Benchmarks - Battery Life, Audio and Video Encoding

As always with ultraportables, I will be testing the machine using Battery Eater Pro, iTunes encoding and Windows Media Encoder. I will start with the Windows Media Encoder test.

Windows Media Encoder

Version and / or Patch Used: 9
Developer Homepage: http://www.microsoft.com
Product Homepage: http://www.microsoft.com/windows/windowsmedia/forpros/encoder/default.mspx

For the movie-encoding test I take the HD Microsoft Magic of Flight video and encode it to DVD quality video with CD quality audio using Windows Media Encoder. The ViewSonic VNB141 notebook scored in the middle of the notebooks I have tested, which is where I expect an ultraportable geared more for battery life to fall. Check out the chart below for the full results.

Battery Eater Pro

Version and / or Patch Used: 2.70
Developer Homepage: http://batteryeater.com/development.html
Product Homepage: http://batteryeater.com

As always, battery life tests are very subjective and your mileage may vary. The performance mode test was run with all power saving features off and the screen set on 100% brightness. The power saving mode test used the same settings with the screen turned to 50% brightness.

The machine was only a few machines from the top of the chart in this test. Check out the charts below to see how well the VNB141 performed in battery life.

iTunes Encoding

b>Version and / or Patch Used: 7.1.1.5
Developer Homepage: http://www.apple.com
Product Homepage: http://www.apple.com/itunes

For the iTunes encoding test I take the Stone Temple Pilots Core CD in MP3 format and encode it to AAC format using iTunes and time the results with a stopwatch. The ViewSonic VNV141 was in the middle of the pack again in this test. Check out the chart below for the results.