The PC industry is having an encouraging and sad discussion.
Some companies that produce and sell computers are considering a way to give people a more accurate idea of how long the batteries in their devices will last.
I know that accuracy and battery life measurements often become the same sentence.
The long-term battery life promised by computer manufacturers never seems to have really happened.
According to Advanced Micro-equipment, the problem with most battery life claims stems from the widespread use of a test called MobileMark 2007.
Patrick Moorhead, vice president of marketing, USAM. D.
, Which indicates that the parameters of this test include that the screen brightness is only 20%, Wi-
The Fi is off and no music, video, game or web pages are running.
Test to more or less turn the computer into a dim-lit clock and then observe how long it can run.
The reliance on a fairly limited mobile mark7 test proved to be disturbing for several reasons.
First of all, these days, people really put their laptops in multitasking, chatting while watching videos and hanging out online.
It would be helpful to have a test that reflects this behavior.
Secondly, we have entered a new era.
The day battery in the laptop claims.
Computer manufacturers believe that customers will pay different prices for computers lasting 4 hours, 8 hours, 16 hours and more.
These customers can use a more detailed and accurate approach to determine if the extra money is worth it.
So, where should PC manufacturers ask for help?
The poster for battery life is the iPhone, sir. Moorhead said.
Apple lists talk times if the phone is connected to a fast 3g data network, 2g talk time, 3g Internet time, Wi-
Fi, video playback time and audio playback time.
This detail is far from being revealed in the PC industry. So far, A. M. D.
I am trying to convince PC manufacturers and retailers to take two battery life measures on the machine: one reflects the MobileMark test and the other shows the duration of the computer when playing games or videos.
Such a change is in. M. D.
Because computers running on Intel chips tend to last longer in mobile mark tests. A. M. D.
Think this is due to the low smartphone
Power Technology, when the chip is not used, it puts a part of the chip into sleep.
Intel is in a good position in this environment because they have optimized their architecture to have a better battery life when the computer is not doing anythingMoorhead said.
For Intel\'s part, Intel urges consumers to look at the various battery life tests provided by gadget reviewers and companies to find out which metrics best match the way they use the machine.
It will be even more encouraging to take better battery measures.
But the PC crowd just seems to be playing with the idea. The most A. M. D.
It can be said that retailers and PC manufacturers are interested in displaying at least two battery life metrics on their machines.
As for creating a test that reflects how people actually use computers?
2010 or 2011, something may come up from a consortium that can be used, SirMoorhead said.
It will take two to three years.
Intel believes that all this is from. M. D.
He said that its competitors have not yet proposed any changes to MobileMark, nor have they proposed a more complete test at the Consortium meeting on the test.
\"From their P. R.
Hard work, it seems that our competitors are very enthusiastic about the topic, \"said Intel spokesman Bill kilcos.
\"We really encourage them to submit any new proposals or edits to the nonprofit industry federation called BAPCo.
\"Obviously, we still have a long way to go before component makers, PC manufacturers or retailers reach out to consumers with a real hand. Mr.
Moorhead said it is in the interest of the technology industry to change this.
Either the industry is self-regulated, or some consumers become grumpy, bring a lawsuit, or F. T. C.
Sir, come in and tell us what to do. Moorhead said.
We like gate one.
Comments are no longer accepted.
I can\'t believe it\'s as difficult to do \"dynamic testing\" as it is to run tests on a laptop automatically \"(
Or anything else)
Pass a variety of tests: multiple apps, videos, music, turn on and off, access to hard drives, etc.
The real solution is to make all kinds of technology blogs and magazines real.
Conduct World road tests on these machines to see how they work.
Not just short-
The term \"benchmark\" test.
Of course, the government has not managed to test the gas mileage accurately (
Although they have improved a little recently;
So, why do the computer industry do this?
The focus should not be on absolute accuracy, but on representation (or several)
Use environment.
Collect and present dissemination of such data :(eg: 2. 5 to 4 hours)
In XYZ test set.
Existing tests (as described)
It\'s lame and even pointless.
