http://webworkerdaily.com/2009/01/09/extending-your-laptops-battery-life-revisited/
Here's an article that talks about tests by Microsoft engineers to determine what components of a laptop use the most energy. The result:
LCD display -- 43% of power
Chipset -- 21%
CPU -- 9%
Graphics -- 8%
Hard disc -- 5%
Network -- 4%
Other -- 10%
So finding ways to reduce power consumption of the LCD is most likely to improve battery life. Using LEDs to illuminate the screen instead of fluorescent tubes is one step in the right direction. LEDs are also more durable than tubes.
OLED screens are much more energy-efficient than LCD, so any laptop or netbook using an OLED screen could have a big increase of battery life, or could use a smaller battery (read: lighter weight) for the same life.
With the Hard disc using only 5% of battery life, switching from rotating disc to flash drive/SSD would not have a big impact on battery life. SSD has no moving parts, so it is more durable. At CES, I saw an SSD working fine while mounted on a paint shaker. Some current SSD models are considerably faster than notebook hard drives. So SSDs are desirable for reasons other than power savings.
The chipset (the electronics that route information into the CPU and out to the display, hard drive and network port) is another component that will yield increases in battery life. Intel's new Poulsbo chipset, designed to work with the Z5xx processor found in a few newer netbook designs, is more energy efficient than the chipset used with the Atom 270 processor, for example.
Chip Haven
Here's an article that talks about tests by Microsoft engineers to determine what components of a laptop use the most energy. The result:
LCD display -- 43% of power
Chipset -- 21%
CPU -- 9%
Graphics -- 8%
Hard disc -- 5%
Network -- 4%
Other -- 10%
So finding ways to reduce power consumption of the LCD is most likely to improve battery life. Using LEDs to illuminate the screen instead of fluorescent tubes is one step in the right direction. LEDs are also more durable than tubes.
OLED screens are much more energy-efficient than LCD, so any laptop or netbook using an OLED screen could have a big increase of battery life, or could use a smaller battery (read: lighter weight) for the same life.
With the Hard disc using only 5% of battery life, switching from rotating disc to flash drive/SSD would not have a big impact on battery life. SSD has no moving parts, so it is more durable. At CES, I saw an SSD working fine while mounted on a paint shaker. Some current SSD models are considerably faster than notebook hard drives. So SSDs are desirable for reasons other than power savings.
The chipset (the electronics that route information into the CPU and out to the display, hard drive and network port) is another component that will yield increases in battery life. Intel's new Poulsbo chipset, designed to work with the Z5xx processor found in a few newer netbook designs, is more energy efficient than the chipset used with the Atom 270 processor, for example.
Chip Haven