Windows 7 Worse on Netbook Battery Life Than XP?
Windows 7 cuts almost a third off the battery life of some netbooks shipping today with Windows XP, several recent reviews and user reports say.
Laptop magazine reported in its blog on Monday that during a recent test, a Toshiba netbook lost 2.5 hours of battery life when running Windows 7 instead of XP, or about 30% (6:53 for Windows 7, versus 9:24 for XP).
Web site Tom’s Hardware found last month that an Acer Aspire One netbook running Windows 7’s release candidate lasted 2.5 hours less than when it ran Windows XP Service Pack 3 (5:54 versus 8:28, when both were at a low-power idle state).
Complaints have also surfaced on netbook user forums such as eeeuser.com, for Asus Eee users, AspireOneUser.com, for Acer netbook users, and MSIWind.net, for MSI fans.
The complaints follow gripes that Windows 7 hastens the vampire-like battery drain of running Windows on MacBooks, either in virtualization or via Apple’s Boot Camp software.
Jury’s still out
The reviews are not unanimous. In a late July review comparing the Windows 7 RC versus XP on Asus’ long-running Eee PC 1005HA netbook, Legit Reviews found XP to have between a 2% and 8% advantage over Windows 7. And Laptop noted that XP only had a 6% advantage over Windows 7 on an MSI U123 netbook.
But the negative reports are numerous enough that they darken Windows 7’s image as being a sleeker and more-efficient reboot of Microsoft’s long-running operating system, and cast some doubt on its suitability for netbooks, at least today’s models.
Long battery life is one of the key selling points of netbooks, due to their high portability.
Many vendors heavily tweak their netbooks to ensure that they can run a full business day on a single charge, or more.
Microsoft previously promised that Windows 7 would improve laptop battery life by about 11% over Vista.
That would be due to better use of the graphics chip during tasks such as DVD playback, and improvements in the kernel so that CPU can more quickly switch to an idle state when not in use, and generally run more efficiently, says Microsoft (see video from Microsoft’s WinHEC keynote last November).
A Microsoft spokeswoman declined to comment about the recent reviews and reports, but did point to a white paper, last updated June 23, 2009, describing to driver developers and hardware engineers how to optimize hardware and components for better battery life under Windows 7.
Of course, battery life for Windows Vista was widely perceived to be worse than under XP, due to its bloated codebase, which prevented Vista from running well on netbooks, as well as the poor availability of Vista drivers for many months after its launch.
Hardware drivers and how they interact with an operating system are key for battery drain. For instance, a driver that fails to let Windows turn off a Wi-Fi chip when users aren’t surfing the Web could accidentally result in poor battery life. Same with a graphics driver that isn’t able to shift processing work from an overtaxed CPU to a fresh GPU.
Be patient, says analyst
Jack Gold, an independent research analyst, says that it’s still too early to condemn Windows 7. “[With release candidates,] Microsoft often has debug code inserted to find and document problems, and the code is not optimized,” Gold said. “Same is true of the preliminary drivers available.”
Drivers are not written by Microsoft, but by the component makers themselves, he said. Rather than simply recycling their Vista drivers, the hardware vendors need the final release of Windows 7, which only arrived last month, and “a little time to perform their magic.”
While existing Windows XP netbooks may miss out on some of these optimizations, future models that ship with Windows 7 pre-installed may eventually have the same or longer battery life than XP that Microsoft has promised.
“It does not trouble me that current machines have less than optimum battery life, or performance for that matter. With all the resources Windows 7 will use on a device, optimization will take a little while to complete,” Gold said
One Big Netbook for One Low Price
Some people are buying netbooks to use as their main computer. I’m a big fan of netbooks, but there is no getting around the small keyboard and screen, they are best used sporadically rather than constantly.
Back in May, I wrote that I expected a new class of netbook computer, those with 12 or 11.5 inch screens, would be the perfect mating of low price with a keyboard and screen good enough for everyday, continual use.
One of this new class of netbooks, the Lenvo S12, is currently on sale for $379 (with free shipping). This is an amazingly low price for a 12 inch netbook.
There are multiple models of the S12 and this price is for the cheapest one.
