PDA

View Full Version : Battery life...


Importluva
03-10-2003, 01:27 AM
I know that this has been discussed many times before, but i want to know if you guys have experienced this with your clie.

I was at work today, and I used my clie for about 5 minutes to check on stuff and to set reminders. I pulled it out again to write another reminder about 10 min later.

I then took a picture of someone, and then took a short ~5sec video as well. After that, I noticed that my battery life was around 97-99% Not bad. Then I noticed that when I pulled it out again, that the battery life dropped to about 93%. I took some pics (maybe around 20 or so) of products that I needed to pull for the shelves to restock. My battery life started to drop to 87%, then to 83%. I took my NX upstairs, and used acidimage to look at the photos to see what I needed. When I got done with this (took 5-10 min) my battery decreased to about 74%. Now, whenever I closed the device, it remained on (I use alwayson to keep it on longer than the 3 min, I think I had it set to about 15 min at this point. However, I close the clamshell so the screen turns off, not in tablet mode when I wasn't using it.) Also, a few reminders went off, so it prolly stayed on for 15 min at a time, but with the screen off (closed in clamshell mode again). I later went to do a group project, and noticed that after looking up some info for less than 5 min, my battery life had decreased to around 55%!!!

The whole time my screen was at about 40% brightness, when it was on. Does this sound like too much drain to you guys? Or do you think that the always on app is making my battery drain faster (even tho the screen turns off when I close my NX). Thoughts?

n2ifp
03-10-2003, 01:46 AM
Hmm, Battery life is only rated from 2.5 to 5.0 hours, depending on the brightness level. The audio player is good for only four hours with the screen shutoff. So I suppose if you added up all the time it was actually on, then your battery life maybe normal. Time also has a way of flying by too. Especially if your having fun:)!

Importluva
03-10-2003, 01:48 AM
oh, its only 2.5 to 5 hrs? Is 5 hrs with the backlight off? Or at the lowest setting? I always thought that the 5hrs was teh avg time. This clears things up then :)

I never have a problem with battery life tho. Plus, I have battery extender for it as well.

stevek
03-10-2003, 01:56 AM
I tested the nx60 with a battery tester program. it kept the screen on steady and kept track of the battery voltage and time. I got 3 hours 12 minutes with full brightness and 4 hours 12 minutes with 1/4 brightness.
I don't know if the program worked the processor or not.

Importluva
03-10-2003, 01:59 AM
yea, that makes sense with the nx being idle. However, I wonder how much the drain would be if you tested it with 30-45 min of mp3 playing (screen off), test writing, PIM, etc. I'm sure that this type of test would be hard to do, but interesting nonetheless.

stevek
03-10-2003, 02:01 AM
yes Like I said the program does not say if it is using much of the processor. reading a book seems to give more battery life.
those alarms even with the hold button seem to really eat up battery power. and full brightness seems to drain it faster then the test indicates.

Redmond
03-10-2003, 02:11 AM
I'm kind of new to my NX, but I believe that ALL camera apps draw higher than normal battery current (esp. my old NZ-90 did).

I use the camera just to take snapshots of people so I can put the Faces to Names in the AddressBook and so far, I haven't experienced a hugh battery draw like I did on my NZ.

My suggestion Importluva, get in and get out quickly of the Camera App. Lucky for us, the NX doesn't have a Flash, because that really sucks up the juice even more!!


;)

Importluva
03-10-2003, 03:17 AM
Lol, true Redmond. I do leave it in teh Camera mode too long. I am currently testing my NX. I ahve played MP3's, taken pics/ movies as well as doing some voice recording. I did a slide show, as well as regular PIM stuff, and then I closed the unit as well (power still on). I have left the clie on for about 104 min, and is currently at 65% battery life left at about 40-45% screen brightness (where I usually leave it). So, I am averaging 4hrs to 4.5hrs. Not bad.

I suspect my heavy drainage today was due to my leaving the NX in camera mode for so long. That is what prolly did it.

fireants22
03-10-2003, 03:26 AM
what software/or function are you guys using to guage your battery life? just the basic one from palm-launcher?

n2ifp
03-10-2003, 08:30 AM
Originally posted by Redmond
I'm kind of new to my NX, but I believe that ALL camera apps draw higher than normal battery current (esp. my old NZ-90 did).

I use the camera just to take snapshots of people so I can put the Faces to Names in the AddressBook and so far, I haven't experienced a hugh battery draw like I did on my NZ.

My suggestion Importluva, get in and get out quickly of the Camera App. Lucky for us, the NX doesn't have a Flash, because that really sucks up the juice even more!!


;)

The camera flash needs lots of current initially to recharge, so yes, it does suck up the juice:)! It's basically the same with any electronic strobe flash.

Hmm, why doesn't the flash work on my NX:D?

Alistar
03-10-2003, 08:50 AM
You must have forgotten to opt for the sony flash upgrade. It is only 800 dollars and they will install a flash for you, they also like the color black better so they paint it for you as well.

*Just kidding*

stevek
03-10-2003, 11:44 AM
http://www.palmgear.com/software/showsoftware.cfm?sid=D16FF202-1DFC-4203-AD875342600F2DC8&prodID=45712
here you go for the battery test.