pugwash
New member
How many hours actual use (not just standby) can you expect? Is three hours good or so-so?
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Laptop battery
- Thread starter pugwash
- Start date
1114C
Member
3 hours is extremely good in my experience - most I have used have around an hour - totally depends on what you are doing with it though - if it just sits there then should last a lot longer than 1 hour but not many do that
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Dave99
Member
I've seen a new one advertised with a 7 hr battery
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Robin
Well-known member
Depends if in use or not on mine, 2hrs is about it, less if heavily used.
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Heckler
Active member
if you can get 3 hrs use out of one then you are doing v well, i sell em and tell people they will be lucky to get an hr out of them using it as a computer should be used
stu
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stu
<hr width=100% size=1>http://www.beneteau-owners-association.org.uk
ThomasHome
New member
I have a 12 month old Sony with a slow'ish possessor and a 10" screen that uses very little power, I can get nearly 4 hours with the brightness down. The thing is not to have a 2ghz P4 chip that that converts most of your battery power into heat, when you're never going to need the power it produces on the move.
Apple claimed their first G4 power books with a second battery could run for 10 hours, but then I doubt you could even get tide prediction software to run on them.
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Apple claimed their first G4 power books with a second battery could run for 10 hours, but then I doubt you could even get tide prediction software to run on them.
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steve28
Active member
3 hours is good , but it makes a big diffrence if you were doing something like running a nav program or watching a dvd or even listening to music.
a laptop thats just left with the desktop running should last for at least 2 1/2 hours, the same laptop running a film or a nav program may go down in 35 mins because of the load put on by the dvd drive or the hard disk access.
the procesors are really all mobile versions that are designed to run on batteries both intel and amd produce very good chips which is why the battery life is greater now than in older models.
the biggest problem now is to produce a good video card that does not eat the power but it seems there are a few manufactures now who are into saving battery energy.
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a laptop thats just left with the desktop running should last for at least 2 1/2 hours, the same laptop running a film or a nav program may go down in 35 mins because of the load put on by the dvd drive or the hard disk access.
the procesors are really all mobile versions that are designed to run on batteries both intel and amd produce very good chips which is why the battery life is greater now than in older models.
the biggest problem now is to produce a good video card that does not eat the power but it seems there are a few manufactures now who are into saving battery energy.
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steve_cronin
N/A
My somewhat aged laptop...
manages to run for around two hours on a fully charged battery from the moment the charger is disconnected.
I have recently aquired a very neat and compact LCD TFT screen (12inch) that runs on a 12vdc power supply. I have recently run a test in which I ran the screen from the video output on the back of the computer but powered it from a 12v source. The result, not ever so scientific, was that after six hours of running a Marquee screensaver the laptop was still running. So when this machine goes to the boat to run Weatherfax, it will be used in conjunction with the external display because I believe that the internal display is the major power drain on a laptop. Some large powerful processors might just draw more current when being driven hard but surely it's the display which is the major culprit and if this can be run from the ship's supply it must greatly improve the battery endurance of the laptop.
Steve Cronin
<hr width=100% size=1>The above is, like any other post here, only a personal opinion
manages to run for around two hours on a fully charged battery from the moment the charger is disconnected.
I have recently aquired a very neat and compact LCD TFT screen (12inch) that runs on a 12vdc power supply. I have recently run a test in which I ran the screen from the video output on the back of the computer but powered it from a 12v source. The result, not ever so scientific, was that after six hours of running a Marquee screensaver the laptop was still running. So when this machine goes to the boat to run Weatherfax, it will be used in conjunction with the external display because I believe that the internal display is the major power drain on a laptop. Some large powerful processors might just draw more current when being driven hard but surely it's the display which is the major culprit and if this can be run from the ship's supply it must greatly improve the battery endurance of the laptop.
Steve Cronin
<hr width=100% size=1>The above is, like any other post here, only a personal opinion
steve28
Active member
Re: My somewhat aged laptop...
both screens use an internal inverter to provide the fluroscent backlighting and i would have thought that if you were to run them side by side they would be identical.
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both screens use an internal inverter to provide the fluroscent backlighting and i would have thought that if you were to run them side by side they would be identical.
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steve_cronin
N/A
Re: My somewhat aged laptop...
I don't understand your answer.
Yes if the freestanding external display is attached to the laptop's video output it will show what's also being sent to the internal one. However when using the one powered by the ship's 12 volt supply, the internal one is switched off thereby saving battery power from the laptop's NiCad which saves a lot of power it seems.
