From: John Kim (jokim_at_CHS.CUSD.CLAREMONT.EDU)
Date: Fri Dec 17 1993 - 16:01:30 EST
In message Fri, 17 Dec 1993 04:08:07 -0600 (CST),
Sean Chou <ychou_at_uxa.cso.uiuc.edu> writes:
>> Then I got an 8MB memory upgrade and it screwed up the indicator for
>> about 5 cycles. It also shaved about an hour off my battery life.
>> And 5 days off my suspend life. :( Too bad. I kinda liked being
>> able to brag about a 5 hour battery life...
>
> Hmm...I would think that battery life would go the other way since you
> would have to access the disk less but I guess with swap files, you
> pretty much have to access it often anyway (all except for maybe Robert
> with 20mb RAM).
The life came to almost exactly 4 hours when I ran everything full blast
(33MHz, screen on, disk on). It lasts longer of course in normal use, but
life is still shorter after the memory expansion. Of course, I didn't run
OS/2 back when I only had 4 MB. (I had the deluded idea of surviving with
Windows until I could really afford the memory expansion. I changed my mind
after I kept losing work to Windows hanging when I tried to multitask DOS
programs.)
>> There's a microprocessor (and probably some memory) built into the
>> battery. I think that's where the computer gets the % battery
>> remaining figure. It takes a couple cycles for it to learn how fast
>> you use the battery. And when you're not using the battery, it drains
>> it very slowly (I'd guess about 5% a day on mine, of course I've only
>> left it unused for a day since I've gotten it. :).
>
> Very interesting. Which of course leads me to ask more questions! :)
> First, how do you guys use your machines mostly? With battery or with
> power? Second, do you just leave the power cord in even when not using
> the machine?
I use it plugged in mostly when I'm home. The bag and my stuff and computer
wind up so heavy I don't bother taking the power cord with me to most
places. I try to use it judiciously so that I only recharge the battery
when I'm going to take it on the road. I'm dying to know if there's a way
to make the battery top off at something lower than 90%. A lot of times, I
don't need a full 90+% charge and I'd rather have less charge than waste
another cycle in the battery's life.
> And of course, I've been keeping eveyone included on the list by
> modifying headers, but I can't do anything beyond myself so if you
Like I said, I'm looking into a mailbox, but it won't be ready until New
Years at earliest.
Good idea about keeping track of OSes. I run predominantly OS/2, although
I have a DOS boot partition just in case.
>> The 1/0 switch on the battery turns the processor on or off. If you're
>
> Never realized that.
As braindead as the manual is, it does have some useful information.
-- John H. Kim | "In fact, Chicago does support security. The sec- jokim_at_jarthur.cs.hmc.edu | urity APIs are there; they just don't do anything." This mail sent by NUPop | - Brad Silverber, VP Microsoft personal systems
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