Does the NZ90 have battery backup?

[colombo]

I haven't got my manual CD-ROM to hand. The reason I ask is that to try and extend my battery life I went through the total discharge process. After I charged it again, I powered it in and saw I lost all my data.
I had a 2 week old backup and there's a lot of programs I've installed since then. It was a pain to reconfigure.

So is there a backup battery on the NZ?

[n2ifp]

Yes, but only for a short time so you can change batteries before they are totally exhausted.

[PvV]

As was mentioned before in several threads on the NZ90's battery life, you really should not drain the NZ's batteries completely. It does not necessarily help increase battery life and could lead to loss of data.

The small back-up battery's purpose is to allow you to change batteries - it's not a long-term solution.

[darrengower]

Depends on what you mean by 'long term'. Certainly, the NZ90 has really crappy backup battery life if you consider it next to the Palm branded products I've used. They'll go for days to weeks without data loss, even once you've exhausted the primary charge and the unit auto-switches-off. The NZ90, based on the user manuals that came with mine, *should* last for 12 hours. But (from the manual), to charge the backup battery, you must fully charge the main battery, *then* leave the unit in the charger for another 24 hours without removing it.

Once you have followied this step, you should have around 12 hours to get to a charger if you are left with no main charge.

Presumably, if you use any of this charge, you must again follow the process and recharge it to be safe the next time ...

Also, there are definite issues with these backup batteries - I've personally returned one unit and had it replaced, because its backup battery was not working at all. The second unit (the one I have now) seems fine; I've deliberately tested the backup battery with no main battery in the unit for over 4 hours with no loss of data. I've read of others in these forums with problems as well... so my experience (and yours)  is not uncommon. Just make sure you've properly charge the backup battery as per above before you worry yourself that your unit is faulty... 

 I also wonder, given that the backup battery is just a little lithium button battery, how long the sucker will last. Don't those type of batteries only have a few years before the charge cycle is shot, and the 12 hours they are rated for will go to s**t anyway? In any case, it can be replaced. Open up the little screw just below the rest button (you'll notice a little panel around the screw), and you'll see the button battery in there. Again, refer to your manual for details ... it's explained in there...
 

[skccs]

Originally posted by colombo
I haven't got my manual CD-ROM to hand. The reason I ask is that to try and extend my battery life I went through the total discharge process. After I charged it again, I powered it in and saw I lost all my data.
I had a 2 week old backup and there's a lot of programs I've installed since then. It was a pain to reconfigure.

So is there a backup battery on the NZ?

Don't discharge your battery completely (if you are able to recharge). This had to be done with ni-cd or ni-mh batteries. No more with li-ion (nz90) or li-po(lymer) batteries. NZ-Battery is good for about 1000 recharge-cycles until it recovers only to 80 % with shallow discharges. With deep discharges there are only about 400 recharge-cycles until it recovers only to 80 % of its initial power.

80 % means you have to buy a new one.

See my post with links to articles:

http://www.cliesource.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=17879&highlight=battery