It always seems inefficient to me to have to use an inverter from 12vdc to supply 240vac to power a charger outputting 22vdc for the laptop. Similarly it is inefficient to run an inverter off the laptop's 22volt (or even the 5volt) supply to run a big flouescent for the backlight. At least my way allows longer between laptop battery charge ups since it's only running the processor and drives.
Steve Cronin
Steve Cronin
<hr width=100% size=1>The above is, like any other post here, only a personal opinion
I don't understand your answer.
Yes if the freestanding external display is attached to the laptop's video output it will show what's also being sent to the internal one. However when using the one powered by the ship's 12 volt supply, the internal one is switched off thereby saving battery power from the laptop's NiCad which saves a lot of power it seems.
It always seems inefficient to me to have to use an inverter from 12vdc to supply 240vac to power a charger outputting 22vdc for the laptop. Similarly it is inefficient to run an inverter off the laptop's 22volt (or even the 5volt) supply to run a big flouescent for the backlight. At least my way allows longer between laptop battery charge ups since it's only running the processor and drives.
Steve Cronin
Steve Cronin
<hr width=100% size=1>The above is, like any other post here, only a personal opinion
Trevj
New member
It is possible to buy small dc/dc converters to power your laptop from the boat's 12v supply. The old Toshiba that I use on the boat needs 18.5vdc supply. It seemed silly to go from 12 vdc to 255 vac and then through the computer's adaptor back down to 18.5vdc. So I shopped around.
I bought mine from Jacar (in Australia) in kit form for the equivalent of 10 pound. The output is adjustable from 14vdc up to 25vdc and the max current seems be around 2.5A. It runs the laptop fine. There must be something equivalent in the UK.
Trevor Jones
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I bought mine from Jacar (in Australia) in kit form for the equivalent of 10 pound. The output is adjustable from 14vdc up to 25vdc and the max current seems be around 2.5A. It runs the laptop fine. There must be something equivalent in the UK.
Trevor Jones
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Birdseye
Well-known member
for that matter, is there no laptop which will run directly on the boats 12 v supply ie direct input like (say) a chartplotter?
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claudio
New member
I have one for sale, brand new boxed, check 'for sale' forum, search for Laptop 12V Adapter
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claudio
New member
12V laptops do exist, although they require a regulated 12v supply. A 12V battery supply can range between 7v (when cranking) to 16V (spike) when electric windlass or other high current equipment is in operation.
If you connect to domestic 12v supply you will need to ensure that the laptop has overvoltage protection.
Regards
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If you connect to domestic 12v supply you will need to ensure that the laptop has overvoltage protection.
Regards
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peterb
New member
I believe that Maplin sell a dc/dc converter running off 12V and supplying an output which can be switched in voltage. I know it includes 19V (which my laptop needs) but can't remember the other possibilities. And I'm not sure how stable the output voltage is.
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G
Guest
Guest
Most notebooks will run direct from 12v ...... but will not charge the battery.
I use an inexpensive 12-240 convertor that supplies steady 150W ........ no problem.
Life of battery on notebook is dependent application. If you are running a mapping program that is changing charts etc. and plotting - the life should be on a good battery about 1 - 1.5 hours. If you are just running text based simple stuff - expect up to 2 hours. Add a floppy drive / CD etc. and battery suffers. My NB lasts average of 1.25 hours running Mapping s/ware.
If battery is full charged when I go on board - I may run direct 12V to my NB via a fused supply etc. DIRECT from battery not through general supply that fluctuates. Generally OR if battery is low then I run via the convertor .......
I don't know where PC manufacturers get their battery life from - but it doesn't seem to agree with practice !!!!
<hr width=100% size=1>Nigel ...
Bilge Keelers get up further ! I came - cos they said was FREE Guinness !
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I use an inexpensive 12-240 convertor that supplies steady 150W ........ no problem.
Life of battery on notebook is dependent application. If you are running a mapping program that is changing charts etc. and plotting - the life should be on a good battery about 1 - 1.5 hours. If you are just running text based simple stuff - expect up to 2 hours. Add a floppy drive / CD etc. and battery suffers. My NB lasts average of 1.25 hours running Mapping s/ware.
If battery is full charged when I go on board - I may run direct 12V to my NB via a fused supply etc. DIRECT from battery not through general supply that fluctuates. Generally OR if battery is low then I run via the convertor .......
I don't know where PC manufacturers get their battery life from - but it doesn't seem to agree with practice !!!!
<hr width=100% size=1>Nigel ...
Bilge Keelers get up further ! I came - cos they said was FREE Guinness !
/forums/images/icons/cool.gif
