Z : Speed Vs Stamina?

Could someone please give some examples of which modes could be used for various tasks?

My guess would be something like :

Speed : Movies,games,editing etc..
Stamina : Typing, browsing etc...

Anyone with more info or ideas?

Thanks

 

Stamina mode, I believe, is for prolonging battery life.

http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=154706

 

yes but what is the affect on the system?

 

Speed mode uses the GeForce video card, where Stamina uses an integrated Intel video card. The GeForce card is much faster, but uses more power.

Video cards allow the computer to draw complex 3D graphics, and the faster the video card is, the more detailed scenes can be drawn at interactive rates. So for example, when playing games, you'll most likely want to use Speed mode for better graphics and smoother gameplay, but for just about everything else, Stamina is more than enough graphical power.

For web browsing, e-mails, watching videos / listening to audio, word processing, image editing, some video editing, etc. Speed mode is usually totally unnecessary, and just a waste of battery. Speed is only really beneficial for video games, 3D CAD applications, and some high end video editing software.

 

too many z-threads....

 

ac500 described it really well.

One thing I'd like to add: when playing 1080p movies the Speed mode will probably give better results then the Stamina mode.

 

Could I use the integrated graphics on Speed? An example of this might be if I'm in a lounge area with a plug and I'm just surfing the internet and doing some school work, there's no point to waste nvidia processing power (especially since I'm really skeptical now of nvidia after their 8-series fiasco) but at the same time, I would want full brightness and more processing power.

 

I'm not sure I understand your question but:

The Z comes with a switch that you can set to Speed or Stamina.
Speed enables the Nvidia 9300M.
Stamina enables the Intel integrated graphics.
Processing power and brightness are unaffected by it.

So in your scenario you'd choose Stamina. Only when extra graphics power is needed it makes sense to switch to Speed.

 

Wolf04: I think you're confusing the terms - the Stamina/Speed switch is simply a video card switch: Stamina = Intel Integrated, and Speed = NVIDIA GeForce. You can adjust the CPU / brightness settings independently through the power management control panel.

Edit: Yeah, what PhilFlow said

 

Oh ok, I thought the switch controlled more than just the graphics card. I thought it would control brightness levels, CPU frequencies among other things.

 

Nah... Vista Mobility Center does that.

 

Keep in mind that HDMI out will only work on Speed mode. Its stated so in the manual.

 

I'll be sure to read the manual then when and if I get the Z.

 

Assuming that the new centrino 2 chipset helps out on battery life I dont think that it is unreasonable to see battery life in the 5-6 hr range on stamina on the Z.
My SZ 780 running XP Pro gets a little over 6 hours on a charge on stamina, It made it through back to back 3 hour classes (taking notes in word, wifi on, firefox browsing) over summer semester on one charge. I don't think there is anything on the Z that should decrease battery life during the same usage.

 

I agree. All the components of the Z should be more battery efficient than the SZ, so I wouldn't be surprised if you could easily get 6+ hours on it. The Z's standard battery even has more capacity (5400 mAH compared to 5200 mAH of the SZ standard battery), despite being .1 pounds lighter (I don't know how that's possible though).