A month ago, when Brad Linder did a lengthy review of the next-model-up S12, it was $499. That model, with an Intel Atom processor, now sells for $449. For $379 you get a VIA Nano processor.
Still, no one buys a netbook for the performance, it’s purchased for some combination of price, portability and operating system.
The most important aspects of the S12, for me at least, are the full sized keyboard and the 12.1 inch 1280×800 screen.
I have not used an S12, or seen a review that comments on just how pokey the VIA processor may or may not be. Certainly the glossy screen will be a turn-off for some.
On the other hand, Linder notes that “Typing on the IdeaPad S12 keyboard is virtually the same experience as typing on a laptop with a 14 inch or larger display” and he estimates the battery life to be between 5 and 6 hours.
He also agrees with me about prefering a larger netbook. He writes :
“As much as I love a 10 inch netbook, I find myself frequently grabbing the larger IdeaPad S12 when I’m on the go because it has many of the benefits of a netbook including long battery life and relatively small size and light weight, with the added advantage of a screen that can display significantly more information.”
US DHS Revises Border Laptop Search Rules
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security has released new rules for border agents searching travelers’ laptops and other electronic devices, but the revised guidelines won’t quiet complaints from the American Civil Liberties Union.
The new guidelines, unveiled Thursday, continue to allow U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to search electronic devices during border crossings without suspicion of wrongdoing. Both CBP and ICE are part of DHS.
The new rules were announced by DHS a day after the ACLU filed a lawsuit in an effort to get more information about border laptop searches. The ACLU and other groups have complained that the laptop search policy violates the U.S. Constitution’s Fourth Amendment against unreasonable search and seizure.
The new guidelines are intended to provide more “transparency and accountability” for the laptop searches, said Matt Chandler, DHS spokesman.
The guidelines require CBP to complete a search of an electronic device within five days and ICE to complete a search within 30 days. In addition, agents must take additional steps to inform and educate travelers about the searches, and the DHS Office for Civil Rights and Civil Liberties will conduct an assessment of the policy’s impact on civil rights within 120 days, Chandler said.
The new rules provide a good balance between U.S. security and civil liberties and privacy, Chandler said.
“Keeping Americans safe in an increasingly digital world depends on our ability to lawfully screen materials entering the United States,” DHS Secretary Janet Napolitano said in a statement. “The new directives announced today strike the balance between respecting the civil liberties and privacy of all travelers while ensuring DHS can take the lawful actions necessary to secure our borders.”
But the new rules don’t go far enough, said Catherine Crump, staff attorney with the ACLU First Amendment Working Group.
“DHS’ latest policy announcement on border searches is a disappointment and should not be mistaken for one that restores the constitutional rights of travelers at the border,” she said. “Members of the public deserve fundamental privacy rights when traveling and the safety of knowing that federal agents cannot rifle through their laptops without some reasonable suspicion of wrongdoing.”
The ACLU does not oppose border searches, she added. “But it does oppose a policy that leaves government officials free to exercise their power arbitrarily,” Crump said. “Such a policy not only invades our privacy but can lead to racial and religious profiling.”
CBP has asserted that it can search all files, including financial documents and Web browsing history, on travelers’ laptops and electronic devices “absent individualized suspicion.” The agency does need probable cause that a crime has been committed to seize a device.
In the past 10 months, CBP has dealt with more than 221 million travelers at U.S. ports of entry, according to DHS. CBP did about 1,000 laptop searches during that time, and only 46 were in-depth searches, the agency said.
Nokia Enters Netbook Fray with Booklet 3G
Nokia will join the ranks of netbook manufacturers with a stylish Windows-based offering called the Nokia Booklet 3G. It will have the looks of an Apple notebook and the guts of a PC. The netbook, according to Nokia, will have close ties to the company’s Ovi suite of online services and mobile applications currently available to Nokia handset owners.
The aluminum-encased Booklet 3G will be powered by an Intel Atom processor and deliver up to 12 hours of battery life “enabling people to leave their power cable behind and still be connected and productive,” the company said in a statement. The Booklet can connect to the Internet either by the built-in 3G card or by catching a Wi-Fi signal. It’ll weigh 1.25 kilograms (or just under one pound) and slip by at “slightly more than two centimeters thin (0.7 inches).”
