Total memory loss on T615 when battery dies

[Streamhawk]

Hi guys, a friend of mine asked me a question regarding his Clié T615 so I decided to post it here to see if anyone could help me out with this one.

His problem is that he forgets to charge his Clié most of the time, so he usually finds it dead on his pocket, now his real problem is that when he charges it up again the Clié has gone back to factory status, it deleted every information he had on it, so he necessarily has to make a hotsync to make the Clié work again with his information.

He tells me that he bought the Clié like 2 months ago and to his conclusion the Clié has no backup battery for when the main one dies the information doesn't get lost. Has anyone come across this problem and do you have a possible solution to it? Thanks

[AndyMac]

That's correct. If the battery dies, the memory is lost. This is probably mentioned in the manual.

It sounds like the way your friend uses his Clie that even if it had a backup battery it would still be dead and empty, unless he wants a backup battery for the backup battery.

As far as a solution: Charge the thing! What's so hard about keeping it charged? Put the cradle by your bed or on your desk and leave the Clie in it overnight.

It's this kind of thing that makes me think that some people should not use technology.

[rlarson_mn]

The solution is in buying a memory stick for backing up the T615. I have a 128mb memory stick and use an application called BackUp Buddy to make several backups on it for just such an event as your friend has had.

[Streamhawk]

Hi AndyMac and rlarson_mn does this battery problem come with just the T615 or all Clié models, do you know? Cause I have a T665C and only one time in a weekend away from my charger I let the Clié die, but when I recharged it all my info was there (I don't really remember if I did a hotsync but I don't think so) any comments?

[DanT]

With LiIon battery, the more often you charge, the longer the battery life will be. I get the habit of charging it whenever I'm in the office or at home. Most of the time it gets no lower than 60% remaining capacity. It's now about 21 months old and still working fine.

[AndyMac]

Originally posted by Streamhawk
Hi AndyMac and rlarson_mn does this battery problem come with just the T615 or all Clié models, do you know? Cause I have a T665C and only one time in a weekend away from my charger I let the Clié die, but when I recharged it all my info was there (I don't really remember if I did a hotsync but I don't think so) any comments?

There is "low" and there is "dead". Low is OK and will retain your data. Dead is bad and will result inloss of data. I am not sure what your friend is doing to end up with "dead". It's possible he has a bad battery but if he can't remember to charge it, it's hard to say.

Dead is screen won't come on, or comes on very briefly. Low is the planner saying "Batteries are low, please recharge".

[Dropzone]

Clie works with RAM, not HDD. so battery die = info lost

[Streamhawk]

I've had my Clié T665C for 9 months now, thank God! I've never let it lose it's power completely. I have friends who have PocketPCs and they've told me that their PDAs come with a backup battery so if they let the main battery die, they still can't use their PDAs, but they don't lose their info. This is an important issue to discuss with the people at Sony, cause what if I'm on a business trip and my Charger is in the hotel room and I'm in a meeting using my Clié and I haven't done a hotsync of my latest info if it dies on me than and I lose all of my info!!! that's sucks!! What up with that?!!! Now I have to live checking the battery to see if I'm running low (20%) to run to the charger so that I can save my info every time???

My Clié is great, it does everything that I want it to do. I've had Palm devices for 5 years now, but today PocketPCs got a major plus on their side, so next time I'm on the market buying a PDA I will not take out the change off buying a Pocket PC with the requirements that I need. I've always protected Palm OS devices, especially the Clié, but for the first time I've got to say that a Pocket PC doesn't look that Bad.

[DanT]

Streamhawk, may be it has something to do with size and weight. Who wants to carry brick in your pocket? That's why Sony also includes MSBackup. rlarson_mn has a better idea by using BackupBuddy that can do automatic schedule backup daily at your set time. Mine is set at midnight.

[wellsjs]

As Dropzone said, the RAM chip is the equivalent of your PDA's hard drive. For RAM to retain it's stored data, a "keepalive" voltage is required. While providing a watch-size backup battery is certainly feasable, device designers are competitively trying to pack all the features, gizmos, and gadgets they can into as small a form factor as they can (with the exception of the NZ designers :D ). That space alocated to a backup battery could also house a wi-fi or bluetooth chip. :)

With normal use, one should be able to make it through the day on a fully charged battery. As someone said, how hard can it be to throw the device in the cradle every night?

Lastly, backing up your RAM to a MS is absolutely essential, and an automated, unattended, scheduled backup is the way to go. BackupBuddy VFS or one of several others discussed on backup threads should do nicely. ;)

[Aces]

I have used PDA's for 3+ years now.  And as such, it would have seemed silly that someone would use their PDA so little that it's battery runs all the way down.  BUT, when I bought my SJ33, I still had my old Handspring Visor Pro, with a built in lithium battery.  Since I had amased a lot of programs on it over time, I intended to keep it charged until I sold it or gave it away as a gift.  even with leaving it on a table next to it's charger, and checking it "periodically", within  a month, I let it go too long and had to hotsync it to get the programs back on it.

What I discovered is that when you use something like a PDA with a % battery life display, you become instantly motivated to charge it when you notice the battery symbol is low.  But you tend to not realize how often it is that you are charging it.  So if you are really infrequent about using a PDA, leave it in the charger 24-7, or hotsync it and expect to have to do it again before you use it next time.  It's kind of like being married and taking your spouse for granted...you will lose everything, and never see it coming! :p

[Streamhawk]

Guys is there a Hack or something that would turn off your Clié when it has like 5% battery left in it? You know, to force you to charge it again but keeping enough power to preserve your info. Like locking it down until you charge it again guarantying the preservation of your info.

[studentdoc]

I have a T615 as well and I sometimes let it die completely. The good thing about Hotsync is that when you Hotsync again, everything comes back (except changes made since the last Hosync). So, even though it isn't perfect, it will get you back up and going.

BTW, I use MS Backup as well in case I need something I have lost away frrom the home PC. It is a great program.

[KimberlyinMN]

I had this happen to my T615 last month. I am not sure HOW it happened, unless something in my purse caused it to stay on. (But it was in a Bellagio case, so I am still perplexed.) Anyhow, it was dead. I had thought that this wouldn't be much of a problem because I sync it daily. However, once I had charged it completely and hotsynced, not all of the programs installed. What a pain that was because I couldn't remember all the programs that I had on it! (I don't use every app daily.) I finally got everything installed and organized (I use Launcher III) the way it was before. That was so weird though to not have everything install correctly. I did have a backup on a MS stick, but I hadn't backed it up lately. Now, however, I back up to the stick more frequently - basically daily.

One thing I've noticed is that the battery life has really gone downhill. With Launcher III I can also see the voltage of the battery besides the percentage. It doesn't get up to what it used to anymore (after being on overnight or until the charge light goes off). It only charges to about 4.24 volts.... and it has dropped to 4.08 in about five minutes of not even using it! I did get the 3-year plan at Best Buy and I've only had this since July (2002).

The bad part is that I really like THIS Clie... The size and weight are just right. I doubt the T-615 is still available. I guess I'll look into it at least. :( (I swear I rely on this device for just about everything!!)

Kimberly

UPDATE: I went to Best Buy and traded the 615 for an SJ22. Smaller and yet still color. (And all of the accessories I already own will work with it.) So.. if anyone is interested, I put two Bellagio Design leather cases for sale at eBay (http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=3026667469) for $30 for both of them.