6 ms·

12 hour battery life in a high-end laptop? Asus says yes

22 points by sheldor 17y ago

Towle_ 17y ago
Battery life is the most overrated of all laptop specs. How often are you really without an electric outlet? Other than an airplane or the occasional wifi-capable coffee shop (one without outlets, that is), I can't think of anywhere I'd be likely to be using my laptop. It's really rarer that you might assume.
- nazgulnarsil 17y ago
  if the history of capitalism proves anything it's that people will pay far more for convenience than anyone ever suspects.
  - Towle_ 17y ago
    If we can change "convenience" to "what they perceive to be convenience"...then sure, totally agreed.
    - cema 17y ago
      If it feels convenient it is convenient.
  - mediaman 17y ago
    You are very correct with that -- consumers place a large premium on the optionality of convenience, even if they may rarely use that convenience. This even extends to people who buy e.g. large SUVs, because they like to know that on the rare occasion where they need such large storage capacities, they have it.
- gommm 17y ago
  I often work at home and love to move around between different places. Not having to carry the power adapter is a real plus for me. Plus, anyway I've got a mac and the magafe connector that keeps falling out mean that even next to a power outlet I still need battery life.
  - Towle_ 17y ago
    I see the first part I suppose, but the second...really? The solution to that problem isn't better battery life, it's a better power cord.
    - gommm 17y ago
      The second part is a bit tongue in cheek :-) But yeah, I wish Apple didn't make those power cords...
    - qjz 17y ago
      Do you have kids? I can't tell you how many times I've come across a drained laptop in my house sitting right next to a disconnected power supply. That happens with any brand of laptop, but after switching my kids to Macbooks, that MagSafe connector is worth an extra $100 to me, because I don't have to worry about a destroyed power supply cable, broken motherboard connector or smashed laptop when someone inevitably trips on the power cable.
      - gommm 17y ago
        Ah, having kids does probably justify the MagSafe connector...
    - mhb 17y ago
      Or a second battery.
      - cema 17y ago
        A second battery is a solution to a different problem. In most laptops, you cannot just switch batteries without turning it off first, which is likely to disrupt work.
        mhb 17y ago
        Unless you're filming a day-long movie in one take using your laptop, why does it matter if you disrupt your work for 5 minutes? During an all day work marathon, I reckon you could use that time profitably.
- jsolson 17y ago
  Ideally I'd start off my day by picking up nothing but my notebook and walking out the door. The ability to go and sit down anywhere and work is a huge feature, particularly if the thing can handle that kind of battery life at full screen brightness (sometimes I like to spend my entire morning or afternoon working in the park). I suppose the larger point is that people's work habits are different, and one man's superfeature may be another man's meh.
- ugh 17y ago
  Let's see: It's not impossible to find outlets on my university's campus but it's pretty hard. And if I find one it's inconveniently placed. I don't much like sitting on the floor in some of the busier areas. So that's one place were long battery life is an advantage. All of the regional and very few (but still some) of the high speed trains in Germany also don't have power outlets. Another place. Add in that hunting for outlets isn't that much fun - so yeah, I can imagine that there are quite a few people out there who would value long battery life.
- jacquesm 17y ago
  Interesting, in my experience these defining qualities for a laptop, in order: size, battery life, screen quality and keyboard quality. I couldn't care less about CPU speed or harddisk capacity. I think it is the main dilemma all laptop manufacturers are faced with, everybody uses the product in a completely different way, we all have our preferences, and they're all different. Laptops are a compromise between all those preferences, I'm sure there will be others (like me) that will really love laptops with longer battery life. And you can't really argue that longer is worse, shorter in a battery powered device is always worse, so longer must be better.
- dagw 17y ago
  Certainly at my old university there where maybe 6 outlets in lecture halls that could seat 160. And if you wanted to use of them you had to sit in on of the 10 seats close enough to make it convenient. So if you weren't first through the door chance where you wouldn't get to plug your laptop in. The same is basically true for most conferences I've ever been to. But really, for me it's more about the convenience than anything else. It's not so much that it's impossible to find a plug as the fact that it's annoying to have unplug your power supply when you get up, carry it with you and then find an outlet when you get to where you are going. Being able to go a whole day without having to even look for an outlet is to me a seemingly small, but fundamentally vital aspect of my laptop use. Most of the time I don't even bother bringing the power supply with me. Personally I'm never buying a laptop which claims less than a minimum of 5-6 hours battery life, no matter what any of the other specs might be.
