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    App to monitor source of battery drain?

    Discussion in 'Apple and Mac OS X' started by kentl901, Nov 19, 2012.

  1. kentl901

    kentl901 Notebook Consultant

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    Is there an app to see where the battery drain is coming from? My smartphone (android) allows me to see the percentage/distribution of battery drain between hardware and software.

    One reason for this is because I'm debating whether it's worth it to upgrade my HDD to a SSD.

    Thanks!
     
    kentl901, Nov 19, 2012
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  2. masterchef341

    masterchef341 The guy from The Notebook

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    SSD drives aren't going to dramatically improve your battery life. They might help slightly - a few minutes of runtime. However, they do provide many benefits for laptop users aside from battery life. They have no moving parts and aren't affected by motion, which is a notorious problem for normal hard drives in laptops. They are also silent (hard drives can be loud), and the performance is very good compared to a normal hard drive. I would consider if these other factors are important to you.
     
    masterchef341, Nov 19, 2012
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  3. kentl901

    kentl901 Notebook Consultant

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    Thanks for the input. I agree with everything you said. I'm just trying to decide if I should spend fairly little money (less than $100) for a good drive or just making a splurge.. Ahh.. the dilemma..

    Thanks!
     
    kentl901, Nov 19, 2012
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  4. saturnotaku

    saturnotaku Notebook Nobel Laureate

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    I've gone back and forth between an SSD and regular HDD, and once you've sampled the SSDs performance, it is virtually impossible to go back. The SSD won't make a big difference for battery life. The major improvements come in the form of system responsiveness. If you don't want to spend too much on the SSD, I'm selling one in the Marketplace here, along with an adapter that would allow you to take your existing hard drive and put it in your optical bay. Put the OS and applications on the SSD and music/videos/data on the hard drive. Speed and capacity all in one.

    http://forum.notebookreview.com/com...data-doubler-similar-optibay-macbook-pro.html

    Send me a PM if you're interested.
     
    saturnotaku, Nov 20, 2012
    #4