Notebook runs 500 hours on battery

A PROTOTYPE of a notebook PC which can be used for up to 500 hours on a single battery charge was revealed today by Elitegroup (ECS), in Taipei. It can, miraculously, even be used when it's not switched on.

OK, the above is a true statement, but there is a catch. ECS has incorporated a 2-inch LCD screen and directional control pad onto the outside of the notebook.

This allows you to read email or look up contact information stored on your PC, play your media files, look at your photos on the external screen, and so on - and all without turning on the PC.

All these functions are provided by Microsoft's forthcoming Windows Vista component, SideShow. The device uses its own CPU and 128MB of flash memory, embedded in the notebook lid, and runs on very little power.

It's a bit like having a PDA mounted on the lid of your notebook PC, with the important bonus that it will always be synchronized with data on the PC. Of course, the 500 hour battery life claim applies only when you're using this device, not when you have the whole machine turned on.

Both your data and the device's software are stored in its flash memory. Data is automatically synchronized with that stored on your hard drive when you switch the notebook on and off. The software itself can be upgraded to add new features, and frequently will be, ECS says. As flash memory prices fall, ECS would like to increase storage from 128MB to 1 gigabyte.

Some other companies, like Acer and Asustek also announced today that they are working on similar products, but I haven't seen those. The photos on this page show ECS's prototype. Note that the control pad will look much nicer than that in the finished product.

ECS were able to put the prototype together quickly because they had earlier worked on a similar concept of their own, but shelved it. They just adapted that prototype to use the new hardware and software.

Although ECS staff didn't explicitly say this, I assume the 500 hour claim is an absolute maximum, and the battery will be used up a bit faster if you do something which demands more power, such as continuously playing music. Video playback would likely be the most demanding function.

ECS suggest that the next step is to make this thing detachable. This isn't just talk: the CPU it uses was developed by PortalPlayer, and is the same one used that Apple uses in the Video iPod, so this looks like one wild idea that has a serious chance of becoming reality. µ