Best laptop for extended usage on 12v

[Starcoaster]

While it's not going to happen until at least next summer, eventually I want to shift out of my marina base and live on the cut.

 

Is there any particular laptop or type of laptop that has significantly lower power consumption and works better on 12v power than most others? I am taking about a proper laptop, not a netbook, ipad or any other alternative. I need to use it for my work and I find netbook type things just too small, and touch screen things too annoying.

 

I need to suss out how am I going to be able to work, as I run my laptop for around eight hours a day and I am well aware that this is a major battery killer.

I do intend to get a much more sensible and feasible battery set up by the time I move out of the marina than my current ridiculous two batteries combined as the starter and domestic (which is not a problem at present as I am on the shoreline) as well as solar and a generator.

 

Other than the laptop, nothing else I use is a big power drain. I get that in the summer, solar will make a big difference to my available power, but unfortunately I need to work in winter too. I understand that I will need to run my engine or the generator to charge the batteries regularly, but I am not keen to have to do this for several hours every day in order to be able to work.

 

So, is there any particular type of laptop that has lower power requirements than others? I have been advised that it's the screen of laptops that is the big power draw, so if I ran it with the back lighting for the screen turned off, would this extend the battery life or would it only make a negligible difference?

Will I pretty much have to run the engine or genny for extended periods of time each day in order to run my laptop or is there an alternative?

Thanks!

[Lady Muck]

Ultrabooks or ultraportables are what you are after. There are now several different brands. Ultrabooks have solid state hard drives and last the longest, but not so much storage for your files.

 

I use an ultraportable when onboard, that way, when cruising I can get at least five hours out of it between charges.

[Starcoaster]

Brilliant, thank you!

[Ally]

I have a samsung SF310 lappy, runs for around 6-7 hours on it's batteries, depending on what you are doing of course. Quad core, I bought a 12v power pack for it, so can charge 12 or 230v....handy if you can find a local hostelry with a socket be a seat, as well as for 12v charging on the boat. It's not incredibly low powered, but pretty fair...have used it all the time we've been out this year. The screen, and other odd things can be set down to save energy. Turning the bluetooth off even helps I find.

[MtB]

I have a samsung SF310 lappy, runs for around 6-7 hours on it's batteries, depending on what you are doing of course.

 

I think we are swerving off topic here. Star is concerned about the power consumption of the lappy when using the boat battery to power it.

 

Running time on the lappy's own internal battery is a function of the battery size in the lappy. The telling factor will be how long does it take to recharge the battery on your Samsung and how much current is it drawing from the 12v boat power supply whilst recharging?

 

 

Mike

[Allan(nb Albert)]

While it's not going to happen until at least next summer, eventually I want to shift out of my marina base and live on the cut.

 

Is there any particular laptop or type of laptop that has significantly lower power consumption and works better on 12v power than most others? I am taking about a proper laptop, not a netbook, ipad or any other alternative. I need to use it for my work and I find netbook type things just too small, and touch screen things too annoying.

 

I need to suss out how am I going to be able to work, as I run my laptop for around eight hours a day and I am well aware that this is a major battery killer.

I do intend to get a much more sensible and feasible battery set up by the time I move out of the marina than my current ridiculous two batteries combined as the starter and domestic (which is not a problem at present as I am on the shoreline) as well as solar and a generator.

 

Other than the laptop, nothing else I use is a big power drain. I get that in the summer, solar will make a big difference to my available power, but unfortunately I need to work in winter too. I understand that I will need to run my engine or the generator to charge the batteries regularly, but I am not keen to have to do this for several hours every day in order to be able to work.

 

So, is there any particular type of laptop that has lower power requirements than others? I have been advised that it's the screen of laptops that is the big power draw, so if I ran it with the back lighting for the screen turned off, would this extend the battery life or would it only make a negligible difference?

Will I pretty much have to run the engine or genny for extended periods of time each day in order to run my laptop or is there an alternative?

Thanks!

 

Hi Starcoaster,

 

I am sure that others will have something to say but I will give you a chalk and cheese answer.

 

I have two laptops (ok a laptop and a netbook) which I use on my boat. The Laptop is an HP Pavillion (about 3 years old) with a massive screen (by laptop standards) and two hard drives. Battery life is only about 90 minutes (with a dongle). This machine runs under linux with an interface that looks like the latest apple operating system.

 

My other machine is three year old Samsung N110 netbook (10" screen) which I have modified (store upgraded to 2mb and the hard disk removed and replaced by a solid state drive). The linux operating system on this m/c has been replaced by Win XP for the simple reason that I need to run an application that only runs on Windows. This has a battery life of six hours (almost nine hours without a dongle).