\"Gate One\" usually doesn\'t work very well.
Let\'s talk about gate two . . . . . .
\"Or some consumers are grumpy and bring a lawsuit \".
What is needed to prove false advertising cases?
Is it sufficient to prove that the claim is false, or do you have to prove that you have been harmed by these false claims?
Here is my result: Sony Vaio VGN-NR120E.
Bought in October 2007
Battery life: 2 hours on high performance Windows Vista.
Today: The battery will be discharged within 12 minutes and will not be charged.
Thanks to Sony for its excellent products.
I\'m no longer a repeat. It\'s time!
I have three MacBook pro ads at home for up to 7-8 h on battery.
None of them can use the full 2 hour battery for free, even if the power management option is set to \"better energy saving.
\"I took the second door and thought about it.
I\'m tired of the battery that died on me three hours ago as stated in the manual.
The test described here is ridiculous;
They even do so in scandal.
Someone was thinking about me.
This good article lists all the stakeholders of this information platform, consumers who are willing to pay, marketers who are eager to cheat, manufacturers who want to get bragging rights and differentiate specifications.
The real test is whether the number of \"WiFi\" references battery life.
When set to off, the battery life is almost a third longer than when turned on.
We are still trying to be accurate, honest and true.
World Car MPG rating.
For meaningful and accurate battery measurements for laptops and mobile phones, we are likely to wait longer.
When I worked at PC World a few years ago and was in charge of the benchmarking system (
Laptop included)
We designed a simple battery test, ran the hard drive, and did some other simple tasks-it gave us fairly accurate numbers.
It is very trivial to create this test, and it is very trivial to build a better test today.
The reason why laptop vendors don\'t do this is the same as the reason why car vendors advertise completely ridiculous gasoline mileage numbers.
Stupid consumers believe what they read in advertisements (or on boxes).
My rule of thumb is to divide the battery life claim by 4.
The problem with battery life claims to be that lithium-ion batteries are significantly degraded with age.
Out-of-the-box new batteries, like charging for 4 hours, 3 hours after 1 year, 2 hours after 2 years, could be good.
The problem with Li ions is that they don\'t like to keep fully charged.
It kills longevity.
But most computers stay close to 100%.
That\'s why you\'ll see GM\'s Volt in just half of the battery capacity (
Charge to 70% and discharge to 20%).
They want to guarantee 10 years of life.
WiFi should be turned on by any standard, as this is the mode most people use when using batteries.
Another problem with battery life is that Windows is terrible in reporting the remaining battery life.
I \'ve been using BatteryBar, which calculates the remaining time by saving historical data on the time it takes the battery to discharge during normal use.
That way it will tell you the average time your battery is used.
How about the new MacBook Pros?
In fact, they lasted nearly seven hours, and Apple promoted them as \"7-hour wireless productivity \".
Dozens of reviews have confirmed this and finally someone has made progress on battery technology!
Mixed-use and heavy-
At least 15 years of working battery exhaustion testing.
The problem is that consumers don\'t give manufacturers credit for anything other than having the largest possible number, everyone knows.
Even if you try to specify a relatively simple real
World settings, such as playing h in a loop. 264 movie (
DVD rip or Hulu video)
There will be a lot of factors that lead to confusion, such as, which video are you playing and what software are you using?
Two different films may have different bitrates, or the calculations required for decoding are different, thus affecting battery life.
Different Player software can decode more energy
For example, it is more efficient by making better use of graphics chips.
A nice real world test is to play a specific Hulu playlist in the latest version of Adobe Flash Player and Firefox, a test that anyone can copy at home without buying
A few of the many issues that a truly accurate fault test has to worry about: 1)
The brightness of the screen is the battery life knob.
By reducing the brightness to a minimum, you can easily double the battery life.
Are all different computers set to the maximum brightness, half the brightness of their possible range, or are they all set to the same actual brightness as measured on the screen with a light meter?
Different models have different ranges, and if they are all set to maximum brightness, the inherent dim screen will win battery life.
