Power Tweaking/Battery life

Often time we use a laptop for reason of portability. Personally, I think the size of screen, keyboard/mouse and CPU power can never match that of a desktop. Working late at night crunching numbers with Excel, finalizing PowerPoint before the next morning presentation or preparing your final paper before the exam, it is better that you have an external 17” or large LCD display plus external keyboard/Mouse.

VPN eliminates the need to commute with a laptop for many business managers together with large capacity thumb drive. PDA and Blackberry keep most of us in touch with work without the bulky laptop riding the train, yet less productive than laptop with which sales are on the rise because they are priced competitively. Active people and college students will find laptop companionship close to that of a “soul mate”.

Laptop battery life has always been the most important factor, and more than a few neglected to consider prior to purchase. The MT3705 returned a 3-hour intermittent use (using power saver, sleep mode) on my last 16-hour non-stop flight. Watching DVD movie from CD will drain the battery in about 120 minutes; it will last longer running from the HDD. Flying first or business class, A?C power socket is provided. Then, you wouldn't be looking for budget laptop.:)

Using software to tweak CPU voltage may extend the battery further. A few weeks ago, one of our forum members pointed out the Notebook Hardware Control offers a free version to tweak down CPU voltage. When overclockers are raising CPU voltage to increase CPU speed for free, laptop users are trying to lower CPU voltage to increase battery life.



I found the lowest CPU voltage at 1.0375 volt from 1.215 volt default, almost 15% lower at full speed stability. The lowest the software provided for this CPU is 1.025; it would be nice if it provides even lower voltage to try.




There is no free lunch, Notebook Hardware Control also robs 4-8% CPU usage.

Vista Ready-boost may enhance performance, be sure to read our previous article SD, Memory Pro and USB Flash Ready-boost or not .

Software/Hardware Compatibility :

There will always be love and hate relationship when it comes to major O/S change over. You love it when all existing software/hardware in your procession works; hate it when some or none works with the new system leaving you the only option is to spend more money.

A matter of luck, both of my HP Officejet All-In-One 4215 and Okidata C5150 color lazer printer work with Windows XP drivers. The Logitech Navigator Duo (wireless) keyboard/Mouse is not supported at all, with no driver available six month after Vista introduction from Logitech.

Most of software programs from my old Dell D610 works, inclusive PhotoImpact 7, Office 2003 and even the 9 years old Mapsource from Garmin GPS. Intervideo DVD7, PowerQuest 2002 Drive Image and Nero Ultra don't. Of course, this has nothing to do with MT3705 itself more so than the operating system, Vista.

Thoughts & Conclusion:

Some of you may consider removing Vista and replacing it with Windows XP Professional; it does not work on MT3705 because of a lack of XP video driver from ATI and Audio driver due to proprietary OEM licenses. Should any readers find a solution, please drop us a line. Additionally, updating the wireless network card driver from Vista update might affect certain wireless routers not being able to recognize IP address. It happened to me twice, since, I stay with the original driver and ignore the update from Vista.

Personally, I have less issues with Vista than some. There is no perfect laptop because it is a product of compromise for the sake of size, portability, battery life, and price, amongst other factors. I found the MT3705 suits me well, particularly on the weight of about 5 lbs. It has the right size HDD of 100 GB; dual core for the simple multi-tasking requirements. Unlike others in similar price range, MT3705 comes with Vista Home Premium features Media Player and Aero versus Vista Basic which lacks the Aero *bling*.

An addition of built-in mic, TV-out or even a webcam would make it an outstanding buy at about US$600. The additional $90 on 2 GB Sodimm memory is money well spent on the upgrade. You could live with the 1 GB, but you may not be totally pleased.


Memory usage at idle


+ Price
+ Intel Core 2 Duo CPU
+ 100GB HDD
+ Two internal memory slots
+ DVD R/W double layer
+ Light weight
+ Vista Home Premium


- no Windows XP drivers for video- and soundcard
- Only 3 USB ports
- No TV-Out or Build-in MIC
- Too much glare from the "ultra bright screen"


Before you head out to buy your laptop for College in the next couple of weeks and you are going to have a lot to choose from; Gateway, Dell, HP, Acer and many more; make sure your existing printer you are bringing with has Vista driver support. Call up the school to find out if Vista is supported by the school IT department.

"Outlook" from Office XP is not supported by Vista; you must enter your account password each time to access email. There is no fix for this except upgrade to Office 2003 or 2007. Other than this, Gateway MT3705 is a great buy.