Low Power PC - What Does 36W Power Adaptor Translate To In Real Money?

[demonboy]

I've been researching different media centre options for Esper, something to replace our Samsung NC10 netbook that has been great but can't handle HD video. Lots of options, from Raspberry Pi to Liz's old Acer to the various NUC and small form factor PCs.

What I'm struggling with is working out what the actual power consumption would be on something like an NUC. The Intel Bay Trail NUC, for example, comes with a "12v, 36W DC power connector", but I can't believe something so small would consume 3amps. These lower powered Intel processors are rated quite low, something like 5-8w, so in this example is the 36W an absolute peak, as in a safety margin for turning it on, but actually runs much lower? The processor would be processing 1080 HD files and audio, but since a Raspberry Pi can handle this I can't believe it would run at 3amps constant. Unfortunately I have no experience in this field beyond running and charging my netbook so far.

Any thoughts or experiences?

 

[Joker]

I suspect the 36W refers to the safe maximum power the unit can supply. Most of the time it will be supplying less.

 

[GHA]

Won't a pi running xbnc handle 1080p HD?
http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=G2-eUrGbl0I
8 minutes in.
Pulls a few hundred milliamp

Also, if you're after an amp as well these pull next to nothing.....

http://www.ebay.co.uk/bhp/class-t-amplifier

 

[neilf39]

My HP Probook laptop under normal running is showing about 20W. Jumps to 30 when heavy processing and 12 when not doing much. That is on a fairly hefty laptop. The 36W is the max capacity of your PSU. My HP one is rated at 65W so double what it seems to take at max. Its usually things like screen backlights that take the power.

 

[demonboy]

Won't a pi running xbnc handle 1080p HD?
http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=G2-eUrGbl0I
8 minutes in.
Pulls a few hundred milliamp

Also, if you're after an amp as well these pull next to nothing.....

http://www.ebay.co.uk/bhp/class-t-amplifier

Yeah it will, and I've seen that clip, but a Pi runs on Ubuntu (or similar). I need a Windows OS to run foobar. I'm thinking of buying a Pi just for a bit of fun but I could see myself wasting many hours dicking around with it. That's a bad thing considering my current situation Thanks for the amp link, btw. Interesting stuff.

 

[demonboy]

My HP Probook laptop under normal running is showing about 20W. Jumps to 30 when heavy processing and 12 when not doing much. That is on a fairly hefty laptop. The 36W is the max capacity of your PSU. My HP one is rated at 65W so double what it seems to take at max. Its usually things like screen backlights that take the power.

Useful info, Neil. Is that with the battery fully charged and using the monitor? 1.6 amps is perfectly acceptable so it's good to know yours is rated at 65w.

 

[neilf39]

Useful info, Neil. Is that with the battery fully charged and using the monitor? 1.6 amps is perfectly acceptable so it's good to know yours is rated at 65w.

Yes that is with me using in normal power mode so the screen brightness is set at 70%. If I think I am going to be on batteries for a long time I put it down to 55% but that is only in the evenings as in broad daylight I wouldn't see a thing.

 

[gregcope]

A flash drive instead of spinning rust will also help keep the amps down, and make it more robust

 

[demonboy]

A flash drive instead of spinning rust will also help keep the amps down, and make it more robust

I've never had a problem with hard drives in a marine environment, not for the last eight years, and my library is knocking on 1Tb. I think this argument is moot.

 

[tr7v8]

I work in the industry. The typical brick rating wattage is to cope with inrush currents & very low voltages. Also it is feasible (not necessary possible) to pull upto 500MA from a USB port.
As others have said typical lappy draw wehn charged is around 15-30Watts

 

[Jabs]

Look at Aleutian Pc's

Great value and low power


Tony

 

[gregcope]

I've never had a problem with hard drives in a marine environment, not for the last eight years, and my library is knocking on 1Tb. I think this argument is moot.

No sure it is moot in this context. However your points are valid, as are mine.

Can we agree to both be right?

Most of my disks issues have nothing to do with marine environments, but mobile (or disks that get shock loaded) or any moving bits have higher failure rates in my experience.

 

[demonboy]

No sure it is moot in this context. However your points are valid, as are mine. Can we agree to both be right?

As my mate Terry says, I think we're in violent agreement, Greg

 

[demonboy]

Look at Aleutian Pc's

Great value and low power

Thanks for that link, Tony. They're similar to the Tiny Green PC (CompuLab's mini pc), both in spec and in price. I'm coming round to the idea of spending a little more on a decent mini PC that has very low power rating. 7w idle means I could leave this on all the time.