[JohnnyFlash]

I always struggled with battery power on my PPC, particularly when I had a Microdrive which reduced running time to about 1.5hr.

However, something that could prove useful was mentioned on a BBC Radio4 'article' where someone had developed PPC software, an audio web browser. Rather than brows the web looking for pages and links, pages would be 'described' and contents read (it did a whole lot more as well).

I can imagine this being cumbersome, but with reliable speech based navigation and wot-not, not having to use the screen would save a lot of power (unless you're using your PPC to warm up your pocket - a microdrive - that is).

[JohnnyFlash]

I always struggled with battery power on my PPC, particularly when I had a Microdrive which reduced running time to about 1.5hr.

However, something that could prove useful was mentioned on a BBC Radio4 'article' where someone had developed PPC software, an audio web browser. Rather than brows the web looking for pages and links, pages would be 'described' and contents read (it did a whole lot more as well).

I can imagine this being cumbersome, but with reliable speech based navigation and wot-not, not having to use the screen would save a lot of power (unless you're using your PPC to warm up your pocket - a microdrive - that is).

[entropy1980]

My 3835 I get decent battery life, better than my old Ipaq but still not great I can get through maybe 2-2.5 days on one charge, however most of the time I leave it on the charger when not in use. It does feak me out sometimes that it seems to drop sooooo fast when you add any kind of card or adjust the brightness up.....

[fireflyrsmr]

steady use during an 8 hour work day of writing and PIM stuff would drain the battery.

bought a pcmica sleve and never have trouble now getting through the day. i charge every night. the machine is about a year old. battery life is still great with the sleve in place.

[dma1965]

I still have my 3670 (Girlfriend got it) and a 3870, and the battery improvement in the 3870 is significant. I used to get paranoid about going out without backup battery power with my 3670, because any use at all would drain it soooo fast. My 3870 will easily last through a day of heavy use, dropping only 50% or so in that time. I am a network administrator, and use it to check connectivity over ethernet at our retail locations, as well as telneting to routers. When I used my 3670, one session would bring me down to 60%, and the next one would usually bring up a warning. My 3870 does not have this problem. My girlfriend uses the 3670 to play games, and read e-books, and sometimes we will both sit on the couch, in true geek fashion and she will be playing a game, and I will be changing TV channels, syncing wirelessly, reading email, and playing a game. After about 30-40 minutes, she gets the low battery warning, and I don't even go below 80% !!!

[griph]

Originally Posted by dma1965

I still have my 3670 (Girlfriend got it) and a 3870, and the battery improvement in the 3870 is significant. I used to get paranoid about going out without backup battery power with my 3670, because any use at all would drain it soooo fast. !!!

Is this because of PPC 2002 or just the fact that the iPaq 3850/70 has an upgraded battery?!

[kagayaki1]

I seem to get pretty good tests on my 3870. One of the more interesting tests is running the Bluetooth continuously to see how that would affect it. I noticed only an hours less battery time running the BT while I was doing various PIM stuff. All in all, very moderate drain for the BT radio.

Overall battery life is great! I also have a 3150, and I've of course noticed the 3870 battery life is relatively shorter to the 3150, but not short enough to be annoying. I also experience about 10 hours real time use (1/2 backlight) and find that to be more than enough.

[dma1965]

Both my 3670 and 3870 are running 2002, so I am certain it is a hardware (battery) issue.

[toml]

My battery life is much worse. I went from a Casio E125, which had wonderful battery life, to an E200, which is far worse. Average use in an 8-hour day leaves it at about half charge. Heavy use nearly drains it.

Dunno why Casio felt the need to go from a 1500MAh to a 950MAh battery?

I guess the upside is that I've got a removeable battery pack and can just carry a spare...

[jdhill]

Originally Posted by toml

My battery life is much worse. I went from a Casio E125, which had wonderful battery life, to an E200, which is far worse. Average use in an 8-hour day leaves it at about half charge. Heavy use nearly drains it.

Dunno why Casio felt the need to go from a 1500MAh to a 950MAh battery?

I guess the upside is that I've got a removeable battery pack and can just carry a spare...

Yup, Casio seems to have taken a step backwards in battery life. I went from a Casio E-115 to a Casio E-200. The E-200 appears to have about 1/2 the battery life that the E-115 did. I can go about 2 days of light use before I have to recharge the E-200 while the E-115 was good for about 4-5 days of light use.

[Take1]

My 3850 gets about 5 - 5.5 hours at 1/4 brightness reading eBooks. Better than my old 3750, but I'd really like to get a solid 8 hours @ 1/2 brightness. The new power coverpacks should make this happen (I hope).