According to the article;
1. It affects all Core Duo AND Pentium M systems (they did not test AMD machines, but the implication is that it probably also affects them).
2. Some systems do not seem to be affected because they are being permanently crippled by built-in USB devices (such as cameras and USB hubs) even if the device is disabled. Thus, their baseline battery life is 15-20% lower than it needs to be.
3. There is some question as to whether this is the case with a 1705 they tested since it has a built in USB hub (presumably so do the 9300s and XPSs). However, the microsoft fix did not help the 1705 and so it is possible that Dell's hub implementation already avoids this issue.
4. There is a fix available from Microsoft which fixes the problem somewhat. I didn't quite understand what they were saying, so I will quote it nearly verbatim; "The fix works until the system goes into standby mode. When it wakes from standby mode, the original problem recurs until the system is rebooted." This is apparently because the fix involves a registry edit and the edited registry key is lost when the system goes into standby mode. It needs to be re-read from the registry, which is why a reboot is needed. What I don't understand is why standby mode would lose the registry key, but I'm no systems expert.
5. I suspect that the reason Pentium M based systems were not originally suspected to have this issue is that they are probably more heavily used when on Battery Power than Core Duos... ie, the user is doing something and the Pentium M has to do it... thus not dropping into the low-power modes that would save power. The Core Duo can shut one core down, while letting the other do all the work, thus saving some juice. Thus, for most practical situations, the Core Duo is more affected than the Pentium M.
6. My reading of the article indicated that the problem can be eliminated by removing the USB device after one has finished using it rather than leaving it in the slot. The bug happens even when the device is unused, but only while it is connected.
7. The bug even affects USB devices which do not use the USB port for power since the bug is not anything to do with the USB port itself, but instead it is because the CPU is not allowed to go to certain power-saving modes.
To summarize... It's no big deal on Pentium Ms since you shouldn't be running on battery when it is sitting there twiddling its thumbs. On Core Duos, remove any USB devices immediately you finish with them. If you have problems, use the Microsoft fix, but don't expect it to totally end the problem.
1. It affects all Core Duo AND Pentium M systems (they did not test AMD machines, but the implication is that it probably also affects them).
2. Some systems do not seem to be affected because they are being permanently crippled by built-in USB devices (such as cameras and USB hubs) even if the device is disabled. Thus, their baseline battery life is 15-20% lower than it needs to be.
3. There is some question as to whether this is the case with a 1705 they tested since it has a built in USB hub (presumably so do the 9300s and XPSs). However, the microsoft fix did not help the 1705 and so it is possible that Dell's hub implementation already avoids this issue.
4. There is a fix available from Microsoft which fixes the problem somewhat. I didn't quite understand what they were saying, so I will quote it nearly verbatim; "The fix works until the system goes into standby mode. When it wakes from standby mode, the original problem recurs until the system is rebooted." This is apparently because the fix involves a registry edit and the edited registry key is lost when the system goes into standby mode. It needs to be re-read from the registry, which is why a reboot is needed. What I don't understand is why standby mode would lose the registry key, but I'm no systems expert.
5. I suspect that the reason Pentium M based systems were not originally suspected to have this issue is that they are probably more heavily used when on Battery Power than Core Duos... ie, the user is doing something and the Pentium M has to do it... thus not dropping into the low-power modes that would save power. The Core Duo can shut one core down, while letting the other do all the work, thus saving some juice. Thus, for most practical situations, the Core Duo is more affected than the Pentium M.
6. My reading of the article indicated that the problem can be eliminated by removing the USB device after one has finished using it rather than leaving it in the slot. The bug happens even when the device is unused, but only while it is connected.
7. The bug even affects USB devices which do not use the USB port for power since the bug is not anything to do with the USB port itself, but instead it is because the CPU is not allowed to go to certain power-saving modes.
To summarize... It's no big deal on Pentium Ms since you shouldn't be running on battery when it is sitting there twiddling its thumbs. On Core Duos, remove any USB devices immediately you finish with them. If you have problems, use the Microsoft fix, but don't expect it to totally end the problem.
