Power station came in today, finally get a chance to test out the 200w panels. I need to get an extension cord for them, currently they are at unoptimal placement so I can get the cable through the glamp port in tent into power station. Even so, im getting 70w which isn't bad! I imagine it will be even more when I can get them in a better placement.

The station itself is really excellent. Everything about it screams quality. Im typically not a big fan of things that connect to your phone with bluetooth, but in this case being able to monitor my total power usage and control the station is really cool I do admit.

The power station reports that my laptop uses about 6-7 watts at idle and small loads at 50% brightness which seems crazy since from the videos I saw with explainingcomputers laptops usually pull 2x that. It may be that because my system is fully DC there is no losses through inverting. Turning brightness to full raises it up to 9-12 watts. Turning it to lowest brightness decreases to 5-6 watts comparable to a SBC. Crazy!!

I will take some pictures for next post.

😎 Smokey

2023-10-13 · 7 months ago · 👍 scops

10 Comments ↓

🚀 stack · 2023-10-13 at 20:41:

Do check that your wifi switches to low power on idle (or turn it off if not using) -- that can add a few watts. Same with bluetooth. And turn off unused services. I assume you have an SSD already.

🍄 Ruby_Witch · 2023-10-14 at 05:35:

Sounds great, glad it's working well for you! 70w is good for this time of year.

Laptop power draw definitely varies depending on what CPU you're running. (Explaining Computers is a great channel btw!) That's one reason why I changed my primary PC to a Steam Deck, it's a real power-sipper. Your laptop sounds pretty great too, what model is it?

I prefer that a device connects directly to my phone via bluetooth rather than uploading its data to "the cloud" (someone else's server) and then serving it back to me from there. I had a power monitor that wanted to do that and I said "no thank you" and blocked its access to the outside through my router. :)

😎 Smokey [OP] · 2023-10-14 at 14:36:

Thanks for the reply, laptop model is a thinkpad t460 i7 processor 16gb ram 256gb ssd made in 2015. Got it really cheap a few years ago still works (though the batteries are starting to go and it needs a good cleaning) I wanted the steam deck soo bad but well I decided the money was better spend on survival necessities and confort of life stuff. Im fairly happy with my laptop it plays most older and indie games well enough it sucks I can't do the big games but oh well thats just one of the concessions Ive made to do this kind of thing. I have a nintendo switch I got in 2017 it still works and plays some great games even if I now hate nintendo and its BS.

🚀 stack · 2023-10-14 at 15:57:

My current main machine is a t470 I got for $75, with an i5 and 16GB and a new Samsung 980 Pro SSD and secondary battery. I get about 10 hours battery time, and a very long sleep time I haven't tested. Thinkpads have a very good ability to power down, and there is a lot of good info in the bigweb.

😎 Smokey [OP] · 2023-10-14 at 17:22:

thats cool @stack Yeah I have done some research got tlp installed on linux mint and have recently set to only charge batteries to 80%. My battery stats say both internal and external only operate at about 50% capacity I get maybe 4 or 5 hours. Its still good enough for my needs but am jealous of all the people who say they get 10 hours lol. I may have to consider gathering the courage to take the back off and replace the internal bat maybe throw in a bigger ssd while im there.

🚀 stack · 2023-10-14 at 17:34:

I got (with much trepidation, because a lot of cheap batteries are recycled garbage) a small, 3-cell battery from Amazon, and it is great so far. It was $30, ZAYAUPVL (I think they just make it up) brand.

🚀 stack · 2023-10-14 at 17:40:

Getting inside thinkpads is really easy - it's just a few screws (and they stay in the case so you don't lose them). To change the primary battery, there is a BIOS option to turn it off for safety. For a secondary battery you don't even need to open the case of course. You just missed the amazon prime day sale on Samsung 980 Pro 1TB SSD for $50... but they are still pretty cheap, and way fast. I hear good things about WD Blues. If you don't already have an M2 ssd, you have to get a $20 caddy (definitely on the 470, I am almost sure on the 460 as well).

😎 Smokey [OP] · 2023-10-14 at 18:03:

@stack With some research I found lenovo actually has a parts website where you can order the official batteries directly. They are a little pricey but well its the real deal quality stuff no dice roll on 3rd party garbage grabbag.

— My external battery on lenovo's parts site

🚀 stack · 2023-10-14 at 19:32:

Yeah, I didn't feel like spending a couple of hundred dollars on a battery for a $75 computer. If you decide to go cheap, the battery I mentioned has been in constant use for about three months, and is aging very well.

😎 Smokey [OP] · 2023-10-15 at 12:46:

@stack thanks for the suggestion! Ill check it out. Sorry if I came off as rude in last post.