed what few features you get with Vista Home vs XP I'm not sure I even want Vista Home on either of these laptops.

Toshiba A135-S2246
http://www.officedepot.com/ddSKU.do?...Ne=6&An=browse
Compas Presario C552US
http://www.officedepot.com/ddSKU.do?...Ne=6&An=browse

I think I'll stick the laptop idea back on the shelf for a while.
 
It was these but with you getting 2 hrs on a 6 cell battery I can forget the 4 cell toshiba.

Your computer will use more power (more toys, faster CPU, faster HD, 4x the memory, and Premium w/Aero) so I should get 2.5, maybe 3 hours. I suspect these would not handle Premium w/Aero. And having just reviewed what few features you get with Vista Home vs XP I'm not sure I even want Vista Home on either of these laptops.

Toshiba A135-S2246
http://www.officedepot.com/ddSKU.do?...Ne=6&An=browse
Compas Presario C552US
http://www.officedepot.com/ddSKU.do?...Ne=6&An=browse

I think I'll stick the laptop idea back on the shelf for a while.

Im sure the computers are designed differently, so I would ask around at these forums. And I'm sure that they would run vista just fine. Sorry it took so long to reply, I forgot to check back :(
 
Turns out they were both inadequate based on battery life and sluggishness with Vista Basic. I found some forums with complaints about battery life on those machines (less than the time to watch a DVD) and an article about a class action suit against MS for certifying Hardware as Vista ready when all it will do is poorly run Vista Home.

So I went back to tthe store to run winsat to get a performance check and the store had it passworded out.

I've dropped the laptop idea for now. Thanks for getting back though.
 

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