Need help from a Vaio SZ user on battery drain comparison between Go7400/Intel GFX

Need a Quick favor from a Vaio SZ owner (Sp. someone who is using Notebook Hardware Control (NHC))


A friends of mine is trying to choose between a SZ and a M1210, and though he prefers the M1210, the Dual GPU option on the SZ is also enticing him....However he is still confused as he is not sure if switching to the GMA950 makes a real difference to the battery drain on the SZ because the Go 7400 also clocks itself down to a lower speeds when not gaming/running on batteries (If powermizer is enabled in the nVidia settings)

Now I have a Dell M1210 so I ran a quick battery load test (NHC shows the real time drain on the battery in Watts in the batteries tab) but since I cannot switch to the Intel GMA graphics on the M1210, I cannot really help him draw a comparison

Would a Vaio SZ owner be kind enough to run the same on the SZ

1- Power drain on the battery with the Go7400 running , medium brightness, wireless on, light applications running for a low CPU load(couple of Firefox/IE instance, spreadsheet etc.):
The M1210 shows a drain of 14-16W in this test

2- Power drain on the battery with the GMA950 running , medium brightness, wireless on, light applications running for a low CPU load(couple of Firefox/IE instance, spreadsheet etc.):
Can't run this test on the M1210

Thanks!

 

Hi, I get the load of 14-15W when using the Intel graphics and something like 17-18W when using NVidia, Brightness is set to 6/9 though so slightly above medium. It's not much, but will give you a few mins. And the fans is more silent with the Intel graphics.

 

I found it makes a more noticable difference. I struggle to get more than 2:20 under my normal conditions (CPU on 1ghz, wireless on, 7/9 brightness) with the nvidia card but I can get over 3 hours with the Intel card.

 

do you have powermizer on for nVidia?

 

Hi abhi182,

I've read several posts and perhaps a couple of reviews stating that the IntelGMA gives you about 30 mins more of battery life.

Considering that Core Duo systems eat batteries like they were free and the usual SZ lasts for about 2:30 mins on normal load, we're talking about 20% increase in battery life.

ON THE OTHER HAND...
You have to remember that the Dell M1210 has a much smaller screen. And since screens take up a lot of battery life...
If your friend actually likes the M1210, my personal opinion is that he should just get that. The Dell gives more bang for the buck. Most of the SZ owners got the Sony because they think it looks better. (And having a bigger screen doesn't hurt. )

 

Hi abhi182,

Remind your friend that the SZ has a bigger screen...so the advantages of the GMA giving a longer battery life probably only offsets the bigger drain by the SZ in the first place.

My recommendation that he should get the M1210 is based on the portion where you said that he prefers the M1210. The battery life shouldn't be much longer...he should get the computer he prefers more.

 

Sorry to resurrect this old thread but I couldn't find a clear answer on this matter (and the SZ is still the only laptop which could switch manually from the integrated graphics to the dedicated graphics)

I am particularly interested by the difference in battery-life between:

1/ SZ+go7400+"powersaving mode" in powermizer (I guess the screen is then roughly at mid-level brightness(?)).
2/ SZ+go7400+"maximum performance" in powermizer + screen at mid-level brightness.
3/ SZ+gma950+screen at mid-level brightness.

+ a/your OS. Xp or Vista?
+ b/version of powermizer.

I know that your battery-life will depend on a lot of factors but what interest me is the relative values between those 3 settings while keeping all other parameters the same.

Other additional thoughts are obviously welcome!

Cheers!

 

OK , so I answer a part of my own question...It seems that the NVidia control panel with the powermizer setting is not available on the SZ even though it has a go7400 (weird). So we can't have the configuration 7400+"powersaving mode" on the SZ.
It also seems there is a 20% difference in battery-life between the speed mode (which is actually 7400, max performance) and stamina mode (gma, powersavingmode) with the same screen brightness.

Besides, Nvidia Powermizer battery saving for the 7400 is said to be close to 10% on other laptops (M1210 for example) so I would guess that the answer of my question above would approximatively be (+/-5%):

1/ X hours
2/ X hours+10%
3/ X hours-10%

Any comment?

 

A friend of mine has the 1210, it's a cute machine, but the screen is pretty small. He has the 17xx also and says that the 1210 is fine when he needs a little lappy to go somewhere, but there's no way he could live with it being his only machine.

I'll have the new SZ650 here on Tues, look for an upcoming review of it soon.

 

yeah, no doubt the sz650 will be a great laptop...but it 's not yet available and will be expensive where I live (New-Zealand). I have the dell M1330 on the way and I chose the Nvidia 8400m as the integrated graphics was not available when I ordered. It is available now so I could cancel and reorder but I am not sure I will bother as the powermizer option of the Nvidia card could do a great job to save battery life which is important to me...and besides, the configuration with the integrated graphics could be more expensive than the one with the nvidia!!!
I would be very grateful if you could update this thread if you see that you can access the powermizer options on your new sz (maybe you can on the new sz6?) and if you could confirm the 20% difference in battery life between Stamina and speed modes.

Cheers