 

Surprisingly, I find overall performance of the systems little different and have no problems with the slightly smaller keyboard on the netbook.

 

With regard to screen size, I have taken what action I can regarding the netbook. This includes hiding the taskbar (at the bottom of the screen) and implementing virtual screens via Virtuawin. However, I occasionally resort to using my TV as a screen.

 

Both machines are charged using 12V car type chargers.

[Starcoaster]

Thanks guys, all opinions are helpful. Allan isn't the netbook a very small machine with a squidged keybaord and screen though? I need a full size keyboard and screen which I think is possibly part of the problem.

[MtB]

I have the feeling laptops are already extensively designed for low power consumption. The lower the power consumption, the longer the battery life, and long battery life is a major selling point of any lappy so manufacturers will already have put major effort into minimising power consumption.

 

I wonder if a mains power supply run through an inverter draws less current from the boat batteries than these 12v to 19v dc step-up power supplies we currently use. The step-up power supplies are designed for car use where there is no concern about minimising current draw.

[jenlyn]

Thanks guys, all opinions are helpful. Allan isn't the netbook a very small machine with a squidged keybaord and screen though? I need a full size keyboard and screen which I think is possibly part of the problem.

I use a 15 inch screen HP, it uses just over 3 amps an hour hooked up. I use a wifi rechargable unit for internet that lasts for 10 hours before needing a charge that takes about an hour. I also have a samsung nc10 netbook, that lasts about four hours from a charge and uses nearly 2 amps per hour on hookup. Dont bother with a tablet star, more of a toy than a bit of kit for work.

[MtB]

I use a 15 inch screen HP, it uses just over 3 amps an hour hooked up. I use a wifi rechargable unit for internet that lasts for 10 hours before needing a charge that takes about an hour. I also have a samsung nc10 netbook, that lasts about four hours from a charge and uses nearly 2 amps per hour on hookup. Dont bother with a tablet star, more of a toy than a bit of kit for work.

 

For clarity, Starry is asking which laptops have the lowest current consumption when running off the boat 12v electricity supply, NOT which laptops have the longest internal battery life.

[jenlyn]

For clarity, Starry is asking which laptops have the lowest current consumption when running off the boat 12v electricity supply, NOT which laptops have the longest internal battery life.

For clarity, my reply was based on "hooked up" to 12v, NOT on internal battery life.

[MtB]

For clarity, my reply was based on "hooked up" to 12v, NOT on internal battery life.

 

 

"I also have a samsung nc10 netbook, that lasts about four hours from a charge"

 

Sounds like a comment on internal battery life to me.

 

"and uses nearly 2 amps per hour on hookup"

 

Can you also clarify what you mean by "two amps per hour"? This is meaningless. An Amp is rate of flow.

[luctor et emergo]

Ok, somebody has to say it.

 

If you intent to use electrics on a boat, at any quantity, you will have to consider a means of creating it. All boats that use electric power, when not under way, be they ocean boats, harbour tugs, continental inlands barges, etc, etc, have a generator running. If you are so desparete to find an appliance that will do what you need, with what you have, you need to look at both sides. If your computing meeds absolutely need a power hungry laptop, you need to i stall a system that can provide that power.

 

 

(There are no full sized laptops that will do what you are looking at right now. Tablets have the battery life, but probably not the functionality. Get a generator..)

[gary955]

Starcoaster.

i have a little app on my Toshiba laptop that indicates power consumption. It's usually about 12-15w when connected to the internet through a dongle, which I think is less than 1.25a.

My 80w solar panel can usually keep up with that but on really dull days (or at night) my 330ah bank doesn't seem to be bothered at all by the lappy, which runs from a 12v to 19v converter.

Hope you have a gas fridge though!

[Caprifool]

Use a wireless keyboard on a tablet. I'm very happy writing on a iPad with a Bluetooth keyboard. Haven't ran out of battery once and I have the proper keyboard feel.

[Graham Bowers]

Let's break it down to the level where decisions can be made.

Specification.

Technology

Setup

 

Specification.

Bigger and more powerful machines consume more power. What is the smallest screen you could live with?

What programmes do you need to run? A faster processor gobbles more power.

More memory seems to reduce power consumption.

 

Technology.

A moving target so a reason to keep the ear to the ground and leave the buying decision to the last moment. But I can see that for budgeting purposes the need to look at what is available now.

 

Setup

Didn't know a lot about this so did a bit of reading. There is quite a lot that can be done to optimise setup in windoze 7 and 8.

Google for best ways to extend laptop duration. I'm typing this on my wife's iPad and don't know how to copy and paste a URL so sympathise with the reluctance to use a tablet. It's very good at what it does well....