Detailed specs, market availability and pricing will be announced at Nokia World on September 2. But here is what we know, according to details included in Nokia’s press release:
The Nokia Booklet 3G also ships with a GPS unit.
The 10-inch display will be glass, just like Apple’s family of aluminum MacBooks, for improved HD- and media-viewing.
Built-in access to the Nokia Music Store
Netbook will allow you to sync data with your Nokia handset or to a Web-based storage service.
Booklet 3G will have hooks to Nokia’s broad suite of Ovi services that include games, music and video offerings, and office productivity applications.
Judging from Nokia’s press release, the Nokia Booklet 3G will give Apple a low-priced run for its money. Returning students are choosing Windows-based netbooks at a substantially higher rate than Apple laptops, and Nokia grabbed this info and combined the stylish features found in Macs with the low-budget appeal of a netbook.
Verizon Offers Free Netbooks With BlackBerry Tour
Verizon Wireless is again offering a second BlackBerry with each one purchased, but this time the deal includes any other device — of equal or lesser value — that Verizon sells.
That means new subscribers, or those signing new two-year contracts, can get a free netbook with a BlackBerry Tour smartphone. The Tour costs US$199.99 after Verizon’s rebate, and the least-expensive netbook Verizon sells is the HP Mini 1151 NR, also priced at $199.99. Those customers could also get any USB, PC Card or ExpressCard modem the carrier offers.
The offer also covers the Intelligent Mobile Hotspot, a $199.99 battery-powered 3G modem that includes a Wi-Fi access point that can be used with any five Wi-Fi devices. To get any of these devices free with the BlackBerry, the customer would have to sign up for a two-year contract for both devices. Monthly data plans start at $39.99 with a 250MB cap and $59.99 with a 5GB cap.
Research In Motion and Verizon both have been working hard to grab attention and sales from the still-popular Apple iPhone, which in the U.S. is offered only on Verizon rival AT&T’s network. A BlackBerry buy-one-get-one offer that Verizon ran earlier this year was widely credited with helping the BlackBerry Curve beat the iPhone in unit sales in the first quarter. The BlackBerry Storm, RIM’s first touch-screen product, also debuted to hot sales in that quarter.
With the latest promotion, Verizon wanted to make sure its customers were able to get the second device they needed, instead of limiting them to getting another BlackBerry. Verizon sells all other BlackBerry models for less than the Tour, ranging from the Storm at $99.99 to the BlackBerry 8703e for $29.99, each with two-year contracts.
The Tour, which debuted last month, can work on both the EV-DO (Evolution-Data Optimized) network technology used by Verizon and the GSM/HSPA (Global System for Mobile Communications/High-Speed Packet Access) system used by most carriers outside the U.S. It is available in models with or without a 3.2-megapixel camera, meeting the security requirements of some businesses and government agencies. Both models cost $199.99 at Verizon
Lenovo to Replace Defective ThinkPad Batteries
Lenovo is offering to replace certain batteries sold with its ThinkPad line of laptops, warning users that they may be permanently damaged due to errors.
The company is offering free replacements for batteries that do not recharge or suffer from “irreparable damage,” according to Lenovo’s support Web site.
Users need to run a diagnostics tool to see if batteries show any of those symptoms. The tool can be downloaded from Lenovo’s support site. If it indicates the battery is either damaged, shows sudden drops in the fuel gauge or fails to recharge, then the battery may need to be replaced.
Eligibility for a free replacement also depends on the laptop model and specific battery installed. Only a limited number of ThinkPad batteries qualify for a free replacement, the company said on its support site. The replacement offer applies to worldwide customers.
Lenovo did not respond to requests for comment on the cause of the error. However, the company wrote on its support site that this was “not a safety recall and does not pose a safety hazard.”
The U.S. Consumer Safety Protection Commission in June 2007 asked Lenovo to recall about 100,000 ThinkPad batteries that could overheat and cause a fire. Those batteries were manufactured by Sanyo Electric Co. Ltd.
