NX 70 Battery life getting short short short??!

[Rosenkrantz]

I've had my NX70 for a few months now and it seems my battery life is half what it used to be. Initially, was able to use it for 3-4 hours solid reading ebooks or what not but now it seems 2 hours is roughly the limit and that's with cranking the backlighting more than half down.

Any thoughts or comments? Anyway to reset the power manager so to speak or reset the battery? I loaded the update from yesterday but doesn't seem to help with the battery. Kind of bummed. If I run it at full backlighting i can almost watch the battery drain before my eyes.

[pixelated]

i got mine back in november and my battery last more than 4 hrs----that is using MP3 while at the gym (hehe) and playing games, and using it for school work and voice recording----when I get home battery is at 20%

[testcard]

Have you tried cycling the battery a few times? Run it right down, then give it a full 4 hour charge before running it right down again - and repeat a couple of times. Got IR disabled?

[Rosenkrantz]

My IR isn't disabled so I'll try that and I'll also draining it completely a few times and recharging all night long.

Does it matter if I charge via the cradle versus a usb adapter? I wound't think so? Thanks for the comments!

[pixelated]

usb takes longer to charge that the cradle!

[testcard]

Shouldn't make a difference - might just take longer with USB. I use both. Got any alarms or chimes going off regularly - they can also drain the battery? Good luck!

[testcard]

Another thought - when you're playing mp3's, are you switching the hold switch to on? This switches off the backlight altogether, and might just help battery consumption.

[Rosenkrantz]

Mainly I just use the basic clie functions, not so much mp3 (have an ipod) and use the occassionally. I think the prob is I read a lot of ebooks at night, some times 2-3 hours at a time.

[testcard]

You'll ruin your eyes!!

[rldunn]

You might want to try moving your current ebook to RAM. MS access can have a major impact on battery life, so if you can minimize this (I know, it's hard with only 11MB available), it should help out your battery.

[testcard]

Or maybe just get Reader's Digest condensed versions!

[Rosenkrantz]

Moving current ebook to internal ram a good idea me thinks!

[n2ifp]

Originally posted by pixelated
usb takes longer to charge that the cradle!

Very true, as the current from the USB port is limited to 500 milliamps. The Clie power supply can deliver 1,000 milliamps or 1.0 AMP, almost twice.

Yes Lithiums can get tired and lose battery life.

Future source for Clie batteries: http://www.cliebattery.com/

[Hexiumvii]

DO NOT RUN YOUR BATTERIES DOWN. Thats only for NiCD and NiMH, not lithium. You will make it WORST THAN IT ALREADY IS. Below about 10% will start the crystalization process. Always try keeping the battery as full as possible. Another thing you can do is reset your clie while in the cradle. This sometimes helps reset the battery indicator. Lithium batteries are usually stored at about 40% charged in teh warehouses, so don't dip too low.

[n2ifp]

Originally posted by Hexiumvii
DO NOT RUN YOUR BATTERIES DOWN. Thats only for NiCD and NiMH, not lithium. You will make it WORST THAN IT ALREADY IS. Below about 10% will start the crystalization process. Always try keeping the battery as full as possible. Another thing you can do is reset your clie while in the cradle. This sometimes helps reset the battery indicator. Lithium batteries are usually stored at about 40% charged in teh warehouses, so don't dip too low.

A very good tip! Lithiums do NOT have a memory effect!

[ejanssen]

I can use my NX for hours reading ebooks and don't have a bit of problem with the battery. I've never seen my battery power under 80%, even after one day when I must have read and worked about 3-4 hours constantly. I also run it on minimum backlight ... that's enough for me. I don't do MP3s or film long movies. After taking about 30 photos over a 3 hour time period, I still had 100% showing. I top it off every day.

[deadlyfoez]

I'm able to use mine for about 7-8 hours with the mp3 player and dispay off. It's been like that since november. And I do that about 3 times a week. No difference on how much power it has.

[Rosenkrantz]

Definitely the backlight is the biggest drain. I usually keep it near the lowest setting when out of town or away from a regular charge. I really can't see it with the backlight off.

[CMC]

NX battery is so much more durable than my old T615.