Copyright 2006 Steve Bralovich
Zoom, Zoom, Zoom...
The need for speed is not just for automotive racing fans.
Your Treo 700 is a highly connected, multimedia device and as such the ability to watch streamed videos or play games makes it one of the best reasons to buy one in the first place.
Alas, these tasks have a cost on your battery life and you may not be taking full advantage of your 700's processor to operate at it's peak performance which can make your device feel sluggish.
Even if you're not a power user, your CPU may be draining your battery unnecessarily. This could set up a situation where you drop or miss calls on your phone.
Fortunately, the XCPUScalar utility software by ImmierSoft can allow you to overcome these limitations and make your Treo 700 operate at optimum efficiency.
Your Treo 700 runs on an Intel XScale 312MHz processor and has a 240x240 square screen display. Version 2.93 of XCPUScalar supports this configuration and will increase performance up to 30-35 percent.
System Requirements:
- Treo 700 running WM 5.0
**Note: (This utility runs on many devices. Not just Treo 700's)
Program Features:
- Auto Scaling to assign speeds to different CPU loads - Speed can be scaled from 100 to 728MHZ - Auto Start on Soft Resets - Today Screen system tray support - Sticky Settings - Hardware KeyLock - Display Toggle - Power Off and Soft Reset - Launch from Anywhere - Stealth Mode - Task manager integration
The default tab when starting XCPUScalar is Speed.
This is where you can determine the speed at which your PDA should run or select Auto Scale. The Advanced tab is where you set the Auto Scale levels.
Auto-Scale adjusts the performance of your Treo 700 depending on the demand being placed on your XScale processor. This setting will work for most users but you should experiment with the settings manually to see which combination works best for your type of use.
I was able to achieve around 40-50 minutes extra battery life per day. This could be a crucial saving for users relying on their phones.
Of course, how much increase in battery life you will actually attain will vary from person to person depending on what software you're running and how much time you spend talking on the Treo 700 phone.
Even if you're not a power user most of the time, setting the performance lower will save your batteries significantly.
It's a trade-off between speed and battery life that XCPUScalar helps you to balance in an effective and practical way.
Noteworthy Features:
- taskBar CPU Meter displays your current speed and CPU usage percentile to keep you aware of processor workload
- the ability to modify the CPU usage range in 5% increments to finetune your 700.
- meters tab displays the current CPU Meter, Battery Life, and Memory (Storage and Program). Gives you a better overall view of your device status.
Pros:
- Increased speed OR - Increased battery life - User customizable options - Great support - $17.95 price is more than fair for what the product offers
Cons:
- manufacturers may have warranty issues with XCPUScalar - drop down menus are a little small
Overall Impression:
I've been running XCPUScalar on several devices since version 2.5 and have had nothing but good things to report about it since that time.
If you're a power Treo 700 user looking to save time and speed up your device, you should consider buying the XCPUScalar utility software by ImmierSoft.
Your videos, games and other multimedia software will speed up dramatically with this application and your battery life will improve significantly at times when the load on your CPU is not as demanding.
For a product link, follow the link in the author resource box. |
