Since the beginning of this year, a large number of CULV notebooks have been listed. Although CULV is criticized for its performance, its long service life is well known. Relatively speaking, although traditional notebooks have advantages in performance, they are far inferior to low-power platform models such as CULV in battery life. Therefore, many manufacturers integrate ECO energy-saving technology into notebooks. At present, many notebooks have adopted this technology, even including some low-power netbooks. So to what extent can the introduction of ECO mode improve the endurance of notebooks? Can traditional notebooks compete with low-power notebooks with ECO? Therefore, IT 168 cross-evaluates the ECO model and compares its differences and effects.
The models tested this time are all 13 inch, which is at least comparable. These models include consumer notebook Toshiba Portege M90 1, business notebook Fujitsu S642 1, CULV notebook MSI X340 and netbook MSI X320. The four laptop configurations are as follows:
model
Toshiba Portege M90 1
Fujitsu Lifebook S642 1
MSI X320
MSI X340
type
Consumer level
business affairs
netbook
CULV low power consumption
processor
Intel Core 2 Duo Processor T6500
Intel Pentium Dual-Core T43
00
Intel Atom Z530
Intel Celeron M ULV 723
chip set
Intel PM45
Intel GM45
Intel US 15W
Intel GS45
hard disc
320 GB(5400 rpm)
320GB
320GB
320GB
internal storage
2GB DDR2(800MHz)
2GB DDR3 1066MHz
2GB DDR2
2GB DDR2
display card
ATI Mobile Radium Dragon HD 4570
Integrated Intel GMA X4500MHD
Integrated Intel GMA 500
Integrated Intel GMA X4500MHD
CD-ROM drive
DVD super multi-layer recording optical drive
Pluggable DVD super multi-layer recording optical drive
not have
not have
Engagement/interface
2? USB2.0， 1？ Electronic SATA
, integrated card reader, VGA interface, HDMI interface, RJ45 interface, earphone/microphone interface.
3? USB2.0, integrated card reader, VGA interface, RJ45 interface, earphone/microphone interface.
3? USB2.0, 2-in-1 card reader, VGA interface, RJ45 interface, earphone/microphone interface.
2? Usb 2.0, 2-in-1 1 card reader, VGA interface, HDMI interface, RJ45 interface, earphone/microphone interface.
Before the test, briefly introduce what ECO is. ECO is the abbreviation of ecological word, which means ecological protection. In fact, ECO technology has been used in IT products for a long time, such as liquid crystal displays and projectors. However, most of them save energy by reducing brightness and power consumption in unused application environments. This energy-saving technology is gradually adopted by various IT branches because it conforms to the trend of environmental protection and energy saving.
ECO is widely used in display devices.
The ECO energy-saving mode of notebooks is slightly different. It reduces power consumption by controlling the indicator light by the hypervisor, reducing the screen brightness and stopping the port power supply. In general, it is to turn off unnecessary power-consuming accessories and improve battery life. From the user's point of view, the notebook needs a certain logo and operation interface to achieve this effect. So, how are these notebooks realized?
Toshiba M90 1 Touch Eco-shortcut key
There is a row of touch shortcut keys above the keyboard of Toshiba Portege M90 1. The first is the mode switch button marked with ECO logo. Touch the ECO sign, the ECO mode will be turned on and the light will turn green. The whole process is very eye-catching and convenient.
Fujitsu S642 1 Shortcut Panel
Fujitsu S642 1 is the same as Toshiba M90 1. The ECO button is arranged in the shortcut bar, but it is common with multimedia buttons, and you can use the button on the far right. Mode？ Button to switch between different states. When the light in front of the application lights up, the ECO key is valid. It is also very convenient to use, only one step more than Toshiba M90 1.
ECO shortcut keys for X320 and X340
Because the molds of MSI X320 and X340 are the same, the design and distribution of keys are the same. ECO shortcut keys are arranged on the function keys and need to be used with Fn, which is the same as the function switching method commonly used in notebooks. The only difference between MSI X320 and X340 is that X320 is marked with ECO logo beside the right power button to enhance the description of machine characteristics.
Environmental protection sign next to X320
These machines provide a convenient operation mode on the fuselage panel, so what kind of management program is used to set up ECO in the system?
The improvement of technology is often manifested in both soft and hard aspects. Toshiba, which has always been generous in random software, has equipped a software called Toshiba ECO Utility for ECO. This software is started with the system, which not only controls the ECO, but also monitors the power consumption of the system, and displays it in the form of a line chart. It is clear at a glance, which is easy for both old users and users who are not familiar with the operation.
