Improving performance on a laptop/tablet

[Farling]

Hi folks,

I've done a little investigation, and it appears that my laptop had its "power plan" set to "Power saver". This meant that the processor was running at only 0.78 GHz instead of its stated maximum 2.3 GHz.

This meant that it was very slow at changing topics (and especially slow at opening a new tab).

I changed the power plan to the recommended "Balanced" setting and now when I change topics I can see the processor jump up to 3.2 GHz (yes, over the stated "maximum") and the change occurs A LOT quicker.

(It drops back to 0.78 GHz when I'm not actively editting with RW, so no battery drain most of the time.)

[Vargr]

Nice :-)

I still find that the changing of topics etc. is somewhat slow - RW did get a speed boost some time back (what? Half a year back?), which was really nice.

[Parody]

I set my portable devices to run full bore when powered and adapting when on battery.

Desktops get set to run full bore always ("on battery" for desktops means a UPS is active, if you have one connected via USB/serial), have hibernation/hybrid sleep disabled, and similar.

Takes a couple minutes when you first set up the computer to create the custom plan(s) or edit the default ones, but then you're good.

[Pollution]

Another tip for you with the "Run full bore" thing....

You also have 2 options for charging your battery. Some manufacturers (Lenovo especially) you can either charge your battery, or charge your battery for health.

The difference here, is that if you run your laptop plugged in ALL THE TIME, then your battery will receive and burn energy on the "Health" setting. On the "Full charge" setting, you are constantly charging. What happens is that if you always "full charge" your battery, it will shorten the life. If you charge for Health, you get about 65-70%.

So with Full Charge, you might have about 5-10 hours of charge, but your battery will last a year or 2.

With Health, you might have 3-6 hours charge, but your battery may last for 5 years.

Nothing to do with RW, but hey, we were talking about batteries.

[Parody]

The laptops I've had don't use the battery while plugged into the wall; they run from the power exclusively. You could remove the battery once it's fully charged, though you probably shouldn't while the machine's running. :)

In other words, very highly system dependent.

[Exmortis]

Biggest killer of batteries is heat, heat, heat.

I always recommend some form of active cooler for the underside of your lappy. the more powerful the more important it is, and when running off battery it is critical.

I have a twin 120mm fan G17 Stealth cooler for my lappy in its home base, travel and at the lake. It is primo cost, but it is awesome and better yet comes with a 4 port USB hub, as well as the fans are user replaceable. Newer one has USB 3 hub!

Even with that I just replaced the battery, the heat the Ivy quad i7 CPU with a 7970 GPU push, it generates enough heat to warm a small New Hampshire town. hehehe.

I really want to replace it with a new Skylake based i7 but I have this thing called a b-u-d-g-e-t, and there is no room for it unless I stop eating, paying for place to live, heat, etc.....

[MNBlockHead]

I just kill the battery and buy a new one every year or so. I know I could have ~$100 every year or so by taking my battery out of my laptop when plugged in, but I have a laptop so I can move it about the house on a whim. During the day, it is usually in my docking station on my treadmill desk. But I work from home and sometime I like to grab it and work on the kitchen table to go to a coffee shop. I have a Logitech Cooling Pad when using my laptop on my lap, usually in the evening on the recliner. But that is more for comfort and keeping my lap cool than my laptop.

Within 6 months the battery life on my Thinkpad x230 dropped by half and after two years I can barely get an hour's use running the battery. So it's time to burn ~$70 on a new 9-cell battery. Pretty soon, batteries will be to laptops what ink cartridges are to printers.

When I get my new battery, my plan is to get it to a 70% charge and keep it in the refrigerator until I need to travel and use my old battery around the house.