Comments on: Windows Vista Blah: Aero Sucks (Your Battery, That Is)

By: Alex

Alex — Sat, 30 Jun 2007 05:21:22 +0000

Yes, I should’ve pointed that out.

And yes, the Basic theme is ugly. In any case, I’m more of a minimalist so I’m fine with it.

By: The How-To Geek

The How-To Geek — Sat, 30 Jun 2007 01:43:52 +0000

That’s a better explanation =)

I run my laptop with the balanced power mode, and Aero runs fine… but then I have a fairly beefy laptop too.

I can’t stand the Vista Basic theme. Just awful. Aero looks fairly nice, although the transparent windows get on my nerves a bit… it’s sometimes difficult to tell which window is the active one, which is a serious usability flaw.

By: Alex

Alex — Sat, 30 Jun 2007 01:03:13 +0000

We both sport the the same laptop model with the same specs. The thing is, for her to run Aero under optimal conditions, she has to change the power settings for “High performance.” I keep mine on the “Balanced” setting.

We should be getting 2 hours with the Balanced power setting but since she’s running with an energy-hog setting, she’s getting less battery life. Somehow Aero doesn’t run as smooth on a lower setting.

By: The How-To Geek

The How-To Geek — Sat, 30 Jun 2007 00:28:01 +0000

I don’t think that Aero is going to make a 50-100% drop in battery life, and it’s never been that bad in my testing.

The only real test would be for you to try enabling Aero on your laptop and see what the difference is.

There are just too many factors at play when talking about battery life to make that comparison on separate machines.