Topic: Internal Laptop battery charge time when running CD Wave and recording 24 bit?

[winisp]

So I know that Battery charge time depends on what the computer is doing and some tasks drain the battery more quickly.

How long does an internal battery charge last when running at screen closed 24 bit into CD Wave (or comparable software)?

For a Toshiba Tablet Portege M200, the internal battery is a 10.8V 4400mAh Lithium Ion that registers 3:04 hrs charge time will fully charged.

Can I expect to get 3 Hrs charge in a live recording situation with the laptop screen closed and recording 24 bit in CD Wave?

Thanks for any advice here.

[larrysellers]

I use a fujitsu b-2175 which has single and double capacity stock batterys. Phantom and the usbpre will get 2 hrs with the double and 1 hr with the single. I have an elctrovaya powerpad that I use as my main battery, yeilding 5hrs of 24bit recording. If the outboard battery gets low, I can swap in the internal and vise versa until all the batteries are dead. I have 2 each of the stock batteris and the powerpad (5 + 2 + 2 + 1 + 1), so in the most extreme case, I could go 11 - 12 hours of 24bit, with cdwav.

Edit to answer your question  . For a long set 2-3hrs, you would be cutting it very close.

[winisp]

Edit to answer your question  . For a long set 2-3hrs, you would be cutting it very close.

So 90 - 100 mins is max I should plan on based on the one batt. Thanks.

[larrysellers]

You are going to need a little of that time for setup and a little to close the loop saving files & shutting down. The only way to really know what your dealing with is to do tests and deterime the approx. runtimes.

[Brian Skalinder]

the internal battery is a 10.8V 4400mAh Lithium Ion that registers 3:04 hrs charge time will fully charged

How did you determine the 3:04 run-time fully charged?  Is that from the battery indicator telling you how much time is left?  If so, IME those meters are not terribly accurate / reliable.

Larrysellers is spot on, here - the only way to find out for your own purposes is to run field-simulated tests yourself.  Unless someone has the same laptop model, batteries, and charger, in the same condition, no one else can give you a definitive answer.  Test it yourself so you have a good idea of run times to expect.

[winisp]

the internal battery is a 10.8V 4400mAh Lithium Ion that registers 3:04 hrs charge time will fully charged

How did you determine the 3:04 run-time fully charged?  Is that from the battery indicator telling you how much time is left?  If so, IME those meters are not terribly accurate / reliable.

The exact number is from the Toshiba battery software. It is pretty accurate in my experience doing email, word processing and internet browsing. I get about 2.75 hrs when I am in back to back meetings. But email/word processing/browsing are less hd intensive than 24 bit recording. Your responses give me a much better idea.

I will definitely be testing this this week.  Thanks for all the feedback.

Scott

[rowjimmy]

Even someone with identical gear will get different runtimes based on little things like monitor brightness and big things like battery age and the general quirks of individual batteries and how evenly they charge/discharge. The Toshiba software may be accurate but I bet if you monitor it, the life estimates will fluctuate while you work. every keypress and tap on the touch pad alters the the drain on the battery.

You gotta figure that you will get on the low side of your battery life when doing processor and hdd intensive work such as recording @ 24bit. Also factor in that wavlab has a juicy memory footprint and will drain your power itself. It's crazy when you think too much about it. I've developed a special hardware profile for my laptop with all but the essential hardware disabled in order to maximize battery life.

All of the above is bang on - the only way to know is to test it, and before you are recording your favorite performer...

Edit to add: example: I booted up with 4 hours remaining (2 internal batts neither completely full) loaded wavlab... 2:30 remaining