Toshiba ecological utility tools are clear at a glance.
At the same time, the operation interface of the software can directly display the power configuration options of the current system, which is much more convenient than adjusting from the system. At the same time, it can display monthly/weekly/daily electricity consumption according to time. With Toshiba computer health monitoring software, users can? Use it clearly, use it clearly? .
Monitor power consumption by time
Fujitsu S642 1 is equipped with ECO energy-saving utility. After the ECO is started, the software will automatically open, and a prompt window for disabling the equipment will pop up. Because ECO technology works by disabling devices and ports, it brings trouble to users who need to use optical drives and interfaces when ECO is in a power-saving state. However, the software can manually set which devices can still be turned on after the ECO is started, which fully takes into account the user's usage habits.
The power saving utility facilitates the control device to be disabled.
MSI X320 and X340 are both operated by the system control manager software in the system, with different environmental modes, such as games, text, power saving, etc. , which can be started by Fn+ECO key, is very similar to the power switching procedure of ordinary notebooks. Comparatively speaking, the humanized setting is not as exquisite as the first two paragraphs.
Through the comparison of operation modes, we can roughly understand the differences between several different types of notebooks, and then start to test the battery life difference of each model before and after starting ECO.
The tested models and systems are all Windows Vista, and the test software adopts Battery Mark battery test program. Before the test, fully charge the battery of the notebook and turn off some related management of the system, such as power scheme, alarm, status bar, screen saver, hibernation, etc., because if there are omissions, the accuracy of the test results will be affected. Finally, adjust the brightness of the screen to half.
It is very important to modify the power mode.
In the test, the life test mode is selected, and four engines, graphics engine, processor engine, disk engine and Think engine, are called to simulate the notebook in practical application. The test first adopts non-ECO mode, consumes 0 power, and then fully charges after turning on ECO for endurance practice test.
Test interface
Toshiba M90 1 adopts six-cell 3700 mAh lithium battery. The endurance test is 3 hours 13 minutes when ECO is not turned on, and it is increased to 3 hours1minute after ECO is turned on, and the improvement effect is not obvious.
Fujitsu S642 1 is a commercial aircraft, and its endurance is very important. This machine adopts 4400mAh six-cell lithium ion battery. The battery life provided by the government is 4 hours. It can reach 3 hours and 36 minutes when the ECO is turned off and 4 hours and 20 minutes after the ECO is turned on. The effect is very obvious.
The netbook MSI X-Slim X320 uses a 2 150 mA lithium battery with a battery life of 3 hours and 29 minutes in non-ECO mode, and the battery life is increased to 3 hours and 53 minutes after turning on ECO, with average effect.
The X-Slim X340 of CULV platform uses the same battery as X320. The battery life is 2 hours and 43 minutes in non-ECO mode, and it is increased to 2 hours and 58 minutes after turning on ECO, and the effect is average.
The comparison results are shown in the following table: (time: minutes)
type
Toshiba M90 1
Fujitsu S642 1
MSI X320
MSI X340
Close ECO
193
2 16
209
163
Open ECO
2 1 1
260
233
178
Ascending proportion
19.35%
20.37%
1 1.48%
9.20%
It can be seen from the test results that Fujitsu S642 1 can obviously improve the battery life by ECO technology, which can be extended by nearly 30 minutes under normal circumstances. Consumer-grade Toshiba M90 1 and low-power MSI X320 and X340 have also improved, but the range is about 20 minutes, which is not obvious. The reason may be related to the principle of ECO. Fujitsu S642 1 has many ports, but the important thing is that it has a built-in power-consuming optical drive, so it can greatly improve endurance practice after shutdown. Netbooks and CULV machines themselves are based on low power consumption. At the beginning of the design, they reduced the power-consuming equipment as much as possible, such as canceling the optical drive and removing the PCMCIA interface, so the improvement effect after turning on the ECO mode is not as obvious as that of the conventional notebook. Toshiba Portege M90 1 is not as good as X320/X340, because its LCD screen consumes more power than the other three LED backlight TFTs, occupying a large proportion of power consumption, and ECO has no effect on the LCD screen, thus dragging down the performance.
Toshiba M90 1
Fujitsu S642 1
It can be seen from the test results that the notebook with standard voltage processor can still rely on ECO technology to improve battery life as long as it uses LED backlight TFT LCD screen. As for the low-power platform model, although the battery life of the two models used in this test is not very long, the advantages of the low-power platform are still unbreakable. For example, Acer's 38 10T series and ASUS's UX30 series can stand by for more than 9 hours, and good results can still be achieved if ECO technology is adopted.