MSI Wind U123 and ASUS 1000HE Show Netbook Evolution
by Wesley Fink on July 17, 2009 12:02 AM EST- Posted in
- Laptops
Battery Capacity Testing
One of the charms of the netbook format is the promise that the little computers can provide very long battery life by using less powerful processors that consume extremely low power compared to current top-performing CPUs. Netbooks have quickly developed a reputation for sipping power and truly providing the ability to power a flight-long session or a work session for a full 8-hour workday. This has been helped along by manufacturers who have been beefing up battery capacity in more recent netbooks and claiming increasingly longer battery life in their specifications.
Of course you didn't come to AnandTech to see a list of manufacturer's claims, you came here for real world test results. Like notebooks, the battery life claims in netbook specs really don't provide the kind of information most buyers are looking for. Why specify battery life with the netbook wireless LAN turned off as most manufacturers do? The most visited websites use flash imaging, so why test with just non-flash websites to inflate battery life numbers? Do you really care about how the battery lasts with very long idle periods? We believe most want to know how long a battery charge lasts when a netbook is used as most people use them. Therefore the AnandTech battery life test is conducted with a wireless internet connection constantly on, viewing pages that contain some flash images among the text.
In AnandTech notebook battery testing the screen brightness is calibrated so that is equal on each tested notebook. The netbook is a particular challenge in this regard, since the highest current netbook screen resolution is 1024x600. We have several versions of standardized brightness calibration software, but the lowest resolution supported by any package is 1024x768. Since it makes little sense to test battery life with an external display we addressed this issue by setting an ASUS 1000HA to the middle of its brightness adjustment scale. Other displays were visually matched to the mid-level brightness of the ASUS 1000HA screen.
All hibernation and power management schemes were disabled on the netbook, and a wireless connection was established from the netbook under test while the battery charger was still attached. We connect to a script at anandtech.com that cycles among a group of standard anandtech.com pages that contain text, charts, graphs, and flash elements. The pages are continuously cycled at a fixed interval. The charger is then disconnected and a stop watch started. The test is run until the netbook shuts off due to low battery power. This is the same Battery Test run in our recent MacBook Pro article.
Results are reported in hours and minutes and provide a comparison of battery performance under common usage at the most demanding conditions. Please keep in mind that the AnandTech battery life results represent a realistic usage scenario. If you use an Ethernet connection and rarely use wireless your battery life will be slightly longer. If you surf the web with long intervals of inactivity, your battery life will again be longer. If you disable flash, battery life will also improve.
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JackPack - Friday, July 17, 2009 - link
Will AnandTech consider updating this article with the 1005HA Premium/Value?Honestly, this article feels a little outdated given the 1000HE is EOL.
Wesley Fink - Friday, July 17, 2009 - link
We mentioned in the article that the 1005HA was replacing the 1000HE, which might make the 1005HE a bigger bargain as it is closed out. We have received a 1005HA in the lab for testing.Wesley Fink - Friday, July 17, 2009 - link
I think I created a new Asus model in the reply. The model that may see close-out pricing is the 1000HE.goinginstyle - Friday, July 17, 2009 - link
Is there any reason why wireless tests were not run or performance not even mentioned. I have to depend on a wireless connection and without a DVD drive, it is really important to know how well the wireless setup works and if there are any compatibility problems hooking into a router.Maybe it was on the hands on pages but my eyes hurt after looking at the background colors on the pics. It could just be me but red and pink just seems out of character around here.
Both units have what appears to be nice webcams and once again no mention on how well they work and the quality or if still pictures are a choice. Is the wireless connection or even the machine fast enough to handle skype video?
I know these units are not built for gaming but can you run WoW or Company of Heroes on them and how well do they run the multitude of flash games, especially the card games.
How good is the video quality on the VGA port and do the drivers offer support for widescreen formats or just 4:3. I guess I am frustrated as I am looking for a netbook and need more information than the asus, acer, hp, or msi websites provide.
The battery tests were really good but what happens if i buy a usb DVD drive and rip a movie to the hard drive. Will the msi have enough juice to play a couple of movies on a plane ride. Maybe I need to spend more and get a 14" notebook but i was hoping to save some money here.
Wesley Fink - Friday, July 17, 2009 - link
We found no issues at all connecting any of the 5 netbooks tested by wireless for our battery tests. All found the connection to our wireless router and held onto to it for the 2 to 8.5 hours until the battery was depleted. Testing wireless was not the point of the battery test, but it is some evidence of wireless stability.We do intend to add wireless connectivity testing to future netbook reviews. We are currently looking at several potential test methods.
TotalLamer - Friday, July 17, 2009 - link
With netbooks getting larger, more capable, and more expensive... at what point does a netbook cease being a netbook, and simply becoming a notebook?nafhan - Friday, July 17, 2009 - link
I think hardware plays a big part in what defines a netbook. That said, I wouldn't pay more than $400 for a netbook.It would be nice if they would release a netbook based around a dual core atom processor (the 330). I'd gladly sacrifice a couple hours of battery life on the MSI lappy for an extra core.
The0ne - Friday, July 17, 2009 - link
Definitely not over $400 as you could always find laptop deals for around the same price. For the same price the lack of CPU power is a huge drawback.Wesley Fink - Friday, July 17, 2009 - link
That is a very interesting suggestion. As I mentioned in the article we used an exterior monitor for the PCMark05 testing since a minimum 1024x768 was required to even run PCMark05. I was very surprised at how different the netbooks were in their output to the external monitor.As you say some are very clean and some are quite ragged. We will try to find a way to include VGA port output in future netbook testing.
sprockkets - Friday, July 17, 2009 - link
Would like to see the HP mini 2140 though.