Battery Life Comparisons?

Archived from groups: comp.sys.palmtops.pilot (More info?)

Has anyone done a comprehensive comparison of the battery life of all
current Palm OS devices? Even better would be a comparison with older
Palm OS devices, since I want to know what to expect compared to what
I'm used to (my old Vx).

I'm guessing that the Zire 21 has the best battery life being black &
white, but I'm pretty sure I won't be getting one of those, unless a
color screen is a really huge hit on battery life by comparison.


--
Karl Garrison

Archived from groups: comp.sys.palmtops.pilot (More info?)

"hermes_917@yahoo.com" <kgarrison@pobox.com> wrote:

>Has anyone done a comprehensive comparison of the battery life of all
>current Palm OS devices?

Most newer color Palms get 4 hours battery time or less depending on several
factors such as processor use, screen brightness, and now...hard drive use.

> I want to know what to expect compared to what I'm used to (my old Vx).

Nothing sold today will approach the battery life of your Vx.

>I'm guessing that the Zire 21 has the best battery life being black &
>white,

Of the current models that's probably true. But since it has the new OS with a
faster processor it too will be worse than your Vx.

>but I'm pretty sure I won't be getting one of those, unless a
>color screen is a really huge hit on battery life by comparison.

The high resolution color screen is a "huge hit" on battery life no doubt about
it. But IMO it's well worth it. Leave your Palm on the charger overnight while
you sleep and you should have enough for the next day even with heavy use. I
average 2 hours a day on mine and this system has never failed me...

Archived from groups: comp.sys.palmtops.pilot (More info?)

pailface88@yahoo.com wrote:
>
> Erico Franco wrote:
>
>
>>In my guess color/black white screen do not make difference in a way
>>that you can feel.
>>
>
>
> Color displays use a backlight or sidelight which uses a large amount
> of the batteries capacity. Typically a monochrome (black and white)
> model, without its backlight on, will get several times as much battery
> time as a color model.
>
yes very true
i forgot the backlight detail.

thanks

Franco
Lifedrive Review: http://www.micromagiclabs.com/forums/thread1488.html
PalmOS forums: http://forums.micromagiclabs.com

Archived from groups: comp.sys.palmtops.pilot (More info?)

"hermes_917@yahoo.com" <kgarrison@pobox.com> wrote in message
news:1117719978.720749.305700@g14g2000cwa.googlegroups.com...
> Has anyone done a comprehensive comparison of the battery life of all
> current Palm OS devices? Even better would be a comparison with older
> Palm OS devices, since I want to know what to expect compared to what
> I'm used to (my old Vx).
>
> I'm guessing that the Zire 21 has the best battery life being black &
> white, but I'm pretty sure I won't be getting one of those, unless a
> color screen is a really huge hit on battery life by comparison.


As others have hinted at, there are too many variables for accurate battery
comparison purposes. In the old days, things were easy. You had a
backlight to set, maybe infrared on or off, and that was it. Various
applications were used to load the processor up, then you just let it run
until it either dies or the low battery warning kicks in.

These days, it's far more complicated. We have backlights, we have
processors that use significantly more power when under full load. We have
Bluetooth, we have WiFi, GSM / GPRS. We have replaying MP3s with the screen
off... or with it on and the user using the device elsewhere... all sorts.

Thus the reason why there's not been a comprehensive assessment of battery
life is that it would take a very, very long time.

However, the above written, it's possible to make some sweeping assumptions.
If you don't use the funky advanced features of a PDA (those that the Vx
doesn't have) then you're going to be disappointed with the battery
longevity if you appreciated the ten hours plus uptime.

If you used the device for around an hour a day and Hotsynced and charger it
in the cradle, you're probably not going to notice any difference on a day
to day basis. If, however, you only gave the device three or four minutes
before you took it off the cradle you may need to plan when it needs charge.

In my experience, I've found the difference in uptime when comparing
equivalent models save for the screen (the m500 and the m505), the colour
screen makes no difference. What makes the difference is needing to rely on
the backlight more. If you get a device where you don't need the backlight
under office lighting (most Tungsten Tx models, the Tungsten W too) then
battery performance is much improved. Of course not all devices can switch
the backlight off... That's disappointing. The Tungsten T3 is like that.

Thus it'll depend on how you use your device. For what it's worth, I will
use my device for several hours a day. I go away for a few days at a time.
I don't like being tied down via a power point either. As a general rule of
thumb I get frustrated with devices that peter out after six hours of use (I
don't use the backlight much, I'm either outside or under office lighting).
My Tungsten W gets Hotsynced two or three times a day and each cradle I use
has a power point. For my ordinary day I'll probably use the device for
anywhere between one and five hours and I don't have to think about
charging it. If I'm going away I'll make a point of giving it a full charge
but I don't like compromising on my use of it... show no mercy!

Phew. Long answer to a complicated question!

--
The DervMan
www.dervman.com