[TriLUG] Laptop battery life comparison: Windows vs. Linux

[Mike Mueller]

On Thursday 08 January 2004 21:40, Phillip Rhodes wrote:
> Ok, Mike Mueller had asked a question on this subject a while
> back, <snip>
> So, my very unscientific, semi-empirical experience is that
> the battery life is almost identical between Windows and
> Linux.
>
> Mike, hope this helps..

It does.  I've been running my Toshiba A35-S159 all day (10am-10pm) in XP 
mode editing a spreadsheet of definitions for a client.  I'm at 38% juice 
remaining.  The controls are set for Normal use.  The standby mode is pretty 
good.  What this tells me is that the Toshiba ACPI is pretty good.  It's 
power conservation is a perfect fit for my ADD-style of working. 

I just got Knoppix loaded on the machine and I am still in the process of 
tweaking it. I am not yet to the point of investigating ACPI under Linux.  My 
research tells me that it's getting closer to Mac and XP charge management 
capabilities, but you have to use 2.6 and possibly roll your own kernel.  
Emma Jane Hogbin has recently written a nice HOWTO on the subject from a 
Debian perspective.

When I get email running on the Linux partition I'll be able to get a good 
long Linux run on the battery and I'll see how APM/Linux stacks up to 
ACPI/XP.  I'll post results here.

Thanks Phil.
-- 
Mike Mueller
324881 (08/20/2003)
Make clockwise circles with your right foot. 
Now use your right hand to draw the number "6" in the air.