how much power does laptop LCD use ?

[rh71]

... trying to decide between getting a switch (have a desktop sitting next to it) or just leaving the laptop screen on at the same time (which I'd rather do since I can watch both).

This is for at least 8 hours everyday... does it take up a lot of electricity if I leave the laptop screen up all the time vs. "switching" to it only when I need on my desktop CRT ?

 

[htmlmasterdave]

I don't ahve any hard figures... but I would think it would use roughly 5-10W depending on brightness, anything more and there is no way you'd get decent battery life with the combined power usage of the motherboard, cpu, hd and ram etc.

 

[cheesehead]

If it's plugged in, you would be paying about 2.5 cents a day. In other words, leaving a light on for five minutes is equivalent to using your laptop LCD for an hour at 10w.
You might be shortening the life of the backlight, however, so I would set it to turn the screen off after a few minutes of non-use.

 

[vegetation]

Measured on my kill-a-watt meter, the difference in electric power with my 15" screen on/off is about 4 to 5 watts. Definitely nothing to lose sleep over, even if you live in an area with very high electric rates.