One of the main complaints–at least by some users–with the Asus EeePC 701 is that the system is by default under-clocked to run at 630 MHz instead of the full 900 MHz capacity of the Celeron-M 353 that powers these little wonders. So several tools have been developed to let users set the clock speed (and fan speed, etc.) as desired, such as Eeectl. Some even overclock their EeePCs.
Just recently got my hands on an EeePC 900, which supposedly ran on the full 900 MHz speed. Some have expressed worries that running on full speed would cause quicker battery drain. Remember that being a Celeron-M, the Eee’s processor does not have SpeedStep. This means it cannot dynamically adjust clock speed depending on processor use.
But I realized that the 900 automatically switches clock speed (yes, clock speed, and not just throttle speed) when you switch between battery and AC power.
If you have an Eee, you can check this with CPU-management tools. In my case, I used RMClock (for Windows).
Plugged in:
On battery power:
On some machines, the computer would start at the full 900 MHz when you power up the computer on batteries, and would not switch to 630 MHz unless you plug it in and remove the plug afterwards. This could be a real pain, especially when you’re mobile. The latest BIOS update should solve this.
The Eee 900 running at 630 MHz on battery power surely saves on consumption! I believe the EeePC 900’s 5800 mAh battery is rated to run at about 255 minutes or more than 4 hours. I have yet to verify this for myself, but I’ll be doing my own real-world tests soon.