 

I know I answered this from the perspective of battery life but power consumption and battery life go hand in hand, and it is possible lowest overall amp hour consumption may be achieved by charging it up then running it down.

 

Just some thoughts

 

Graham

[dor]

I use a netbook on which the keyboard is close to being full size, the main difference being that it doesn't have a number keypad - not a problem to me as both my wife and I are left-handed (so tend to use the numbers on the keyboard). You could get a USB number pad though if it was really necessary.

 

Power consumption seems to be about half my Tosh laptop.

[smileypete]

What sort of work will be done on it, some WP and web? Also what sort of budget is preferred, £300ish or is £4-500 plus OK?

 

One way to get an idea of power use by finding out the 'Watt Hours' (Wh) of the lappie batt and dividing it by the hours of batt life reported in reviews.

 

Most modern lappies are pretty good unless doing something really CPU intensive. Dell laptops sometimes have proprietary power connectors that don't work with normal 12V laptop car adapters, only the expensive Dell ones.

 

cheers, Pete.

~smpt~

Edited August 31, 2012 by smileypete

[matty40s]

I find that my lappy(samsung r60) uses more power when hooked up as the cooling fan runs constantly. With this in mind, as soon as battery light goes green,i switch socket off until low.

[jenlyn]

"I also have a samsung nc10 netbook, that lasts about four hours from a charge"

 

Sounds like a comment on internal battery life to me.

 

"and uses nearly 2 amps per hour on hookup"

 

Can you also clarify what you mean by "two amps per hour"? This is meaningless. An Amp is rate of flow.

" passes the lad some jelly tots" ;-)

[FadeToScarlet]

For clarity, Starry is asking which laptops have the lowest current consumption when running off the boat 12v electricity supply, NOT which laptops have the longest internal battery life.

 

Surely both have to be taken into account? If you're doing 8 hours of work, and the battery lasts for 4 hours and then consumes 3a whilst charging, you've used less power than a laptop that lasts for one hour, then charges at 2a.

Edited August 31, 2012 by FadeToScarlet

[WotEver]

I'm typing this on my wife's iPad and don't know how to copy and paste a URL...

Press and hold the URL and a bubble will pop up which offers you three choices, one of which is Copy. Drag the handles out if the whole URL isn't highlighted. Press and hold where you want to paste and the same bubble pops up offering that choice.

 

Tony

[WotEver]

Both the HP Pavilion dm3-1020ea and the Asus UL30A claim low power consumption and both have 13.3" screens . They might be worth looking at.

 

Tony

[larkshall]

This is a very difficult one to completely solve. Firstly look at this link

 

http://news.cnet.com/8301-17938_105-57340536-1/longest-battery-life-laptops-of-2011/

 

Sorry 2012 isn't yet available. But note, this makes no allowance for direct 12v feed (a few laptops can handle this).

 

The general consensus is as follows:-

 

1) Choose a laptop with a solid state drive.

2) Use an external DVD drive, not one built in.

3) Small keyboards are a pain, use a full size external keyboard (USB type), ditto rodent

4) Consider solar panels, even if ONLY for the laptop

5) Keep dongles, wi-fi, and Blue-tooth connections turned off whilst not in use.

6) Use an external hard disk if needed

7) Keep webcams turned off.

 

You should be able to achieve 5 hours on MOST laptops, more on some (but only an hour at best). DO not believe manufacturers claims.

 

If I'm not on shoreline power, I run a small generator which also charges the domestic bank, I often find I need lighting on as well (most of the drawings and diagrams I work from are hard copy). Oh and usually the radio. You need to consider all of these 'extras' or 'luxuries'. Even if it only an Ipod in the lug'oles. I also find I have to use the phone more, which when 'at-home' is always on charge.

 

I currently run a water cooled tower pc, with just about every interface and 'gadget' on it. When at full chat (overclocked), it burns some 720 watts plus an external monitor (another 110 watts according to the label). I have shifted most stuff to an apple i-book , and can run fairly happily on that. But it does dictate working methods. I concede though that I need to find a permanent solution in terms of portability, and parsimonious power requirements. My other weak point is the requirement to send/recieve faxes and keep hard copies. Fax printer scanners eat power.

 

Can I also suggest you look at laptopsdirect.co.uk They seem to have a handle on this. In fact I would talk to them. (I have no connections with them I hasten to add), I've just heard about their service levels to others in this harbour.

[Ally]

For clarity I will clarify over the weekend how long mine takes to charge on 12v....from a 12v socket via a 12v charger power pack, and attempt to clarify how much battery power it uses....

on 230v it takes about an hour to charge from empty I think....but I'll clarify next time I charge on 230v.