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I've been running UNR on my eee 1000 pretty much since it came out over a year ago (I was using easy-peasy before that), but I'm curious about the new Kubuntu netbook edition. Ultimately, KDE is better looking, and has some really friendly software, but I'm worried about performance - that display has got to be a processor hog (and by association, battery!), no?

How much does Kubuntu netbook edition impact battery life?

Marco Ceppi
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Jono
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    Phoronix has made [a comparison of power and memory usage of GNOME, KDE, LXDE and Xfce](http://www.phoronix.com/scan.php?page=article&item=linux_desktop_vitals&num=1). Even if UNR use Unity and Kubuntu netbook edition may be different from vanilla KDE that article might be interesting for you. – N.N. Jul 22 '11 at 10:37

3 Answers3

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Kubuntu Netbook Edition, running on my Asus eeePC 1000H is flat out unusable. The interface is so slow, I can sit and wait for 30 seconds for a button to press, or the task switcher to come up. I've switched off all graphic enhancements, and I still can't see me using this thing. Makes the whole battery issue moot. Next up: Jolicloud!

Jono
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The battery life should be relatively the same for each of them. Sure there will be a difference but it will be negligible.

The bigger issue here, I think, is your concern over the importance of battery life.

Which is more valuable:

  • the battery life
  • using a desktop environment that you are more comfortable in and familiar with
Nathan Osman
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  • To add to this, I've used Ubuntu and Crunchbang(openbox) on my Asus 1000HE and I got pretty equal battery life out of both. I never ran any tests, but I didn't notice any difference in consumption between the window managers. – David Barry Jul 29 '10 at 06:20
  • my concern over battery life depends on how severely KDE impacts it. If, to take it to the extreme, I have to choose between battery and KDE, I'd go with battery and wait for KDE on another system. If the difference isn't so bad, then I might give it a try. – Jono Jul 31 '10 at 13:09
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I suggest LUbuntu, it is a lighter OS so will allow your CPU to run slower, this adds up to longer battery life :)

ActionParsnip
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  • The question was about Ubuntu vs Kubuntu, not alternatives. Besides, I doubt if Lubuntu is suitable for netbooks. – Lekensteyn Jul 22 '11 at 11:10