jacquesm 17y ago
The i7 is incorrectly reported to be a dual core in the article, it is actually a quad core with hyperthreading, so it looks like it has 8 cores to the os.
- ntoshev 17y ago
  There are dual-core i7s with hyperthreading as well: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Intel_Core_i7_microprocessors#Dual-Core_Mobile_Processors http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Intel_Core_i7_microproc...
chime 17y ago
I think laptop makers are going in the right direction with long battery life. I have an Acer Aspire Timeline ( http://www.acer.com/timeline/ http://www.acer.com/timeline/ ) and I usually get 8.30 - 9hrs of life just browsing. I love the battery life and it has completely changed how I work with a laptop.
motters 17y ago
Any company who can build a laptop whose batteries last all day is going to make a lot of money, because it frees users from the constant worry that they're going to run out of battery power soon, and would enable genuinely mobile working. No longer would you always need to do your work somewhere in the vicinity of a mains socket.
- tsuraan 17y ago
  Agreed. My gf has the Nokia Booklet, and its 11 hour battery life really is sweet. She charges it at night (some nights), and then can just use it all day without any worries. The downside is that a 1280x720 display just doesn't show all that much data. My Sony gets about 7 hours of battery life, which isn't quite enough to get through the day, but its 1600x900 resolution is actually enough to get some work done. I'm sure looking forward to the end of that compromise.
  - JadeNB 17y ago
    > My Sony gets about 7 hours of battery life, which isn't quite enough to get through the day, but its 1600x900 resolution is actually enough to get some work done. What model of Sony is this? A big factor in my current laptop shopping is battery life, but I didn't know that we were beyond the 6–7 hour manufacturer figures now.
    - tsuraan 17y ago
      The vaio z series (mine is the z590, but I think the current one is z610 or something) have an optional larger battery that gives a claimed 9 hours of battery life. If I shut off all radios, dim the screen, and work in terminal mode, it can even do that, but for honest usage with wifi enabled, it does get about 7 hours. The battery sticks out the bottom, but it's actually really nice because it tilts the keyboard nicely, and it gives a nice thing to hold onto when carrying the laptop :)
      - JadeNB 17y ago
        Thanks! I just went to their website and checked out the F Series (although I couldn't find any way to customise it). I found it very funny that, in addition to the standard choices like a mouse, keyboard, or spare battery, one of the 'accessories' that it prompted me to buy was a netbook! (I know that they're commodity items, but not that much so.)
qjz 17y ago
Laptops are becoming potentially useful as servers, especially considering that they have what amounts to a built-in UPS that can run for up to 12 hours (in this case), without the problems inherent in a conventional UPS (price, single point of failure, etc.). ACPI even offers flexible event-driven power management to protect your data. The only problem is that I haven't found a laptop that offers server-oriented options in the BIOS. For example, I would like to tell the laptop to hibernate when power is disconnected and battery is dangerously low, then wake when AC power is restored. Extra points for providing a sleep stage before hibernation, depending on battery levels. I'm not a big fan of WOL for this purpose.
- JadeNB 17y ago
  > For example, I would like to tell the laptop to hibernate when power is disconnected and battery is dangerously low, then wake when AC power is restored. Extra points for providing a sleep stage before hibernation, depending on battery levels. I'm confused. Unless I misunderstand you, this is exactly how my MacBook Pro behaves—as the battery drains, it warns me with an icon in the menu bar when the power is low (less than 1/4 charge, I think), then with a pop-up dialogue at 10 minutes, then hibernates. If I plug it in, it wakes back up effectively instantly. (It doesn't offer the sleep period by default, but I think it can be configured to do so.) Is this what you're looking for, or is it something more subtle?
  - qjz 17y ago
    My MacBook Pro is in the red at this very moment. Let me test this out...
    - qjz 17y ago
      Well, the MacBook hibernated (and the Windows XP VM running in Fusion even went into standby first), but reconnecting the power supply didn't bring it out of hibernation, which is the behaviour I want. I had to hit a key to wake it up. I had ruled out using a MacBook as a server, mainly because I want to operate it with the lid closed most of the time, which might cause it to overheat (an issue shared by some models of other brands). If I can find a way to run Linux, keep the lid closed, and bring the laptop out of hibernation when power is restored, I'll be happy.
misterbwong 17y ago
For the record, Asus already has a earlier version of this laptop (without an i7) for $800 available on amazon (search for UL80VT). It has the same form factor, battery life, and the video cards perform almost exactly the same.

