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Re: [LUG] Ultra Mobile Laptop Power Rating Research

 

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Gordon Henderson wrote:
> On Sat, 14 Feb 2009, tom wrote:
> 
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>> I'm doing a little bit of research into the power consumption ratings on
>> the power supplies for different makes and models of Ultra Mobile
>> Laptops (Acer Aspire One's, Asus Eee's etc).
>>
>> I have a Aspire One (Model ZG5) which according to the power supply is
>> rated  19V 1.58A  = 30.02 Watts. It got me thinking that 30Watts still
>> seemed quite high, although my model does have a 120Gb mini HDD, so I
>> want to compare different models and configurations.
> 
> Remember that you may need up to double the power when it needs to charge 
> the battery.
> 
> With my AAO... (8GB flash drive)...
> 
> On my meter - charging, not turned on, it's currently taking 20W
> 
> I turned it on and it peaked to 28W, then settled down to .. 27W. (Clock 
> speed is now 800MHz, Wi-Fi is ON) However I don't know how much of those 
> 27W is now going to the battery - I'll need to wait until it's charged..
> 
> My PSU, like yours is rated at 30W, so it's running pretty near flat-out.
> 
> Running burnBX, the clock speed goes up to 1.6GHz, but it's still only 
> consuming 27W.
> 
> Even running up compiz and doing a lot of 3D screen rotations, it's stable 
> at 27W. Other benchmarks didn't change it.
> 
> I'll wait an hour until it's charged and let you know what it drops down 
> to.
> 
>>>From my own measurements on other Intel Atom systems, varying the 
> clock-speed does virtually nothing to help the power consumption - the CPU 
> itself is fanless. The Fan is on the graphics/northgridge chip unit )-:
> 
>> PS if you own an Acer (like me) you will need either very good eye
>> sight, or a strong magnifying glass (in my case) to read the ratings. I
>> guess Im getting old now ;-)
> 
> Just remember that the ratings don't say how much it actually uses. You 
> need a meter for that.
> 
> (Abd I could read it just fine... with my reading glasses on!)
> 
> Gordon
> 
> 

I got pretty much the same with my plug in power monitor, between 24 -
27  Watts  and very occasional peaks of 30 + Watts, while charging going
down to a range between 16 - 19 Watts when the battery was fully charged.

Interestingly my old laptop would range between 70 - 90 Watts while
charging and between 50 - 70 when charged. I think something must be up
with the battery because even when its fully charged it draws 7 Watts
switched off. Ouch..... Really must dicipline myself better to turn
things off when they are not in use.

The next question is how much of that is being lost through the
transformer. My old laptop transformer get pretty hot so I would guess
quite a bit. The acer transformer also gets hot but not so much.

My current configuration at home includes a 2Ghz P4 with 19"
conventional CRT. An old P1 for by ipcop box and another P1 for my
mailserver. Although the above configuration is all recycled kit (apart
from my laptop and the other half's Aspire One). I'm saving on landfill
but probably not running at peak fuel economy :-(

The search for something greener continues .......

Tom.
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