7. Testing The WinBook X610

MobilityGuru uses four test suites to benchmark mobile computer battery life and performance. These include BAPCo's MobileMark 2005 and SYSmark 2004 SE, FutureMark's PCMark05, and, when the computer has appropriate graphics hardware, FutureMark's 3DMark05. When a computer like the WinBook X610 we're reporting on here musters only very low scores on 3DMark05 we note them, but don't include charts for these results.

Beyond battery life and performance, laptop displays are tested for brightness, plus uniformity of brightness and contrast.

For details on the tests see How We Test Laptop and Notebook Computers for Home and Office

MobileMark 2005 Battery Benchmarks

The MobileMark 2005 benchmarks test how a mobile computer does when running on battery. There are four battery life tests: office productivity, research and reading, DVD playback and wireless Web browsing. The DVD playback test is run only when the computer has a built-in DVD drive or includes a dedicated external DVD drive that is powered by the computer's battery.

Each test uses real world applications and runs from the time the computer's battery reaches full charge and the power plug is pulled until the battery is totally discharged. Test results are reported in hours and minutes. In addition, MobileMark 2005 calculates two performance values while doing the office productivity test: an overall performance score and the average response time for completion of all the tasks in the office productivity test. The overall performance score is based on average response time and is scaled against the performance of a modestly powered reference system, which is assigned a score of 100 as a deliberate point of comparison.

MobileMark 2005 tests are run with the CPU in battery saving mode. This means that the CPU speed changes according to computing demands and, in some cases, battery charge. Though it tends to increase battery life while reducing performance, this is the preferred way to run a laptop on battery and, because this is the default setting on almost all mobile computers, it is the way most people run their laptops on internal power.

Typically, a portable computer's display uses more battery power than any other component. For the MobileMark 2005 tests, screen brightness is set using a luminance meter to between 60 and 70 nits or candelas per square meter. This level is high enough to make a computer's display easily readable and low enough to effectively conserve battery power. A standard brightness level also assures that MobileMark 2005 test results are comparable from computer to computer.

All MobileMark 2005 tests are performed using the battery that comes with the computer when you buy it. If the manufacturer also sends us a higher capacity battery, we run the Office Productivity test with that battery installed. Even if the manufacturer includes a high capacity optional battery, charts include only results for tests using the standard battery. Results for high capacity batteries are presented in the conclusions section, which follows the charts. On rare occasions the manufacturer provides only a non-standard high capacity battery, we run the tests with the high capacity battery and talk in the Conclusions section about how the test computer might have done with its standard capacity battery.

The following charts present the MobileMark 2005 tests for the WinBook X610 notebook, and the recently reviewed HP Pavilion DV4000, along with averaged test scores for four laptops with 1.2 GHz CPUs and 512 MB memory: Sony VAIO VGN-T350P, Fujitsu Lifebook P1510D, Fujitsu Lifebook B6110D, Toshiba Portege R200. Note that WinBook itself refers to the Sony and Toshiba units in positioning its own product. The Sony is the only of the four laptops with a built-in DVD drive. So, it is the only 1.2 GHz/512 MB computer included in the DVD battery life benchmark test.