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    Horrible battery life with Windows 8 and Zenbook UX32VD

    Discussion in 'Asus' started by Aryanenzo, Dec 31, 2012.

  1. Aryanenzo

    Aryanenzo Notebook Enthusiast

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    After installing windows 8 and all windows 8 drivers provided by Asus for the Zenbook drivers I noticed that my battery life has reduced by an entire hour, i've tested this and the OS is absolutely eating through the battery. I'm getting roughly 3 hours and 30min on min screen brightness just browsing the web, I used to get 4 hours and 30 min or so. I've already checked if Optimus has the Nvidia card on, but it doesn't, it's off.

    Has anyone else had this experience with Windows 8?

    Edit: batterybar is giving me roughly -10,500 mw discharge rate with capacity of 44,000 mW and 10% Battery wear after 6 months of use. The lowst i can get the discharge rate to go with lowest brightness, wifi off, 0% cpu or disk, is -7500 mW
     
    Aryanenzo, Dec 31, 2012
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  2. Prostar Computer

    Prostar Computer Company Representative

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    Possibly bad battery capacitors. 10% after 6 months isn't exactly egregious, but it's a little steep. The OS shouldn't cause increased wear beyond what's typical. You might need to consider a replacement battery from Asus.
     
    Prostar Computer, Dec 31, 2012
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  3. golfisheagle

    golfisheagle Newbie

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    Could this be due to the way the charging plan has the battery charge to 100% vs. 80% capacity? Thus increasing battery wear? The run down does seem to be faster than normal. I read somewhere the battery is 45w and the original zenbook had a 50w? Optimus driver updates?
     
    golfisheagle, Dec 31, 2012
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  4. Aryanenzo

    Aryanenzo Notebook Enthusiast

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    Well now it's telling me 9%. I should mention I've done a lot of gaming, demanding games like Battlefield 3, Just Cause 2 etc, frequently and obviously the laptop has got pretty hot.

    The main thing is that I'm getting 40-50min less battery life than I did with Windows 7
     
    Aryanenzo, Dec 31, 2012
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  5. Prostar Computer

    Prostar Computer Company Representative

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    I believe modern power management delivers a trickle charge once the battery reaches 100% capacity, so overcharging it is not much of a concern.

    OP: are you gaming on battery or on the adapter?
     
    Prostar Computer, Dec 31, 2012
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  6. Aryanenzo

    Aryanenzo Notebook Enthusiast

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    I am gaming with the adapter.
     
    Aryanenzo, Dec 31, 2012
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  7. Cedricm

    Cedricm Notebook Consultant

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    Did you install on a blank partition with a completely new install or did you do an in-place upgrade? If the latter perhaps you have an incompatible software / driver?
    You may want to check/try another power profile such as power saver.
    If you don't need flash or if the IE Metro flash support is enough for you you should use IE Metro, if memory serves well it was benchmarked to be the less power hungry browser on Windows 8.
     
    Cedricm, Jan 1, 2013
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  8. Prostar Computer

    Prostar Computer Company Representative

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    Check your running processes and CPU/GPU utilization. I'd like to know what it is that's sucking up energy resources so much as well.
     
    Prostar Computer, Jan 2, 2013
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  9. mares927

    mares927 Notebook Enthusiast

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    I'm experiencing similar problem and I think, it's because of the power plans. When I change it (for example maximum processor state to 60%) it switches back after few minutes. Can power plan be changed in registry to ensure, it won't change back?
     
    mares927, Jan 20, 2013
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  10. ragwo

    ragwo Notebook Enthusiast

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    The reason for the CPU governor reset is a bug in Asus' Touchpad software. You'll need to use driver 11.5.0.9 or later.
    http://support.asus.com/Download.aspx?SLanguage=en&m=Touchpad&os=30
    You can also use the latest touchpad software for Samsung Np-900 x3c.

    More info in the UX32VD thread
    http://forum.notebookreview.com/asus-reviews-owners-lounges/680787-asus-ux32vd-owners-lounge-83.html#post9045854
     
    ragwo, Jan 21, 2013
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  11. gregg_g

    gregg_g Notebook Enthusiast

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    I also have the same experience. Upgraded to 8.1 and after, never been able to reach 4 hours, just barely 3 hours :(. Before I can go for 5 hours :(
     
    gregg_g, Jul 2, 2014
    #11