7. Performance: The Windows XP Battery Drain Problem, A Variety Of Tests

Near the end of this section you'll find a table summarizing all the tests discussed here. I suggest you read through all of the tests and results and then go to the table for a concise overview of the tests and findings.

With no patch installed and the TV tuner/video capture device, but not its driver installed, the battery lasted 1:46 with no external device connected and 1:44 with the external USB 2.0 hard disk drive attached and turned on. There's that two minute difference again. With no patch and the TV tuner/video capture device removed and its driver not installed the N6410 ran for 1:54 without the external hard disk drive installed and 1:46 with the external disk drive plugged in.

OK! Eight minutes of battery lost without the TV tuner video capture device, but with the external USB drive attached. Without the USB tuner the external drive became the only source of battery drain.

Next I tried the tests with the patch and the TV tuner/video capture device installed, but still without the tuner's driver. There was absolutely no difference in battery life with the patch in place! With or without the external hard disk drive the battery lasted for 1:52. With the patch in place and the TV tuner/video capture device removed, battery life was 1:54 with or without the USB 2.0 external drive. The patch works!

Finally, I tested with the TV tuner/video capture and its driver installed. Without the external USB drive or the patch the battery lasted 1:30 and 1:37 with the patch. Remember that battery life under Media Center Edition with no patch and the TV tuner/video capture device and its driver installed was 1:29, which is pretty close to the 1:30 I got here and, by the way, the time Fujitsu says you can expect with MCE when the TV tuner/video capture device and its driver are installed. I didn't test with the USB external drive attached mostly because it was unlikely to affect battery life that much based on my earlier tests. Also, I didn't have time to go back and test under MCE with the TV tuner/video capture device and its driver removed. Based on tests presented here, I would expect that the impact would be somewhat less than under Windows XP, but still significant.

The following table presents all of the tests reported in this section.

Overall, it's pretty clear that our little Easter Egg TV tuner/video capture device had a significant affect on battery life, especially with its driver installed. If I were going to buy this computer I would buy it with the external USB 2.0 TV tuner/video capture device rather than the internal one. That way I could remove the device whenever I wanted better battery life.

You might be wondering by now why I didn't contact Fujitsu's engineers when I first noticed the testing anomalies. I'm not a masochist. I tried at that time, but for some reason, they were silent on this issue. It's my guess that mobile computer manufacturers are scared to discuss this problem for fear of upsetting Microsoft. They're likely just keeping mum and waiting quietly for the promised fix.