[Jason Dunn]

Originally Posted by serpa4

Very good battery test, thanks. I'd also like to see the battery life at a couple brightness settings while playing a video full screen.

I'd do that but the X50v locks up when I try to play the video more than once...<sigh> The curse of beta units! :?

For those watching this thread, I did another X50v WiFi test and updated my original article.

[Jason Dunn]

Originally Posted by serpa4

Very good battery test, thanks. I'd also like to see the battery life at a couple brightness settings while playing a video full screen.

I'd do that but the X50v locks up when I try to play the video more than once...<sigh> The curse of beta units! :?

For those watching this thread, I did another X50v WiFi test and updated my original article.

[Jason Dunn]

Originally Posted by gt24

Maximum backlight and 50% backlight with standard battery has same runtimes?

Hmm...I went back and checked my battery test notes and I can't figure out exactly what I meant with those numbers, so I pulled that test results. The perils of publishing results when they're so old you know longer know what they mean! :roll:

[Mark R Penn]

Originally Posted by Jason Dunn

I don't have one, so I can't do that.

I'll gladly run the test if you can let me have instructions and the apropriate files? Obviously though I wouldn't be able to compare the backlight setting with a Dell.

[Darius Wey]

Originally Posted by Mark R Penn

I'll gladly run the test if you can let me have instructions and the apropriate files? Obviously though I wouldn't be able to compare the backlight setting with a Dell.

Jason used Spb Benchmark which you can find here. It's free for reviewers and non-commercial use; otherwise it's US$495.

[Mark R Penn]

Ah OK thanks. He mentioned what I remembered as a "special file" for the wifi tests, but in fact it was a test page.

I'll do the tests ASAP.

[Jason Dunn]

Originally Posted by Mark R Penn

Ah OK thanks. He mentioned what I remembered as a "special file" for the wifi tests, but in fact it was a test page.

Yeah, what I did was set Spb Benchmark on the WiFi test, then started up IE on the test page, and left it there until the WiFi died - but you have to watch for it because Spb Benchmark can't tell when WiFi has been turned off - it's timer will keep going until the batter dies, which isn't the same thing since WiFi will die at 24% on most Pocket PCs.

[Mark R Penn]

Thanks Jason.

It may be at least a week before I can do this, as I'm off to Italy on business, and really can't risk running my battery right down while I'm away!

If someone else gets there first with a test, great.

Mark

[lrf]

Do you have results for Dell Axim x30 with 312 processor as compared to 624 processor. It appears to me that if battery life is significantly longer with slower processor, that depending on type of usage, a longer battery life might be a good tradeoff to a faster processor. Thoughts on this please.

[Darius Wey]

Originally Posted by lrf

Do you have results for Dell Axim x30 with 312 processor as compared to 624 processor. It appears to me that if battery life is significantly longer with slower processor, that depending on type of usage, a longer battery life might be a good tradeoff to a faster processor. Thoughts on this please.

I don't have data for this on-hand but what you state is correct. Running at a lower clock speed will lengthen the battery life. Having said that, there are a number of applications out there which can scale the processor clock speed. It is easier to scale a faster processor down to a slower clock speed, than it is to overclock a slower processor to a faster clock speed. So acquisition of a device with a faster processor may be more beneficial in the long run as it provides you with two options (running at a lower clock speed or a faster clock speed without having to worry about overclocking) as opposed to the one (running at a lower clock speed, yet having to worry about overclocking to attain a faster clock speed). I think the device with the 624MHz processor is the more viable option, but it's up to you at the end of the day.

[Jason Dunn]

Originally Posted by lrf

Do you have results for Dell Axim x30 with 312 processor as compared to 624 processor. It appears to me that if battery life is significantly longer with slower processor, that depending on type of usage, a longer battery life might be a good tradeoff to a faster processor. Thoughts on this please.

The tests were done with the CPU set to "AUTO", so in most of the tests that are non-strenuous on the CPU, it was actually running slower than maximum speed...plus, I only have one X30, so I can't test that anyway. ;-)