Information processing apparatus having a power management system that dynamically changes operating conditions based upon dynamically selected user preferential order setting

摘要

In an information processing apparatus having a central processing unit, input/output units controlled by the central processing unit such as a liquid crystal display, a hard disk drive, a PCMCIA controller and a floppy disk drive, and a battery for supplying power to the central processing unit and the input/output units, a desired operating time of the information processing apparatus is set in a desired operating time setting circuit. Next, a residual capacity detecting circuit detects a residual capacity of the battery. On the basis of the desired operating time set by the desired operating time setting circuit and an operable time of the information processing apparatus calculated from the residual capacity of the battery detected by the residual capacity detecting circuit, the central processing unit commands an operating condition changing circuit to change operating conditions such that the desired operating time becomes longer than the operable time. The operating condition changing circuit controls power consumption in the input/output units such that the changed operating conditions are met, thus ensuring the desired operable time of the information processing apparatus to be realized.