2011 mbp, runtime in Win7?

Hey guys,

I just bought a new mbp15" (high end). I was about to install Win7 to play with, but I figured I'd see if it's worth it. About how much run time are you getting in Windows since Apple doesn't let you use the integrated gpu (Which I think is extremely stupid.. especially for sandy bridge). Just trying to get a feeler if I should install it or not. Thanks

 

why do you need Win7? If you just want to play around with it... you can try a virtual machine. Normally people only boot directly into Windows 7 if they have something like a game thats graphically intensive, in which case you'd need the GPU on anyways. Most things that don't need the GPU run great in a virtual machine.

 

Well, for the most part it's things I can do within a VM, namely running software for programming chips / eeproms as well as running some advanced OBD logging software. Not saying I wouldn't mind playing some games in Windows, I just don't know where it would stand run-time wise, which was the purpose of this post.

 

Dont dodge the answer.
I'd like to know what the Windows runtime is as well.

I am currently waiting on the release of the Sandy Bridge refreshed HP Envy 14, as it is basically the PC counterpart of the MBP. A comparison on how the MBP hardware compares to the Envy14, in terms of battery life w/ discrete GPU active, would be beneficial to helping me make my decision.

The main reasons that i would consider purchasing a MBP would be for the ginormous battery, GPU, and overall build quality. The fact that OSX would have to be present to use the IGP, would necessitate me to use it when not doing things like gaming, but I'd be willing to make that step if the Windows battery life was sufficient.

Ya see, the problem here is that i view OSX as an opportunity, not a necessity. I view OSX as power efficient, while Windows is process efficient. That is to say, I'll get better battery life with OSX, but I can run any game or compute intensive application faster in Windows. (This mostly has to do with the industry's investment in APIs such as DirectX, as compared to OpenGL. Proprietary products get more attention than open-source.)

I like gaming. I also do a fair amount of number crunching (MATLAB). I already have a ton of Windows applications that I use regularly. There is way more Windows software out there, that I can acquire freely. Windows is, in fact, more secure, assuming it is kept updated. And lastly, when the machine inevitably slows down due to age, there are by *FAR* *WAAAAAY* more tuneup/cleanup tools out there. I was able to hold onto my Dell 600m for 7 years because of this last bit. My dad still uses it to this day, and it is actually faster than the day I purchased it due to a number of personal optimizations.

Now, if Apple (or anybody) decided to release a Bootcamp Windows Graphics driver that enabled some basic form of graphics switching with the MBP hardware, I'd purchase a MBP in a heartbeat. I'd even start using OSX to take advantage of the battery efficiency.

But Apple being Apple, that will likely never happen. They would never allow full Windows power efficiency (even if it is second rate) on their own hardware. It would be too much of a risk for them because Apple fears being reduced to being a hardware vendor, in the way that IBM, Dell, HP, Asus, etc., are.

 

I agree with everything you just said here.

I was/am literally seconds away from purchasing a maxed out 15" 2011MBP.

The guy in the back was about to grab one for me when I decided to just think a second more and eat my lunch while I think about it.

I use all OS's (Win/OSX/Linux) every day and they all have their good/bad points.

I am really thinking about walking back to the store (unversity) and just grabbing it then dealing with the lower battery life in windows until either someone comes along with a hack or I just get used to rebooting into OSX when I know I will need better battery life.

If I do, I will have to figure out if I want to keep my HP 8540W order (should arrive sometime at the end of this month) of if I should cancel it.

I hope someone can come up the the Win7 battery run time soon before I drop the cash again.

D.

 

Hiya, I booted into Win7 and my battery time says 2:35 remaining (78% left) just sitting at the desktop. In OSX I think it was about 6 hours or so remaining when I last shut down. I can try running a program and seeing what the estimated time left is too if this doesn't help.

edit: this was with full screen brightness and backlit keyboard

 

Try Batterybar for Windows, it should give a good estimate.