20. Ultra Low Voltage (ULV) Processor

TX series laptops include ordinary ULV Pentium M CPUs.

As with the majority of ultra-lightweight and lightweight laptop vendors, Sony uses a so-called Ultra Low Voltage (ULV) CPU in its TX series units, in this case, the Pentium M 753 ULV model. This processor is rated for maximum power consumption of only 5 W, thanks to its input voltage of less than 1V and its maximum CPU clock rate of only 1.2 GHz. By comparison, a standard Pentium M like the 2.2 GHz 780 model consumes up to 27 W, which also leads to increased heat dissipation. Though CPU clocking on standard laptops is normally under the control of the Windows Power Scheme Control Panel utility, Sony provides experienced users with complete control over CPU clocking on their laptops as well.

Sony's Power Manager utility enables users to control CPU clocking, thereby extending battery lifetime.

The three following options all appear under the menu heading "CPU Control" in the Sony Powermanager utility, giving users a means of controlling CPU clock speeds more directly:

Performance: the CPU always runs at a maximum clock rate of 1.2 GHz Adaptive: The CPU clock rate goes over 600 MHz only when heavy processor demand requires more processing power. Battery Life: The CPU clock rate stays at a constant rate of 600 MHz no matter how much processing power the system needs.

Cooling And Ventilation

A small fan positioned on the left side of the laptop cools the internals of the Sony VGN-TX1XP. Except under heavy load the temperature of the underside of this laptop seldom climbs above 102° F (39° C). Thus, you can work with the TX1XP on your laptop even under sultry summer temperatures. The numerous ventilation slits on the underside of the laptop's case are one reason for the normally comfortable temperature at which it operates.

Numerous ventilation slits under key hotspots (RAM, chipset, CPU, hard disk) help facilitate rapid heat transfer outside the case