Built in Camera Battery Drain

I don't know if anyone can help me with this issue, but I figured this would be the place to post my question. I have known for some time about the battery draining effects of usb 2.0 devices on core duo notebooks and the supposed patch MS came out with to help fix some of the problem. However, the issue of a built in camera draining battery life has not been dealt with, correct? If it has, I would really be grateful for any help pointing me in the right direction. The camera's are usb devices but on the numerous articles I have read on this topic, the current patches do not address such a problem, correct?

Thanks in advance for anyhelpl

 

Hmm so when I buy my Clevo M570U with a integrated camera it will drain battery? :O

 

Perhaps if there's a way to disable the camera through the BIOS, that would work. If you're not getting an extended warranty and won't use the camera, you could always physically disconnect it, but that may sound a bit extreme to some folks. I doubt disabling it through, say, Device Manager, would help, because power would still be going to it, I believe. You bring up an excellent point, brotzfrog.

 

I can actually choose if I want it or not, but I planned on choosing it, maybe I shouldnt after hearing this ;S

How much battery are we talking here?
5 minutes less running time? Who cares about so little ^^

 

Anandtech tested the bug with the Asus W5a and W5f, both with built-in webcams. Even with the webcams disabled in device driver battery life was less without the fix.

ASUS W5F Before: 219min, After: 264min (45min difference)
ASUS W5A Before: 204min, After: 273min (69min! difference)

Seems like the fix they used worked pretty well, the two Asus' and two Thinkpads (when USB2.0 device connected) showed marked improvement with the fix, but they also tested an e1705 where the fix didn't do anything.

Too bad the updated Perfmon isn't available to the public, because using that utility would be a real easy way to determine whether you have the USB Power Drain bug or not.

 

Hmm what laptops got this bug then? Each one with a built-in webcam? :s

Link to a fix that works for Clevo please! ^_^

 

It's a problem with Windows XP *on all laptops*, not a hardware problem. It's just that XP doesnt understand the concept of powering down USB ports. When the rest of the system goes into power saving mode, the USB ports don't. So anything that's connected to USB will cause the problem. And that's anything that's physically connected to an usb port, regardless of whether it's actually powered on or enabled in device manager or anything else.

Microsoft has had an "unofficial" workaround for it for a long time, but recently they made an official patchupdate to fix it as well. Make sure your copy of Windows is up to date and the problem *should* be solved. (Otherwise check the MS website)