Battery Power Management Utility

[jaypro55]

I just recently got my new laptop from Discount Laptops.com and I totally love it, however I've been wondering why the battery seems to drain faster than it should and also why I don't have any type of advanced battery management program.

It's a Chembook 2056 but it has a 2.0GHz Centrino. I haven't ran it for too long on battery power but it seems to drain rather rapidly. I have no Intel Speed Step applet anywhere to adjust and I could find no drivers or anything for it in the CDs I got with it. Also, when I check the status of the battery in the taskbar it shows percentage but it doesn't show any time remaining. I mean this machine has absolutely everything I can't see why it wouldn't have that capability.

Maybe there is just some kind of application I need. I e-mailed ChemUSA and they haven't got back to me yet. If you guys could help me I'd really appreciate it.

[ua549]

You can adjust the settings in the Control Panel Power applet.

[jaypro55]

I know you can adjust settings there but my dad has a Toshiba laptop with a P4 Mobile in it and he has an Intel speed step application in the taskbar that automatically changes system settings when you go from AC to battery power and seems like it would really help on my notebook. Is there any way I could find something like that?

[ua549]

Power Options can do that. The Speed Step utility os obsolete and is not needed with Windows XP because it is built into the OS. Make sure you don't select the Always On power profile because that disables speed step.

[jaypro55]

Ok that sounds good to me but I still wish I could tell in hours how long my projected battery life is going to be. I mean right now I'm at 92% but I'm wondering what that is going to translate into in time. It tells me I have a Sony GC86503SY90 LiON battery. It seems like that's a brand name battery I'm wondering why I don't get any times.

[ua549]

AFAIK it is a function of the notebook and the way the drivers are coded.