T41 2373-8RG Power Consumption 24/7

[A-Ge0]

I have a t41 and i wonder how much power does it consume?
i consider having it work all day all week.

will i have any problems doing so? will i have to take out the battery or something? is it good to underclock first (battery mode)? how much watt does it consume? will i have any other problems?

[FTC]

Hi,

No, you will not have problems. I've had my 2 T4x's on 24x7 for the last year (folding for the world community grid when I don't use them), and all is good.
However, I have taken the following precautions:

- Keep an eye on temps during the first weeks... if you feel your TP gets very hot (I'd say over 80ºC) then look for a solution (i.e reapplying the processor thermal compound, finding a cooler place or undervolting the processor a bit with CHC or similar proggie).

- Shut it off or disconnect from mains / network / phone line during electrical storms. I had one modem burned 2 years ago !

- Set the battery settings so that it only recharges once the charge stored is low (arond 80 or 85%) this avoids doing many microcharges... and saves wear on battery.

Re. Power consumption, it's quite easy to measure, given that the battery information wizard gives you the instant consumption... just configure your settings for max. perfomance on battery, unplug mains and measure the discarge rate with the applet... this will give you an idea.

[kidtriton]

what is the best temperature monitoring app that will run in windows and show temps for the t41?

[A-Ge0]

" Set the battery settings so that it only recharges once the charge stored is low (arond 80 or 85%) this avoids doing many microcharges... and saves wear on battery. "

my laptop does not have this option, is there any other software that can do it?

thanj you

[GomJabbar]

" Set the battery settings so that it only recharges once the charge stored is low (arond 80 or 85%) this avoids doing many microcharges... and saves wear on battery. "

my laptop does not have this option, is there any other software that can do it?

thanj you

Go to Start > All Programs > Access IBM > Battery MaxiMiser Wizard. As you go through the setup, choose to put icon in system tray. Now look for battery icon in the system tray. Click on battery icon and choose 'Improve Battery Health'. The settings described above are there.

[A-Ge0]

the help file says that in some models this feature is supported. i think that my thinkpad doesnt support it, as i could not find it the way you said.

is there any other program that does the same thing?

[GomJabbar]

the help file says that in some models this feature is supported. i think that my thinkpad doesnt support it, as i could not find it the way you said.

is there any other program that does the same thing?

You mentioned previously that you have a T41. Here is the page where you can get the Battery Maximizer software for your ThinkPad. It is version 1.38 which is the same as my T42. I would suspect that it has the same features. You also need the following (copied from the Battery Maximizer readme file):
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The other ThinkPad machines:
- IBM ThinkPad Configuration package
- IBM ThinkPad Presentation Director (Windows 98/98 SE/Me/2000/XP
or later only)
- IBM ThinkPad EasyEject Utility (Win2000/XP or later only)
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Follow the instructions in the readme files for each of the four packages for installation of the software. You can run ThinkVantage Software Installer to view if any of these packages are installed, and what version they are. I would think that the ThinkVantage Software Installer would find and install these software packages automatically for you. If you haven't used Software Installer before, download from the same web page listed above. I wouldn't install everything Software Installer offers. At present I would shy away from IBM Rescue and Recovery, System Migration Assistant, and BIOS updates.