"On this day ten years ago, the first prototype StrongARM processor card was powered up by Acorn engineers. The experimental kit managed to run at a cool 228MHz, running software nearly six times faster than the 40MHz ARM710 processors used in RiscPCs at the time. The card, which drew one watt of power, would later go on sale in September 1996."
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Member since:2005-07-06
Probably not. With current laptops, the CPU uses less than 30% of the power of the mcahine. Even if the CPU used 0 watts, a laptop would only go from (say) 3 hours to 4 hours. To hit 10 hours, you'd need to reduce power useage by about a factor of three across the board.
Edited 2006-03-27 22:41
Member since:2005-07-06
30% is still a lot, compared to what? 5%? I don't know how much the HD and the screen consume tbh. Still: an extra hour or two of batterylife wouldn't be bad 
Don't forget, with such low consumption, you could go mad on multi-core/CPU, and a laptop with 4 ARM CPU's (running Linux) would score definite geekpoints.
Member since:2005-07-09
Member since:2005-07-06
Member since:2005-07-06
yes, it was the Acorn A4 laptop.
http://old-computers.com/museum/computer.asp?c=31&st=1
I have a riscpc 700 that I need to get running again. very nice machines.
about multitasking...
The risc os was and still is cooperative multitasking. Not preemptive like most every other OS out there.
Member since:
2005-07-09
Not bad at all. If someone made an ARM or MIPS laptop today, we could possibly see 10+ hours of battery life.
<p>Way cooler than having a 3 GHZ CPU in my book.</p>