The laptops affected by this issue include the ThinkPad R60, R61, T60, T61, X60, X61 models with battery part numbers 42T4546, 42T4566, 92P1141, 42T4550, 42T4567, 42T4568, 92P1169, 92P1173, 93P5028, 93P5030.
Editor’s Note: This story was corrected at 6:28 p.m. on Aug. 14, 2009.
Is OQO Model 2+ Becoming a Collector’s Item?
The unreleased Model 2+ ultramobile computer from defunct PC maker OQO is getting plenty of attention on eBay, presumably for its value to collectors.
Bids for the fully functional, pocket-sized PCs have gone past US$4,500 in multiple eBay auctions. That is nearly four times the original price of the devices.
One individual had bid $5,000 for one of the ultramobile PCs as of Thursday, after 26 bids, with four days left until the auction ends. An earlier auction ended with the bidder paying $4,500 for a Model 2+.
The auctions come just months after OQO was forced to shut down after failing to find a buyer. The company unveiled the Model 2+ just a few months earlier at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. It was considered ahead of its time, and Intel ferried the device around the show floor, showing it in multiple demonstrations to build excitement around the Intel Atom processor family for mobile devices.
OQO gained a reputation as one of the few companies to offer handheld computers with full PC functionality. Known for innovative features and cutting-edge designs, the company introduced its first product, the OQO Model 01, in 2004. Though highly anticipated, the OQO devices were too expensive to attract many buyers at the time.
OQO announced that the Model 2+ would ship midyear with prices starting at $999. The company started taking orders but ceased operations before the device shipped.
Based on an Intel Atom Z-series processor running at 1.86GHz, the Model 2+ weighed less than 1 pound and came pre-loaded with the Windows Vista OS. Some of its features included a 5-inch-wide OLED (organic light-emitting diode) touch screen, Wi-Fi and Bluetooth wireless networking. It also included a Qualcomm Gobi chipset for mobile broadband connectivity through networks based on the CDMA2000, EV-DO (Evolution-Data Optimized) and HSPA (High Speed Packet Access) protocols.
But this week, questions lingered among OQO fans: Were the Model 2+ devices on auction for real, and why would someone pay such a high price for one? In a message board on OQOtalk, a forum dedicated to OQO device users, some said the unit for sale might be one of a few prototypes that were released by the company, and the OLED touch screen made the device worth it
“Obviously $4,000 is worth it for the only one of its kind,” wrote a poster going by the name Zorg. “I don’t see how you could dispute that.”
But others questioned the craze around the device, saying the initial euphoria would ultimately die down. “I have been wondering why I would do something like that – is the extra functionality really important over what I currently have or would it just be cool to have such a rare device?” wrote a poster going by the name of Marovada.
A highly skeptical poster, Intfan, wrote that the price was too high and that it would be better to wait until it was relisted at a lower price.
MSI Announces New C (As In “Cheap”) Series Laptops
Today, MSI announced five new additions to their Classic C-Series ultraportable line that bring some solid bang for your buck.
Cash-strapped gamers will appreciate the CX600 and CX700, both of which feature the ATi Mobility Radeon HD4330 discrete graphics card with 512 megabytes of video memory. The CX600 has a 16-inch 1366 by 768 pixel LCD display, while the CX700’s display weighs in at 17.3 inches with a resolution of 1600 by 900 pixels.
People looking for a portable multimedia PC, however, will probably opt for one of the three new models in the CR line: the CR600-013 and CR600-017 use the same 16-inch display as the CX600, and the CR700 uses the same 17-inch display as the CX700. While the CR line’s NVIDIA GeForce 8200M G integrated graphics card isn’t nearly as powerful as the CX’s Radeon, the CR line has an HDMI port that lets you use any HDMI-capable display as a second monitor, which is particularly useful with the CR600-017’s Blu-ray optical drive (the other four laptops use a Super Multi Optical Drive).
All five of the laptops ship with Vista pre-installed, a 320GB Hard Disk Drive, 4GB of memory, Gigabit Ethernet, 802.11n Wi-Fi wireless networking, and a 6-cell battery, as well as laptop standards like a 1.3 Megapixel webcam, 4-in-1 card reader, and 3 USB ports. Each of the laptops is powered by an Intel T4200 Dual Core 2GHz processor, except the CR600-017, which has the T4300 2.1GHz. Models with the 16-inch screen will weigh 5.47lbs with the battery, while models with the 17-inch screen will weigh closer to 6.6lbs. There’s also a three-year warranty included to keep your new baby safe.
