SZ28GP 2GZ ... 5 hours on standard Bat...Cold to the touch... this might help you

So Chaps,

I looked in various threads here and found that everyone complains about the heat of the SZ2 and the low run time on batt..

Well I am over the moon about this notebook..

I did however first have to mod it from stock.. but nothing way over top like the rest of you.. just simple stuff

It now runs without bloat ware for over 5 hours in stamina mode with 50% screen and Wifi on. I have been using it all this morning and it currently stands at 63% & 3h 53m... to go... on the standard Bat !!!

Years ago I had a Vaio 505... great machine only 800Mz and it ran all day.. coming from the Mac world and only needing something fast + lite + cool for a new assignment I did some research on this forum and came up with the SZ2..

So here is what I did ..

1) Started the maschine all the way to login..
2) Set up wifi
3) Performed Windows Update..
4) Uninstalled Norton!!!! & Rebooted
5) Downloaded TuneUp2005 Trial (I have a proper key but the trial will allow you to do most things)
6) Used TuneUp to CLEAN the REG.... rbooted
7) USed TuneUp to optimize my Computer.. (Best part is stop paging of Kernal as 1GB!!!)
8) Used TuneUp to disable the bloatware from AutoLOading (Note did not uninstall as no need).. and rebooted
9) install CA eTrust antivirus.. (Lot Less CPU hungery than Norton)
10) Run CA then rebooted
11) Installed NHC ...
12) Installed Office and ran the updates...
13) Redo step 6 & 7 above
14) In NHC I changed the Clock Modification to on battery to 50% on the CPU Speed tab (U cant really change anything else on this CPU) and also set it up for 87.5% on AC
16) Engoy

I use the Sony Vaio Power settings for Ultimate Batt..

So I end up with a system that stays cool and runs at 500mhz when in word / internet for most of the time but ramps up to 2Ghz when needed... and allows me to run the device for over 5 hours...

hope this helps you get the most out of your maschine...

 

how did u downclock it to 500MHZ?

My CPU never automatically downlocks to lower than 1 GHZ.

Also is there a way to turn one of the cores off altogether?

Note btw, that u will probably get a lot better results on the premium than on regular SZ (like mine

btw
"Used TuneUp to disable the bloatware from AutoLOading (Note did not uninstall as no need).. and rebooted"

Specifically, what bloatware did u disable? I can't tell what is bloat and what is not

 

Well within NHC on the CPU SPEED tab at the bottom right there is an additional setting called Clock Modulation I set that to 50% on Batt.. this introduces additional wait states so slowing down the CPU more than just the usual underclocking that gives u effectivly 500Mhz... and use less power.. but still perfect for running browsing and office apps... and the beast stays cold...

I only left the SonyPower stuff in the AutoLoad... and removed all the other ones..

So charged it while out shopping and it showed 500Mz 99% 6h 45m after reboot (I always Hibernate as its saves time and energy !!)


BTW i have just put the same type of settings on my wifes Acer and guess what it also now runs longer and cooler...

 

I don't have this same computer --in fact, I don't have a Sony at all-- but I find your guide very useful for general computing and especially upon receiving a new laptop. Rep'ed! :d

C.

 

That it shows 6+ hours means nothing. This is just an estimate based on the load the last min/hours of use. And if you don't do anything and it just sits idle this will climb. I've seen values of 8h here but when you begin to use your system it will drop down to around 4h very fast. Besides slowing the CPU to 500MHz won't help much, voltage and power consumption will still be very much the same as with 1GHz.Voltge and clock speed make up the power consumption of a CPU, while clock speed affects it in a linear fashion voltage effects it quadratic. That means lowering the voltage has a much bigger effect than lowering the clock speed. And the voltage can't go lower than 0.95V on a Core Duo and that's what NHC already does. The gain when slowing the clock from 1000MHZ to 500MHz is pretty much nonexistant.

 

Well if MHZ is linear w/ power it is still quite a lot of saving


i.e. -50% clock = -50% power consumption from CPU

sounds good to me

 

What happens if one's system requires more tha 50 percent processor power?
Does the system then become unstable and crash?

