MSI Wind U123 and ASUS 1000HE Show Netbook Evolution
by Wesley Fink on July 17, 2009 12:02 AM EST- Posted in
- Laptops
Battery Capacity Testing
One of the charms of the netbook format is the promise that the little computers can provide very long battery life by using less powerful processors that consume extremely low power compared to current top-performing CPUs. Netbooks have quickly developed a reputation for sipping power and truly providing the ability to power a flight-long session or a work session for a full 8-hour workday. This has been helped along by manufacturers who have been beefing up battery capacity in more recent netbooks and claiming increasingly longer battery life in their specifications.
Of course you didn't come to AnandTech to see a list of manufacturer's claims, you came here for real world test results. Like notebooks, the battery life claims in netbook specs really don't provide the kind of information most buyers are looking for. Why specify battery life with the netbook wireless LAN turned off as most manufacturers do? The most visited websites use flash imaging, so why test with just non-flash websites to inflate battery life numbers? Do you really care about how the battery lasts with very long idle periods? We believe most want to know how long a battery charge lasts when a netbook is used as most people use them. Therefore the AnandTech battery life test is conducted with a wireless internet connection constantly on, viewing pages that contain some flash images among the text.
In AnandTech notebook battery testing the screen brightness is calibrated so that is equal on each tested notebook. The netbook is a particular challenge in this regard, since the highest current netbook screen resolution is 1024x600. We have several versions of standardized brightness calibration software, but the lowest resolution supported by any package is 1024x768. Since it makes little sense to test battery life with an external display we addressed this issue by setting an ASUS 1000HA to the middle of its brightness adjustment scale. Other displays were visually matched to the mid-level brightness of the ASUS 1000HA screen.
All hibernation and power management schemes were disabled on the netbook, and a wireless connection was established from the netbook under test while the battery charger was still attached. We connect to a script at anandtech.com that cycles among a group of standard anandtech.com pages that contain text, charts, graphs, and flash elements. The pages are continuously cycled at a fixed interval. The charger is then disconnected and a stop watch started. The test is run until the netbook shuts off due to low battery power. This is the same Battery Test run in our recent MacBook Pro article.
Results are reported in hours and minutes and provide a comparison of battery performance under common usage at the most demanding conditions. Please keep in mind that the AnandTech battery life results represent a realistic usage scenario. If you use an Ethernet connection and rarely use wireless your battery life will be slightly longer. If you surf the web with long intervals of inactivity, your battery life will again be longer. If you disable flash, battery life will also improve.
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fuberwil - Tuesday, September 15, 2009 - link
I think this is just showing the evolution of the netbooks. A relatively recent device that now has everyone clamoring for one due to the size and portability of it. I think MSI is onto something especially with the option of the 9cell battery which can offer up to 10 hours of work time (from what i've read). Partner that with a low price tag with amazing specs then you have the new best friend of every student and businessman. Yea i think they all have their shortcomings such as the mouse track or the keyboard but like any good electronical device give it some time then it will meet consumers needs on almost every level.Hrel - Thursday, August 6, 2009 - link
A device like that would NEVER be worth more than 200 bucks to me, and I'd feel a little rotten about paying anything more than 100. Not to mention it's not really much more portable than a laptop. Laptops just need better battery life so we don't have to chug around with the ac adapter, If my laptop got 12 hours of battery life I'd take EVERYWHERE!!!afkrotch - Thursday, July 30, 2009 - link
I can't see how anyone can recommend these pieces of crap. I've owned an Asus EeePC Seashell and I would never recommend these to anyone I know. I don't care about battery life, size, or weight. The pieces of crap run so freaking slow. On a straight up HTML page, it flies, but once you get into something that's heavy in java, php, etc is lags. It lags when you scroll, move to a new page, etc.For simple websurfing, it fails. If all you plan on doing is typing up on notepad, ya. Go ahead. Have Office 2k7? Play with lag. It lags when I type.
FYI, I cleaned off the XP Home they had on there and installed a clean copy of XP Pro. I thought it would help with the lagging, but needless to say. It didn't.
MamiyaOtaru - Monday, July 20, 2009 - link
stop making glossy bodied netbooks. They look like trash as soon as someone touches them. Also never make glossy screened netbooks. I want to see what I'm working on, not my reflection. WOn't buy any eee past the original 900 because of this.kawatwo - Sunday, July 19, 2009 - link
Futisu and Sony both have 2 Ghz atoms overseas now in the P and the u820. It shouldn' be long before they make there way here. Also, it costs a little more but people always forget Asus own N10J mmodel with the gforce 9300m which makes it a pretty well rounded machine. A 2 Ghz N10 would be pretty remarkable I would think.I'm waiting for the 2 Ghz U820 though as I travel by motorcycle whenever possible.
AstroGuardian - Sunday, July 19, 2009 - link
Hmmm.. 2Hhz? Like 5% more horsepower? Not feeling like waiting for it lol.I think the netbook future will be pushing the limits to portable CPUs and GPUs. Nowdays netbook CPUs are useless except for bare computer needs. Right?
Wesleyrpg - Saturday, July 18, 2009 - link
hey guys, i know the MSI Wind 123 already has an impressive battery life, but how would it perform with an Intel SSD and would there be any better battery life?richwenzel - Saturday, July 18, 2009 - link
The lenovo s12 and the samsung nc20 both have the new via nano. I believe asus has a netbook and possibly dell as well with the nano.the nano supposedly can do blue ray. It would have been nice to see the differences between the two.
the nc20 is a bit pricier, at $500-$550 or so, but the lenovo can be had for around $400.
there is another company call top crown, www.tct.hk that looks they have some interesting developments with the nano
piasabird - Saturday, July 18, 2009 - link
What is the appeal of a miniature laptop which is slow and underpowered? Better yet, just build a small nettop with a real processor. One thing I tend to wonder is why these Atom motherboards are so inexpensive, yet the via Mini-ITX motherboards are so expensive. Maybe it is just mass production fueled by the want of people for a smaller computer. Myself, I think you could just as easily hook it up to an external HD widescreen monitor. This would give such a device more appeal.You could just make a phone that could plug into a monitor. Why carry around a big nettop? I think it is just as possible.
SilthDraeth - Friday, July 17, 2009 - link
My brother bought an EEE specifically to run some DJing software on it, so he didn't have to lug around his Macbook. Unfortunately it couldn't handle it. He then couldn't sell it on Ebay, only scammers tried to buy it.Not blaming the netbook, and he had the money to throw away, and still makes use of it. But something with a bit more horsepower than a slight processor clock speed increase would be very welcome.
Looks like we may have to wait a bit longer though.