Best of all, the new C-series laptops start at a very reasonable $550. Stop by our $500-$1000 laptop chart to get an idea of what other companies are offering for that price, or check out our reviews of the MSI WIND U123 Netbook and the MSI GT 725 Desktop Replacement if you’re looking for more beef or more sleek.
MSI Announces New C (As In “Cheap”) Series Laptops
Today, MSI announced five new additions to their Classic C-Series ultraportable line that bring some solid bang for your buck.
Cash-strapped gamers will appreciate the CX600 and CX700, both of which feature the ATi Mobility Radeon HD4330 discrete graphics card with 512 megabytes of video memory. The CX600 has a 16-inch 1366 by 768 pixel LCD display, while the CX700’s display weighs in at 17.3 inches with a resolution of 1600 by 900 pixels.
People looking for a portable multimedia PC, however, will probably opt for one of the three new models in the CR line: the CR600-013 and CR600-017 use the same 16-inch display as the CX600, and the CR700 uses the same 17-inch display as the CX700. While the CR line’s NVIDIA GeForce 8200M G integrated graphics card isn’t nearly as powerful as the CX’s Radeon, the CR line has an HDMI port that lets you use any HDMI-capable display as a second monitor, which is particularly useful with the CR600-017’s Blu-ray optical drive (the other four laptops use a Super Multi Optical Drive).
All five of the laptops ship with Vista pre-installed, a 320GB Hard Disk Drive, 4GB of memory, Gigabit Ethernet, 802.11n Wi-Fi wireless networking, and a 6-cell battery, as well as laptop standards like a 1.3 Megapixel webcam, 4-in-1 card reader, and 3 USB ports. Each of the laptops is powered by an Intel T4200 Dual Core 2GHz processor, except the CR600-017, which has the T4300 2.1GHz. Models with the 16-inch screen will weigh 5.47lbs with the battery, while models with the 17-inch screen will weigh closer to 6.6lbs. There’s also a three-year warranty included to keep your new baby safe.
Best of all, the new C-series laptops start at a very reasonable $550. Stop by our $500-$1000 laptop chart to get an idea of what other companies are offering for that price, or check out our reviews of the MSI WIND U123 Netbook and the MSI GT 725 Desktop Replacement if you’re looking for more beef or more sleek.
China Will Not Enforce Green Dam Porn Filter Plan
China said Thursday it will not force PC makers to bundle an Internet filtering program with computers sold in the country, backing down from a plan that stirred global controversy.
China will “definitely not” require the program, called Green Dam, to be packaged with all consumer PCs, said Li Yizhong, China’s Minister of Industry and Information Technology, according to a transcript of his statements on a government Web portal.
China originally ordered all foreign and domestic PC vendors to pre-install Green Dam on new machines or to include the software on a CD-ROM. That mandate, issued in May, was indefinitely postponed just hours before it was slated to take effect last month. At the time, the Chinese government said it delayed the plan only to give PC makers more time to comply, but it did not set a new date for enforcement.
Thursday’s statements were the first clear sign that China would not enforce the plan, which drew strong protest from Western PC makers and industry organizations. China has insisted that the Web filter was meant to protect children from pornography, but the program was also found to block Web sites that mentioned sensitive political topics such as Falun Gong, a spiritual movement banned in China as a cult.
Concerns about the program ranged from free speech and user privacy to PC security and intellectual property violations. A California-based software maker last month said it was preparing legal action over Green Dam for its use of programming code stolen from the company.
Li said use of the filter was meant to be optional and that the plan was misunderstood because it was not explained clearly. The software can be disabled or uninstalled.
PC makers including Lenovo, Acer and Asustek Computer have gone ahead with plans to distribute the program.
China’s government will go ahead with installation of Green Dam on computers in public schools, Internet cafes and other public places, Li said. It is also working to address flaws in the program and would not rule out introducing a better filter, he said.