 

Nope using NHC you just set it up that if it goes above 40% utilization it clocks up... quite a cool feature...

 

Did u try it... no .... so why shout off... if you read my first post I already confirmed that fact that there is a saving... perhaps first think then speak... and I alreday covered the fact that u can do nothing with the CoreD....

I am only reporting my findings and not adding a paragraph of dribble...

Go check out the developers site, he seems to think that u can reduce power by this method, and based on my hands on usage I must agree...

88% 5h 41m.... which is an estimate but since i have been using it for 1h 30m already since last charge.. pretty accurate i must say....

any one else out there tried this yet...

 

Besides, why create a new topic when half a dozen others alread cover battery saving techs? Isn't that a prime example for "perhaps first think then speak"?

AND I really really doubt that you can run the SZ2 over 5hours. That's plain unrealistic. Since I own a SZ2 myself I've never been able to work with the machine longer than 5hours using the most extreme power saving techs. With work I mean, I really did something. If you "work" means just sitting before the laptop watching the battery estimate climb 6+hours may be realistic but when the hdd is active and the system is actually doing something this is hardly a reality.

 

Well actually I did scan all the treads and no one came up with any real things except for moans... and working with it means working i.e. Browsing WiFi On.. downloading some stuff so HD is active...reading mail... working on some excel and word documents...

But then again looking at your others posts.. mostly moans..and super smart put downs.. guess just wasting bandwidth on this one...

 

The battery estimate is not really accurate as Private-Cowboy said. The best way to test if this 50% clock decrease really helps battery consumption is to run a benchmark test, or simply record the battery level every 30min (if you have time). I will do the same w/ my UX90s after it's done charging. Thanks.

 

Its not really decreasing the clock it introduces WAIT (Read the pop up Bubble, on mouse over in NHC) states which makes the CPU sleep for half the time, NGC reports EXTERNAL CLOCK = 1000 Mhz INTERNAL CLOCK = 500Mhz...

well I did use sandera to see if it was infact slowed down but NHC "sees" the need for more speed... i.e. crossing the utilization and auto clocks up...

But i have been using it now for ~2 hours and it now reads 68% 4h 12min so its getting it into the right ball park at least..

it would be interseting to see your results, I did it on my wifes acer and it has also given her 1:30 more juce than she usually gets (mainly msn).

nice effect is also that the laptop is cold to the touch and silent... used the reduce fan s2 button...seemed no need to have the fan running as the notebook was cold to the touch..

I will see how it fares tommorow at work, and ill try it with SPEED mode just to see what effect it has then. But based on the results so far its just as the doctor ordered... why dd sony not stick this kind of thing on the notebook out of the box..

 

I've just done the test on my UX90ps (16gb SSHD 1.2ghz core solo). I even went as low as 25% modulation and unfortunately it didn't help much on my UX90ps. I guess it is not that CPU that is consuming a lot of power, but some other devices on the UX (wifi?).

 

Pitty but urs is the ULV CPU already, does urs clock down to 800 Mhz or 1000Mhz normaly ? as the difference between full speed and lowest ant as big on the 2ghz modells so the potential saving can only be in prportional me thinks..

 

Hi outie,

Yeah, your CPU is actually very energy effecient as it stands.
My guess is that your other battery eating areas would be your wireless and your screen.

These two are the biggest culprits nowadays since Intel's been doing a great job at making CPUs far more efficient.

 

So been running this for 2 weeks as my main work notebook... I can run all day at work on one charge..

The estimates of battery time from NHC seem to be quite on the money.. regularly 4.5 hours of "Screen / Work Time"... not bad for 1.8 Kg's

I have outlook setup to sync every 5 mins, using our wireless network.

The only thing I have done in addition to the first post is set it up that when I close the screen that it enters into Suspend mode..

Great little notebook, easy to carry around to all the meetings and only gets charged overnight...

now if I could only get rid of that glossy screen