Notebook makers exaggerate official autonomy, study says

[OyaYansa]

Throughout the world it is well known that the official autonomy of any electronic device rarely corresponds to reality. The manufacturers carry out tests in laboratories to reach figures of autonomy that in a real environment are very difficult to reach, and a recent study has just revealed the difference that exists between the official autonomy and the real autonomy of the laptops. Because, how can we know that our laptop will last on what the manufacturer says?

To try to shed some light on the matter, an English medium called Which? Has decided to rescue the results of autonomy of no less than 67 of all the laptops that passed the test table of its publishers during the last year. The study has been very simple: what they have done has been to compare the official autonomy figures that any manufacturer presumes on their website with the results of autonomy that have obtained those same equipment in a real test.

The study reveals an uncomfortable truth: the official autonomy that manufacturers advertise on their computers differs from real autonomy not only in minutes, but even in some cases the difference can be measured in hours. The conclusion reached in the study is that manufacturers exaggerate the autonomy of their computers, and this charge is not a trademark.

Manufacturers like HP, Lenovo or Toshiba (among others) receive an important pull of ears by this English medium. "The most optimistic manufacturers [of laptops]," the article points out, "overestimate the autonomy of their batteries by 50% or even more." The study mentions different examples: we have for example the laptops of Dell, that of the nine hours and 15 minutes of autonomy that are mentioned in its official datasheet turns out that in the tests of Which? Have been offering just over five hours of battery life.

To reach these conclusions, the media has tested specific models of laptops such as the HP Pavilion 14-al115na, the Dell Inspiron 15 5000 or the Acer E15. In total they say that they have been based on the results of the tests of 67 different laptops, with a figure of between six and 20 equipment of each manufacturer. To throw the charge over Dell laptops, for example, the medium has been passed in ten tests of ten different laptops of this brand.

The curious thing is that the only manufacturer that according to this study does offer the autonomy that promises in their laptops is Apple. They say that the company announces an average autonomy of ten hours in their Macbooks, and the real autonomy that obtains these equipment in a test with a daily use exceeds even those ten hours. To reach this conclusion, this English medium has tested three computers different from those of Cupertino.

Manufacturers always warn that real autonomy depends on the use
The manufacturers mentioned in the study have not been slow in responding to the allegations. Dell, for example, says that it is very difficult to provide official autonomy figures that are then met identically among all users. "It's something similar to the fact that different people who drive the same car can get greater or lower autonomy depending on their type of driving," they point out from the company.

But not even the manufacturers say at any time that the official autonomy of their equipment is going to meet 100 percent in real use. Manufacturers like HP, for example, point out in the small print of each and every one of their devices that "[the actual autonomy depends on] numerous factors like product model, configuration, loaded applications, functions, usage, Wireless functionality and power management parameters. " In short, no company can promise that official autonomy will be fulfilled in reality.

In fact, when talking about official autonomy even HP itself links to the website of a company called BAPCo. BAPCo is a company that specializes in the measurement of different parameters of devices such as laptops, and is the company that companies like Dell, HP, Lenovo or Toshiba work with to certify the behavior of their devices. In this link anyone can see the results of these tests.