Battery vs AC performance?

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UclaWill · #1 Post by **UclaWill** » Fri Jun 04, 2004 4:47 pm

I've noticed that when I switch from AC to battery power, there is a noticable decrease in performance, even though all power options are set to maximize performance during battery usage. This is especially noticable when I'm surfing the web (ie web pages take much longer to load). Is this a typical phenomenon when switching from AC power to battery power? Thanks in advance.

PS This T42 is my very first laptop! I'm thrilled with my purchase, but just want to be sure its acting how its supposed to

csv96 · #2 Post by **csv96** » Fri Jun 04, 2004 5:16 pm

Try the profile "High System Performance". Does it still seem slower?

UclaWill · #3 Post by **UclaWill** » Fri Jun 04, 2004 5:30 pm

csv96 wrote:Try the profile "High System Performance". Does it still seem slower?

Hey csv96,

Thank you for the response. That's the setting I've been using. Yet, the second I unplug, web pages start loading about 25% slower...

csv96 · #4 Post by **csv96** » Fri Jun 04, 2004 5:36 pm

Which model do you have?

Click the wireless status indicator in the icon tray (the one that looks like stair-steps) and change Power Save Mode to low. Does that make a difference?

The only other thing I can think of is maybe the graphics powersaving feature makes it seem like webpages load slower.

UclaWill · #5 Post by **UclaWill** » Fri Jun 04, 2004 6:00 pm

I have the 2378FVU (upgraded to 512MB ram)

I just spoke to an IBM tech guy and he said that a performance decrease is perfectly normal when switching from AC to Battery power (regardless of if the computer is set to high system performance). Hmm I just wish it wasn't so noticable... For some web pages, it almost feels like a dial-up connection (and those same web pages load perfectly the moment I plug the AC cord back in)...

Chun-Yu · #6 Post by **Chun-Yu** » Fri Jun 04, 2004 6:07 pm

I don't believe this IBM tech guy at all. I once forgot my AC adapter at a LAN party, and ended up playing UT2004 for hours on my 2 batteries. As long as you disable CPU and GPU power savings (and wireless, if you are using it), there should be absolutely NO performance difference at all between AC and battery.

UclaWill · #7 Post by **UclaWill** » Fri Jun 04, 2004 6:26 pm

Chun-Yu,

I'm skeptical as well. Thank you for the second opinion.

When I bypassed the wireless connection and plugged the Cable Modem line directly into the computer, everything worked great. So it seems that, at least for me, using the battery instead of AC power limits my Wi-Fi performance over most everything else. And I'm mainly left just wondering if this is a normal occurance or not.

tselling · #8 Post by **tselling** » Fri Jun 04, 2004 6:43 pm

Try the "Always On" setting from Windows XP Control Panel Power Options. This is supposed to be the best setting for getting maximum performance.

akerman · #9 Post by **akerman** » Sat Jun 05, 2004 6:52 am

wow that doesn't make sense.. even at the lowest settings, a trival matter such as loading webpages, should not be any slower than at the highest settings.

have you tried measuring your download speed, once with AC, and then on battery - if there's a noticeable difference there, then it's not because of the cpu speed, but because of wireless throughput..

UclaWill · #10 Post by **UclaWill** » Sat Jun 05, 2004 1:23 pm

akerman wrote:wow that doesn't make sense.. even at the lowest settings, a trival matter such as loading webpages, should not be any slower than at the highest settings.

have you tried measuring your download speed, once with AC, and then on battery - if there's a noticeable difference there, then it's not because of the cpu speed, but because of wireless throughput..

Hey Akerman,

Assuming the problem is because of the wireless throughput, what are the implications? Does that mean its a problem on my side (the router) or with the computer itself (wireless card, etc)? I just don't understand how my Wi-Fi can work perfectly when the computer is plugged in, yet goes to s*** once I start using the battery.

I'm not as savvy as I should be with this stuff... thank you again for the help! Knowing the root of the problem will make calling tech support (if necessary) so much easier...

akerman · #11 Post by **akerman** » Sat Jun 05, 2004 4:16 pm

It's certainly not the router/outside environment - that doesn't change just because you unplug your ac adapter.

So it's a software malfunction, or a hardware (unlikely) - have you tried uninstalling Access Connections and the drivers for the wireless nic, and then reinstall them again in the proper order?

Battery vs AC performance?

Battery vs AC performance?

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