22 points by sheldor 17y ago

Battery life is the most overrated of all laptop specs. How often are you really without an electric outlet? Other than an airplane or the occasional wifi-capable coffee shop (one without outlets, that is), I can't think of anywhere I'd be likely to be using my laptop. It's really rarer that you might assume.

nazgulnarsil 17y ago
if the history of capitalism proves anything it's that people will pay far more for convenience than anyone ever suspects.
- Towle_ 17y ago
  If we can change "convenience" to "what they perceive to be convenience"...then sure, totally agreed.
  - cema 17y ago
    If it feels convenient it is convenient.
- mediaman 17y ago
  You are very correct with that -- consumers place a large premium on the optionality of convenience, even if they may rarely use that convenience. This even extends to people who buy e.g. large SUVs, because they like to know that on the rare occasion where they need such large storage capacities, they have it.
gommm 17y ago
I often work at home and love to move around between different places. Not having to carry the power adapter is a real plus for me. Plus, anyway I've got a mac and the magafe connector that keeps falling out mean that even next to a power outlet I still need battery life.
- Towle_ 17y ago
  I see the first part I suppose, but the second...really? The solution to that problem isn't better battery life, it's a better power cord.
  - gommm 17y ago
    The second part is a bit tongue in cheek :-) But yeah, I wish Apple didn't make those power cords...
  - qjz 17y ago
    Do you have kids? I can't tell you how many times I've come across a drained laptop in my house sitting right next to a disconnected power supply. That happens with any brand of laptop, but after switching my kids to Macbooks, that MagSafe connector is worth an extra $100 to me, because I don't have to worry about a destroyed power supply cable, broken motherboard connector or smashed laptop when someone inevitably trips on the power cable.
    - gommm 17y ago
      Ah, having kids does probably justify the MagSafe connector...
  - mhb 17y ago
    Or a second battery.
    - cema 17y ago
      A second battery is a solution to a different problem. In most laptops, you cannot just switch batteries without turning it off first, which is likely to disrupt work.
      - mhb 17y ago
        Unless you're filming a day-long movie in one take using your laptop, why does it matter if you disrupt your work for 5 minutes? During an all day work marathon, I reckon you could use that time profitably.
jsolson 17y ago
Ideally I'd start off my day by picking up nothing but my notebook and walking out the door. The ability to go and sit down anywhere and work is a huge feature, particularly if the thing can handle that kind of battery life at full screen brightness (sometimes I like to spend my entire morning or afternoon working in the park). I suppose the larger point is that people's work habits are different, and one man's superfeature may be another man's meh.
ugh 17y ago
Let's see: It's not impossible to find outlets on my university's campus but it's pretty hard. And if I find one it's inconveniently placed. I don't much like sitting on the floor in some of the busier areas. So that's one place were long battery life is an advantage. All of the regional and very few (but still some) of the high speed trains in Germany also don't have power outlets. Another place. Add in that hunting for outlets isn't that much fun - so yeah, I can imagine that there are quite a few people out there who would value long battery life.
jacquesm 17y ago
Interesting, in my experience these defining qualities for a laptop, in order: size, battery life, screen quality and keyboard quality. I couldn't care less about CPU speed or harddisk capacity. I think it is the main dilemma all laptop manufacturers are faced with, everybody uses the product in a completely different way, we all have our preferences, and they're all different. Laptops are a compromise between all those preferences, I'm sure there will be others (like me) that will really love laptops with longer battery life. And you can't really argue that longer is worse, shorter in a battery powered device is always worse, so longer must be better.
dagw 17y ago
Certainly at my old university there where maybe 6 outlets in lecture halls that could seat 160. And if you wanted to use of them you had to sit in on of the 10 seats close enough to make it convenient. So if you weren't first through the door chance where you wouldn't get to plug your laptop in. The same is basically true for most conferences I've ever been to. But really, for me it's more about the convenience than anything else. It's not so much that it's impossible to find a plug as the fact that it's annoying to have unplug your power supply when you get up, carry it with you and then find an outlet when you get to where you are going. Being able to go a whole day without having to even look for an outlet is to me a seemingly small, but fundamentally vital aspect of my laptop use. Most of the time I don't even bother bringing the power supply with me. Personally I'm never buying a laptop which claims less than a minimum of 5-6 hours battery life, no matter what any of the other specs might be.

