Energy Consumption on Macbooks

[jbembe]

Does anyone know if the macbook will have more battery life playing a DVD in the drive or playing a movie through iTunes? If so, how long should it last playing a movie either way?

Thanks

 

[mike5732]

Well its kinda a trade off between having your dvd rom spinning vs a possible higher cpu load depending on the compression of the itunes movie. I am pretty sure that playing the movie off your hard drive will use less power. If you are looking to maximize battery life, it may be worth your while to rip your dvds to your hard drive.

I get about 2 to 2.5 hours watching a dvd, I don't know specifically how long it would go playing movies off the hard drive, but it should definitely be longer than watching the dvd.

 

[archurban]

I have 11 movies I downloaded from ITS. it's getting less battery than DVD player. but I didn't check how much % of CPU occupy. as you know, it's running through application (itunes). for DVD player, it should play super drive, CD-ROM phisically. so latter case drains more battery.

 

[jbembe]

any easy dvd ripping programs? i'm leaving in the morning, so we might just have to strain the battery...