Windows Media Player - Screen Off While Playing

[bjchantry]

Hi there, still new to the PPC world but I have one simple question that I haven't been able to find an answer toanywhere on MS's web site or documentation. Can the screen be turned off while playing music through Windows Media Player to save battery? Thanks for the help.

[stitics]

From my relevant experiences, it depends on which PDA you have. In the past I owned a HP Jornada 568, and the screen could be turned off on that item. Currently I have a Toshiba e740, and, AFAIK, without the help of 3rd parties, your best bet is turning off the backlight.

I am sure someone else will have a more productive answer for you, but I hope that helped.

[Janak Parekh]

From my relevant experiences, it depends on which PDA you have. In the past I owned a HP Jornada 568, and the screen could be turned off on that item. Currently I have a Toshiba e740, and, AFAIK, without the help of 3rd parties, your best bet is turning off the backlight.
No, I'm pretty sure that's not the case--the 568 may have more options to turn off the screen, but you can always do it in WMP (my friend has an e740 and he does it without problems). All you need to do is to go into WMP's options and map a button to turning off the screen, and it should work perfectly.

--janak

[Pony99CA]

To expand on what Janek said, do the following in Windows Media Player:

Tap Tools.
Tap Settings.
Tap Buttons.
In the Select function drop-down list, choose Screen Toggle.
Press the button you want to use to toggle the screen on and off.

Now, whenever you want to turn the screen off, just press that button. Press it again to turn the screen back on. The above assumes you have WMP 8 or higher, I believe.

NOTE: If a reminder goes off while the screen is off, if you have the toggle function mapped to your action button (as I do), you'll end up snoozing the reminder if you try to turn the screen back on to see it. It would be nice if the screen would automatically turn back on when a reminder fired.

Steve

[bjchantry]

Thanks everyone, worked perfectly, now I have another question. Is this explained somewhere and am I just thick, or does it seem like everything is learned by accident or through other assistance? I don't want to keep asking dumb questions if I don't have to.

[Sven Johannsen]

It's explained thoroughly in the interactive documentation, i.e PocketPCThoughts Forums ;)

[Janak Parekh]

Thanks everyone, worked perfectly, now I have another question. Is this explained somewhere and am I just thick, or does it seem like everything is learned by accident or through other assistance? I don't want to keep asking dumb questions if I don't have to.
Try doing a search on our forums, on Google (www.google.com), on Google Groups (groups.google.com), and perhaps a few other websites.

You're always welcome to ask, but I assert it's far less work once you master the search interfaces. :)

--janak