jacquesm 17y ago

The i7 is incorrectly reported to be a dual core in the article, it is actually a quad core with hyperthreading, so it looks like it has 8 cores to the os.

ntoshev 17y ago
There are dual-core i7s with hyperthreading as well: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Intel_Core_i7_microprocessors#Dual-Core_Mobile_Processors http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Intel_Core_i7_microproc...

chime 17y ago

I think laptop makers are going in the right direction with long battery life. I have an Acer Aspire Timeline ( http://www.acer.com/timeline/ http://www.acer.com/timeline/ ) and I usually get 8.30 - 9hrs of life just browsing. I love the battery life and it has completely changed how I work with a laptop.

motters 17y ago

Any company who can build a laptop whose batteries last all day is going to make a lot of money, because it frees users from the constant worry that they're going to run out of battery power soon, and would enable genuinely mobile working. No longer would you always need to do your work somewhere in the vicinity of a mains socket.

tsuraan 17y ago
Agreed. My gf has the Nokia Booklet, and its 11 hour battery life really is sweet. She charges it at night (some nights), and then can just use it all day without any worries. The downside is that a 1280x720 display just doesn't show all that much data. My Sony gets about 7 hours of battery life, which isn't quite enough to get through the day, but its 1600x900 resolution is actually enough to get some work done. I'm sure looking forward to the end of that compromise.
- JadeNB 17y ago
  > My Sony gets about 7 hours of battery life, which isn't quite enough to get through the day, but its 1600x900 resolution is actually enough to get some work done. What model of Sony is this? A big factor in my current laptop shopping is battery life, but I didn't know that we were beyond the 6–7 hour manufacturer figures now.
  - tsuraan 17y ago
    The vaio z series (mine is the z590, but I think the current one is z610 or something) have an optional larger battery that gives a claimed 9 hours of battery life. If I shut off all radios, dim the screen, and work in terminal mode, it can even do that, but for honest usage with wifi enabled, it does get about 7 hours. The battery sticks out the bottom, but it's actually really nice because it tilts the keyboard nicely, and it gives a nice thing to hold onto when carrying the laptop :)
    - JadeNB 17y ago
      Thanks! I just went to their website and checked out the F Series (although I couldn't find any way to customise it). I found it very funny that, in addition to the standard choices like a mouse, keyboard, or spare battery, one of the 'accessories' that it prompted me to buy was a netbook! (I know that they're commodity items, but not that much so.)

qjz 17y ago

Laptops are becoming potentially useful as servers, especially considering that they have what amounts to a built-in UPS that can run for up to 12 hours (in this case), without the problems inherent in a conventional UPS (price, single point of failure, etc.). ACPI even offers flexible event-driven power management to protect your data. The only problem is that I haven't found a laptop that offers server-oriented options in the BIOS. For example, I would like to tell the laptop to hibernate when power is disconnected and battery is dangerously low, then wake when AC power is restored. Extra points for providing a sleep stage before hibernation, depending on battery levels. I'm not a big fan of WOL for this purpose.

JadeNB 17y ago
> For example, I would like to tell the laptop to hibernate when power is disconnected and battery is dangerously low, then wake when AC power is restored. Extra points for providing a sleep stage before hibernation, depending on battery levels. I'm confused. Unless I misunderstand you, this is exactly how my MacBook Pro behaves—as the battery drains, it warns me with an icon in the menu bar when the power is low (less than 1/4 charge, I think), then with a pop-up dialogue at 10 minutes, then hibernates. If I plug it in, it wakes back up effectively instantly. (It doesn't offer the sleep period by default, but I think it can be configured to do so.) Is this what you're looking for, or is it something more subtle?
- qjz 17y ago
  My MacBook Pro is in the red at this very moment. Let me test this out...
  - qjz 17y ago
    Well, the MacBook hibernated (and the Windows XP VM running in Fusion even went into standby first), but reconnecting the power supply didn't bring it out of hibernation, which is the behaviour I want. I had to hit a key to wake it up. I had ruled out using a MacBook as a server, mainly because I want to operate it with the lid closed most of the time, which might cause it to overheat (an issue shared by some models of other brands). If I can find a way to run Linux, keep the lid closed, and bring the laptop out of hibernation when power is restored, I'll be happy.

misterbwong 17y ago

For the record, Asus already has a earlier version of this laptop (without an i7) for $800 available on amazon (search for UL80VT). It has the same form factor, battery life, and the video cards perform almost exactly the same.