Question about up-coming refresh and Optimus/switchable graphics

I'm curious if with the up-coming refresh owners will be able to set the criteria for gpu usage or if that will only be taken care of by internal mechanisms un-alterable by the user?

Specifically, I'm wondering if Optimus will allow a user to specify use of the Intel HD graphics only when NOT plugged in? Or in the alternative, will a user be able to specify that whenever the machine is plugged in it will operate off of the discrete gpu?

In looking over the Optimus White-paper on Nvidia's site I can't tell if the decision making will be entirely done by the machine/software or if the user will have the ability to specify criteria dictating how the machine reacts.

I was also curious if Optimus will be available on all? or only some, of the models. Specifically, will the 18+ in. model feature Optimus? This may seem counter intuitive but I like having just the one main machine and occasionally need more than 2 hours of battery life [conferences, etc.]

 

i dont think you can do that but you can turn the gpu off in nvidia control panel

 

NVIDIA Forums
I hope clevo will also use some kind of hardware switch if that is even possible

 

I'm not sure at all, but I would probably see it as a button in the nVIDIA Settings that will turn the GPU on and off? Just a sheer guess. The new GPU from nVIDIA is supposed to come with a brand new version of Optimus, so let's wait and see and nVIDIA tends to keep things to themselves until they are ready to unveil it.

 

The only reason I chose 560m for my Clevo was to avoid Optimus. If it wasn't Optimus, I would have been fine with 555m.

I hope they go back to old-fashioned switching.

 

Yes, lets all go live in the past and never give any new technology the chance to show it's full potential.

 

Optimus has been on the market for 2 years...and it's still no better than when it first came out.

 

Yeah, it's still pretty buggy. I'd rather have a flawless manual switching (oh wait, I do!) until the future becomes friendly, hehe.

 

Better off them testing it and giving the people to get some beta-graphics card than having a horrible system that does more harm than good.
I would prefer them having it tested several times before sending it on the market, but hey that's just me

 

I would like to see the same manual switch solution IBM uses on the Thinkpads. I'm perfectly happy using the Intel card in Linux at work for the lower temperatures and fan noise while using the NVidia GPU in Windows for gaming. Since Linux isn't compatible with Optimus a manual switch works best for me. I'm thinking of switching to Thinkpads for my next laptop just for this reason.