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http://www.insanely-great.com/news.php?id=1797
Intel Plays Catch-Up With Apple on Laptop Battery Life
By Remy Davison, Insanely Great Mac
March 9th 2003
Pentium M finally gets PowerPC 603e technology.
Eight years after Apple incorporated Motorola 603e processors into the PowerBook 5300,
Intel will release its Centrino processor which will find its way into a wide range of
PC laptops.
The Centrino, also known as the Pentium M, is a low-power CPU with a number of modes
which allow it to generate substantial battery power savings.
Like Motorola's PowerPC 603e, G3 and G4 processors, the Pentium M can take momentary
'naps' between keystrokes or DVD frames. The Washington Post, testing a pre-release
Dell 600 equipped with a Pentium M, got 4 hours out of a single battery when the
screen was turned down low, and 3 hours playing MP3s. However, battery life was
reduced to 2 hours, 15 minutes when playing a DVD with the WiFi left on. The Dell 600
is equipped with a 14" display.
However, the tester noted wild fluctuations in battery life from the software battery
monitor. Dell says that the software requires revision for production models.
The key difference with the Pentium M is its CPU speed: it will be available in 1.3,
1.4, 1.5 and 1.6GHz editions. Average PC laptops aimed at the business market now
commonly feature 2.53GHz processors. These laptops generally use the P4 Mobility CPU,
which can slow down processor speed dramatically when operating off battery, but runs
at full speed when using AC power.
Nevertheless, Intel claims a 1.6HJz Pentium M will outpace a 2.4GHz P4 Mobility,
according to Intel's own internal benchmarking. They do not state whether this is
running off mains or battery.
However, some question the need for more power-efficient laptops, arguing that
consumers are opting for desktop-replacement notebooks which run desktop Pentiums and
Athlons. This argument contents that people are less interested in battery life than
outright performance and larger screens.
Analysis: We'd argue that battery life is still a critical consideration for anyone
who works in the field - or even moves from office to office frequently. Searching for
a power lead (and having a cable long enough), as well as toting your power supply
around all day shouldn't be anyone's idea of a fun time. When I do a web page to show
the guy upstairs, I grab my PowerBook and walk it up there. I might move to another
floor and show someone else a PowerPoint demo. Either way, I'm not crawling around on
my hands and knees under someone's desk looking for a power point.
The fact that every PowerBook since the 5300 has had the kind of advanced power
management now available with the Pentium M demonstrates how much R&D time - rightly
or wrongly - Intel has devoted to cranking up the clock speed of its desktop chips.
Despite the '1.8' or '2.4' GHz Mobility Pentium laptops I come into contact with
frequently, they are, frankly, embarrassing in their relative lack of speed, except in
some of Microsoft's very highly optimized applications, such as IE and Office. I also
note that when sleeping an XP laptop, there's no guarantee it'll wake up again.
But the fact that PC manufacturers are likely to be advertising much lower clock
speeds on their laptops in the near future is, strangely, satisfying.
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