For example, the Macbook Pro with LED backlight, in the case of the same backlight Energy, has more than twice the brightness of many competitors.
Footnoting can choose to hide additional potential battery life for more efficient lighting by running all computers at full brightness, footnoting (or ignoring)
Measure brightness. 2)Temperature.
You can significantly change the running time by warming the computer.
Please note that if you have the computer do a fault test for a period of time, it will be heated regardless of room temperature.
If a computer that has just been turned on starts with a full battery, there will be a downside.
The temperature at which the packaging is pre-charged and stored is also important. 3)
What is still running in the background.
If you want an Apple comparison of Apple hardware, you have to make all the software exactly the same.
On the other hand, punishing manufacturers who have installed a lot of junk software with low battery life is not a bad idea, if all the back office applets delivered from the factory can run out of the battery faster. 4)
Statistical variance.
Batteries delivered from suppliers to computer manufacturers can have /-
If it is not a Capacity Change of 5%, it is 10%.
Of course, there are other differences even if the exact same test is repeated.
Because failure testing takes a long time and takes a few hours to charge and run, it is rarely more than a few times on the same configuration.
The test should go down to the nearest 5-
10 minutes, because it is misleading to be more refined than this. 5)
How old is the battery pack.
Typically, a new package is used on a new hardware for Failure testing.
After several hundred discharge cycles, the battery pack capacity will be reduced to less than half of the original capacity.
Worn out specifications will become disappointing and inaccurate after purchase, unless the user changes the battery pack once a year.
Dan, your review of the latest MacBooks Pro battery lasted only 2 hours, I don\'t believe it, my battery lasted 5 and a half hours, apple claims my MacBook Pro has 7 hours, but in any case, from 7 to 5 and a half hours is very different from what you just said, 2 out of 7 hours
Even my old powerbook g4 battery lasted 2 hours!
So, cmon don\'t talk about the battery of a product that is known to be continuous and reliable.
If your job is not as expected, call Apple to complain.
I found that my Dell battery had enough power to unplug it, so MS power management was disabled.
I believe that rechargeable batteries will work better if they are often challenged by different usage times, discharge times, recharges
Charging time and workload.
I set the battery on 5% alarm, but don\'t do things like shutdown.
I think I might be a little better when deciding when to turn off instead of blue screen MS
Thanks to Scarhawk for pointing out the complex issues involved.
As you pointed out, making comparisons is not as simple as it seems.
To be fair, there are many factors to consider and complex relationships between these factors.
How do you decide what to test?
This seems simple, but resources are used for every task.
You can easily put one user at a disadvantage over the other.
Because of this and all the problems you point out, it is very difficult to put the whole industry in a single standard.
Regardless of their PR, there is an interest in making this standard change at the will of everyone in the industry.
I\'m lucky if my MacBook Pro is fully charged for 15 minutes now (up to 8 hours? known to last? reliable? HA! ).
It\'s two years old, not even the computer I use on a daily basis-very light use.
It\'s just a brick now.
Even if it\'s brand new, I\'m lucky if I have more than 3 hours.
If I had an apple coffee
Will it work magically again?
Hi Lydia, please run if you have extended warranty on your mvp (don’t walk)
Go to the nearest Apple store or call support. My 2 1/2-
There is a 1 year old pml on the 4 th battery and all the batteries are replaced free of charge.
They do some kind of test and if the test shows \"defective\" you get a new battery free of charge.
If you don\'t extend the warranty, don\'t know what they will do.
Hi Horst, I\'m about 80% sure I didn\'t extend the warranty, but I\'ll check to see what they can do for me because it\'s too thin to make a good gate stop.
Thanks for the tip!
Nice to know I\'m not the only one with eth battery issues . . . . . . How about multi-condition test system 1?
In office, run one or two applications in a business environment. 2.
Watch your favorite dvd with a decent graphics card in a home environment. (or blue ray )3.
Typical classroom use
Industrial use backup field data logs for 120 degrees in the Mohave Desert, then rate usage by category and battery life.