Mediocre Battery Life?

I recently got my Sager NP2090, but I don't understand one thing about it, why is the battery life so low? With basic web browsing along with a few other apps open, it's getting about 2.5 hours. I've seen others getting about an hour more, and that's what I expected from it. Does anybody know why this is happening? I have a copy of Windows XP Home Edition on it along with a 9 cell battery.

The only reason that may be causing this that I can think of is the the CPU isn't underclocking itself. It's running at the full 2.2 GHz. If that is the reason, how do I make it underclock?

Thanks in advance.

 

Did you get the bigger battery?

 

2.5 hours is what most people seem to be getting when they're running the battery at max playing games. Generally most laptops have some sort of software to help under clock the laptop when its not doing proc intensive tasks. The driver CDs that came with your laptop should have some tools with them to help you get more out of your computer.

One program I'd suggest you give a look at is RMClock. Look in the forum for the beta versions that support Santa Rosa CPUs' features. It's an excellent program that can help you automatically under clock your CPU when not using it.

 

There is no bigger battery option for the Sager NP2090.

 

Did you check your power management option? You should have your power management set to laptop, then notebook will adjust it's cpu clock speed accordingly to the need for programs you're running. My cpu clock is running at 800mhz speed just for browsing website and listening music when operating on laptop mode.

 

Well, my laptop did come with some software that starts up in the beginning called "CPU speed dynamic switching" but I don't get how to control it. It doesn't underclock my CPU at all.

I will also take a look at the software you mentioned. Hopefully that will resolve my problems.

Yes, it is set to laptop. However, it's not doing anything. I don't really understand why, though.

 

What program do you use to monitor your cpu Azone? I use cpu-z and it measures my cpu clock speed correctly.

 

Well, I also use CPU-Z. Lowest I've gotten is 2.1938 GHz.

Edit: I also found out the "CPU Speed Dynamic Switching" is a part of Notebook Hardware Control, which did not come with this notebook.

 

im having the same problems with my 2090. it can barely last for 2 and a half hours with just internet browsing and word processing. how exactly do i set it to laptop mode? im assuming its already in laptop mode given i have power management options where i can set the maximum output of the cpu, although these settings dont seem to anything.

also, my cpu-z readings are never stable. the processor seems to constantly be jumping around with its speed and multipliers regardless of an AC or battery power source.

 

make sure battery is set for power saver, double click the little battery picture on the bottom right bar

 

Are there any programs that monitor CPU and GPU temperature?

 

foehammer88 for monioring GPU temperature I use rivaTuner and for CPU, harddrive temperature Notebook Hareware Control.

greatpacha1, do you need to register nhc to use said power saver profile/function?

 

No, I don't think so.

 

In Notebook Hardware Control, I've tried every setting with no luck.

I'm trying RMClock, but I'm having trouble getting it to work.

 

Well, it seems that no matter what I do, the CPU won't underclock. As much as I doubt it, I'm starting to worry that this is a hardware problem. Though, it seems more likely that it's a driver or OS problem. Any ideas?

 

Is there a good Linux-equivalent of RMClock? (that would work with Santa Rosa CPU's)

 

Well, I can now say that this is not a hardware problem. I just installed Linux (I am a full time Linux user) and it says 1:12 hours of battery life with 28% left. My assumption right now is that maybe the version of Windows XP I installed (SP1) doesn't support these newer CPUs. Once I get a hold of a copy of Windows XP Pro with SP2 and Vista, I think I should be fine. Correct me if I'm wrong about all this, though.

By the way, right now I am now working on getting Linux to work properly.

 

cpufreq (built into the kernel) ought to be doing the work already. It is possible to set different "governors" that provide the functionality of RMClock's various options. Look for a cpufreq tutorial for your distribution.

 

o0o0 nice. Thanks for the info.

 

hmm.. does the NP5790 have a program that sets a battery threshold level before it starts recharging again? Or, is there such a program that allows us to do this?