Which uses more power -- HDD or DVD drive

[macdunn]

I was able to transition all of my computers to laptops in 1997, finally. Being on the road most of the time, first from Sonoma County (one hour north of San Francisco) to Silicon Valley and to Scotts Valley, and now on international projects, laptops are the only way to go. The price point and capabilities are finally comparable to desktops, so it is a no-brainer to only have laptops.Anyway, my question is -- when viewing a movie, which consumes more power (and therefore battery life), running a movie that has been transferred to the HDD or running the film on the DVD?I now carry my favourite 5 or 6 films on the HDD for convenience and because of the customs inspections for bootleg copies (mine are all legal, I have the receipts from Amazon). But, battery life is always a question, especially on a 10-hour flight.-macdunn-

Edited September 3, 2006 by macdunn

[patio]

According to This Article you might want to run them off your HDD...patio.

[epp_b]

Unless your computer can play DVDs while turned "off" (some newer laptops have that ability), play them off your hard drive, since you're running your hard drive anyway.But, be careful: if the MPAA gets a hold of this info, they'll get Sony to put a rootkit on the DVD and build an battery that will explode when the rootkit fails...

[macdunn]

Hi patio and epp_b (we can't keep meeting this way),Yup, just what I have thought -- the HDD is running anyway, etc. I have just exercised the battery on one of my laptops, first running King Arthur in its entirety and then got through half of Fantasia, a total of 3:25 before the 10% warning came on and put the machine to sleep before I could plug the power back in (Windows XP).I did find earlier that InterVideo WinDVD would not run the movies copied to the HDD but I also have Nero Showtime which does run them from the HDD, so no loss [with WinDVD]. I may have been trying to start the wrong video file with WinDVD, but no problem with ShowTime (using the .dub files).I was running on the battery with the WiFi PC Card still on, displaying the movies on my 23" LCD TV over S-Video and the laptop monitor on. So, 3:25 is pretty good, I think. I could possibly / probably get 4 hours without the PC Card and the external monitor. With the battery out of a matched laptop (left at home for backup), that will get me through most flights when the in-flight movies are a drag.Yes, I will not put it past Sony to try to rootkit their DVDs and batteries. Does anyone know if the batteries used by Compaq/HP for their EVO line are Sony-made? When I use a laptop on my lap, I have a bullet-resistant piece of plexiglass that is the perfect size for the laptop and a mouse that I put the laptop on across my [crossed-legs] knees.It is also comforting to be able to run the films from the HDD and not take a chance of scratching the original DVDs, especially Fantasia which is hard to get (I now have it on VHS [that I do not use since I am totally DVD now], DVD code-1 [uS] and code-2 [Europe, since I work over here now and buy only multi-lingual code-2 DVDs to improve my language skills]. Well worth having on any format, Fantasia, though not Fantasia 2000.Thanks,-macdunn-

[patio]

There's some other good energy saving ideas at that link for laptops...patio.

[burninbush]

Yes, I will not put it past Sony to try to rootkit their DVDs and batteries. Does anyone know if the batteries used by Compaq/HP for their EVO line are Sony-made? When I use a laptop on my lap, I have a bullet-resistant piece of plexiglass that is the perfect size for the laptop and a mouse that I put the laptop on across my [crossed-legs] knees.

Well, if it does catch fire, let's hope you don't get shot for being a terrorist. You may need that piece of plastic as a shield.