5793 USB Question

Are all the USB hubs 2x in back and 2x on right side both 2.0?

Thanks

 

2x on the back (on top of each other), close to the power plug input , and 2x on the right side , in a line.

 

So there both USB2.0? Thought i read somewhere that some might be 2.0 and some 1.1

 

Yes, they're all USB 2.0

 

Na,they`re all USB 2.0 .

 

Thanks was just curios. Had to change my iPhone, library from my old pc to this laptop and it uses 2.0 so wanted to make sure that it would be ok in any slot.

3000 songs to upload yay!

 

No problemo,they`re all USB 2.0
And if at a point you`ll want to get a USB hub, make sure it`s 2.0 , I got a Nomad`s pack and it`s 1.1

 

USB 2.0 has been standard for about 6 years now.

 

The only thing I can add about the USB ports is the pair in each set runs off of a shared power source, so you can't plug two external HDs in the rear set or the right side set, unless you have an auxiliary power source. I have my Maxor 160 plugged in the back, and my simpletech 320 plugged into the right side without having to use Y-cable or AC adapter for either.

 

if you use a lot of USB powered devices, then consider getting an inexpensive USB hub with external power.

 

Definitely. I bought a cheap, but small, targus 4-port hub, but if I have an external plugged in next to it I can only plug in one device anyways... there is not enough power for my Maxtor160, and the hub with my Logitech rumblepad and ipod and/or phone plugged into it. I can plug in any ONE of those devices next to the external but not any combination of the two. Meh, how hard is it to unplug a device and plug in another, considering I only use one at a time anyways. At least its better than most 15"ers and below, that need a Y-cable or AC adapter to run an external.

 

Side question. Is it a bad idea to use the laptop on your lap or a non flat surface if your just browsing the net or watching a move?

 

~shrugs~ If you don't block the fan intakes/outlets, it's absolutely fine. It's pretty easy to hold a M570RU in your lap without covering the intakes, just rest the outside edges on your legs and leave air space underneath.

While you MAY be ok blocking the vents, I'd not risk it. If you do, though, definately run some temp monitoring software to keep an eye on it, just in case.

 

Been testing it on my lap so far its been a hour. ITs really not that uncomfortable. The warmth from the laptop actually feels comforting. Been watching a movie for about a hour and a half so far. Temps have been 50 HD, 40 GPU, 31 CPU.

 

depending on the movie, sounds like you may have to go to Confession later.

 

Heh, doing all the minimal power usage/gfx usage things to see how much i can get out of the battery. I thought that when on battery the laptop would downclock the GPU. Its only downclocked the CPU

 

heh yeah, should be fine =) I use my laptop in pretty much every circumstance the user manual tells you not to: In bed, on my lap, hell, I use it in the bath. It runs cool in every circumstance; though I'm very careful to keep all the vents clear. It's really a very, very impressive machine, and surprisingly rugged. Any lappy that can survive me is of great construction!

Given that, though, perhaps my advice shouldn't be listened to. I do bad, bad things to my lappy

 

You don't really use it in the bath, Winters...

Do you?!

 

Hmm do forceware drivers disable GPU downclock on battery or something?

 

~laughs~ Yes, in fact. Though, it's not as bad as it sounds. My toilet is beside my bathtub, and I have a bluetooth keyboard and mouse.

The lappy sites on the toilet, which puts it at a nice viewing range, the keyboard on my lap, and the mouse on the side of the tub.

I have in the past used it actually in the tub, with it on my lap, but only with cooler water (steam+lappy=sad me). There's no danger of it falling in, as I'm a really big guy and my apartment has a wee little apartment sized tub, it's not physically possible to drop it into the water.

 

They can, if you disable powermizer.

 

How would i enable powermizer? Tried going through the battery icon and nvidia controls but dont see anything related to that.

 

Hey, Winters, your RU has similar specs to the one I've ordered. Question - with the t9300 oc'd and undervolted, does it improve your battery life? What kind of battery time do you get just doing normal stuff (web-surfing, Word, etc...)?

 

Short answer: Yes, substantially.

It's hard to give specifics, as I did three things all pretty much simultaneously: Overclocked with SetFSB and Audigy's tool, undervolted, and enabled p-state transitions to downclock my processor when idle.

However, I'm getting about 2.5 hours of battery life unplugged with light use - watching movies(off the HD, not DVD's), surfing the web, email and the like. I can't really compare, though, because before doing this my system would forceably downclock (all the time) to 1.8ghz when unplugged, and run fixed at that speed regardless of processor load. Too much has changed to really compare fairly. However, I do get noticeably more time out of my battery than I did before modifications - Previously, around 2hours tops.

My system in particular - though apparently not all M570RU's - limits my undervolting to 1.000v on all multipliers, so even at SLFM 6x I'm still running at a higher voltage than most do. There are a few people about who've got their's running at much lower voltages - down around .95, if I remember correctly. I imagine they can get even more time out of theirs.

I suspect that it's the performance on demand changes that really make the difference in battery consumption. When doing light tasks, my processor virtually never comes off idle other than for very brief moments, so I'm running slow at a low voltage almost all the time. Previously, the processor would be ticking over at a higher voltage all of the time. The overclock, then, has little impact on battery life for such things: The processor is simply running slower when it's not needed, so I'm running at less than half of the max processor speed most of the time.

Gaming... well, I just don't game unplugged very often. With the processor and the GPU running flat out (I disable powermizer - for me, graphics are all-or-nothing) I get about 45 minutes of battery life tops. It's enough to cover my 30 minute lunch breaks, though.

And that's enough rambling for me today

 

Thanks for the info, Winters.

Yeah, I wouldn't see the logic in gaming on battery either. But I do use a laptop for light-work on battery quite often. Seems like the undervolting is the big factor there that might buy me up to 20-30 more minutes. That'd be awesome! Thanks, again

 

Definitely set up the p-state transitions under performance on demand in rmclock to get the most out of it. I'm not really interested in actually testing to get times, but I suspect that it is actually responsible for more battery life gain than the undervolt itself.

 

Wintersdark, my lowest voltage is 0.85V , but then again, I have a T7500 and that one runs hotter than your Penryn regardless.
I`ve set my SLFM to 6x and run at 0.85V,nice good battery life(2 h with MAX screen brightness)

 

~envy~ Alas, while my SLFM sits comfortably at 6x as well, it's capped at 1v Heat's certainly not a concern - the Penryn's are incredible that way - but I wish I could drop it down lower for more power saving.

It's really astounding the impact screen brightness has on battery life - at least, for me anyways. I think I'd get around 1.5h on 100% brightness.