infinitymdm My question is: how do I optimize my Solus install for improved battery life? Tips? Tricks?
There are a ton of threads on this issue.
The bottom line is that you can improve battery drain on Linux, but it is not going to get to the point where it is Windows-equivalent. TLP can help, as Cloak notes (some users have experienced significant gains, others not), but the Linux kernel does not have the tools to fine-tune laptop power use in the way that Windows does, constantly adjusting based on usage, so most users find that Linux still drains the battery faster than Windows no matter what you do. You can improve things, but don't expect miracles.
I did a lot of testing a few months ago on my Dell Latitude 7390 laptop (Intel Core i5, Intel 630 onboard graphics, 16 GB RAM, 500 GB M.2 SATA). In my case, I can get Solus to about 72% of Windows battery life, and that's the best I can do on that laptop. I haven't done that same level of testing on my Dell Inspiron 11-3180 (AMD A9-94203e, R5 onboard graphics, 4 GB RAM, 128 eMMC), but the result seems to be about the same. I don't like the reduced battery life, but I've learned to live with it as a cost of running Linux.
I don't use NVIDIA because I don't need a discrete GPU, but I have read that NVIDA GPU's use a lot of power in comparison to onboard graphics. If you need the power of the NVIDIA GPU (e.g. games or intensive graphics work), you'll have to live with the power drain. If not, as Cloak suggests, you might see significant improvement using Intel's onboard graphics instead of NVIDIA.
Because Linux uses more battery power than Windows, you also might find, as I did, that your laptop runs hotter using Linux than it does using Windows. Because you have a reasonably modern Intel-based laptop, the thermald daemon will help keep heat under control. In theory, this should also reduce battery drain, but my experience is that thermald did not make a significant difference in this respect. Thermald upped the ante from 72% to 74%, as I recall. Not a big change, but every little bit helps, and there is no reason to run hotter than absolutely necessary.
