08-19-2002, 06:30 PM
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Executive Editor
Join Date: Aug 2006
Posts: 29,160
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Random XDA musings, part 3
I took my XDA with me when I went away for a short trip outside Calgary this weekend, and I was outside the GSM coverage while there. I manually turned off the phone software, so it was no longer seeking a signal. On the Sunday morning when we were leaving, I turned it back on - still no signal, but I figured it would pick it back up when it came within range.
What I didn't realize, however, was that the XDA polls for signal every 15 seconds, and when it's seeking a signal it goes into a "high powered" mode to get a lock. When it can't find a lock, it gives up, and tries again in 15 seconds. As you might imagine, this has a brutal effect on battery life. I've been thrilled with the battery life of the XDA so far, but if you're going outside a GSM-covered area, turn off the phone software to prevent a serious drain on your battery. I wish this polling time was user-configurable - I'd rather have it set to poll every 10 minutes or so.
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08-19-2002, 06:47 PM
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Theorist
Join Date: Jul 2003
Posts: 289
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Also Turn your phone off on flights!!! You dont need it and if you leave it on, the battery will drain... Who said you cant turn off the phone? Was it Walt Mossberg? hmmm ..... the naivite of the uninformed.....
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08-19-2002, 07:39 PM
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Intellectual
Join Date: Jul 2003
Posts: 217
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Re: Random XDA musings, part 3
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Originally Posted by Jason Dunn
I wish this polling time was user-configurable - I'd rather have it set to poll every 10 minutes or so.
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Don't quote me on this Jason, but I believe that is a GSM standard for the phone to try and reacquire signal every 15 seconds. It's definitely horrible on the battery drain, but the intent is to keep you communicated.
The reason this isn't an issue elsewhere is that Europe and other countries have vastly higher GSM coverage (i.e. most countries are totally covered in and around urban areas) and therefore signal loss is infrequent (i.e. due to lack of indoor or underground coverage). Curious to know if you tested to see if Rogers had coverage in the areas that Microcell didn't once you left the city?? In BC, Rogers has a larger GSM footprint, but I find the quality of calls with my Fido/Microcell phones is significantly higher within the same coverage area.
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08-19-2002, 08:43 PM
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Intellectual
Join Date: Jul 2003
Posts: 248
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Quote:
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Originally Posted by Master O'Mayhem
Also Turn your phone off on flights!!! You dont need it and if you leave it on, the battery will drain...
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Actually, you MUST turn it off. There are many countries where it is a criminal offence to use radio devices on airplanes. The reason behind this is that the radio waves are being reflected by the plane shell and it is believed to affect the reliability of sensitive aircraft electronics.
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08-19-2002, 10:07 PM
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Pupil
Join Date: Jun 2002
Posts: 48
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switch phone off via key
Luckily you can switch the phone off (or on) easily by pressing and holding the red phone key for some 3 seconds. :idea:
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08-19-2002, 11:19 PM
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Theorist
Join Date: Apr 2004
Posts: 262
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I can see this would be a big problem in the US. As far as I've heard most carriers haven't been very enthousiastic over GSM and haven't been investing the necessary effort in optimizing the GSM network overthere. Europe has excellent coverage though, my country (Belgium) for instance has 98% coverage so I can say that I will never notice the effect of fast battery drainage due to a weak signal. What could you do? E-mail your network provider and ask them to invest more in the GSM standard.
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08-19-2002, 11:25 PM
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Ponderer
Join Date: Jul 2003
Posts: 110
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I think there's something else as well. As I understand it the battery life on any GSM/GPRS device is dependant on the strength of the signal. If you stand next to a cell the device spends very little energy reporting it's presence (it, obviously, has to do this regularly so that the "system" knows where to find you if somebody tries to ring). On the other hand if you are "on the edge" of coverage it needs to boost it's signal strength and battery life falls sharply.
I'm not an expert but this, at any rate, is the "excuse" given by the Phone Mags as to why claimed battery life differs (substantially) from "real world" tests.
From practical experience I can certainly say that two years ago my phone used to last a fraction of the time when we were at our cottage in Cornwall (remote part of the country) as compared to our main home in London. Now the situation is reversed. Why? They put a new cell in the field behind the cottage!!!!
ps The other benefit is that we can buy pre-microwaved sheep! :lol:
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08-19-2002, 11:43 PM
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Intellectual
Join Date: Jul 2003
Posts: 217
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Quote:
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Originally Posted by Marc Zimmermann
Quote:
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Originally Posted by Master O'Mayhem
Also Turn your phone off on flights!!! You dont need it and if you leave it on, the battery will drain...
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Actually, you MUST turn it off. There are many countries where it is a criminal offence to use radio devices on airplanes. The reason behind this is that the radio waves are being reflected by the plane shell and it is believed to affect the reliability of sensitive aircraft electronics. |
Sorry, but that is a load of BS :roll: There have been many studies looking at the use of cell phones in airplanes and not one has shown any interference with the so-called
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Originally Posted by Master O'Mayhem
sensitive aircraft electronics
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Not to change the topic, but that is just bologna fed by the airline industry to keep you using the air phones at $6/min (a cut of which they happily take from GTE and AT&T). The FAA doesn't actually ban cell phone use, only the FCC, and that ban was unrelated to airplane interfernce. It had to do with these calls interfereing with ground cell phone calls.
Both Boeing and Airbus have tested this thoroughly and the FAA itself also reviewed flight data and no evidence was found.
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08-19-2002, 11:52 PM
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Neophyte
Join Date: Aug 2002
Posts: 6
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Re: Random XDA musings, part 3
Is the ability and method of switching off the phone in a Pocket PC Phone eddition machine specific to the brand or generic to Phone edition Pocket PCs. I'm about to buy an HP Jornada 928 in a day or two (becomes available here in Singapore sometime in the next couple of days) this week and have been worrying about turning the phone off on planes since I read in PC magazine that it couldn't be done on the T-mobile (or whatever the O2 XDA is called in North America).
TIA
- Vikas
Quote:
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Originally Posted by Jason Dunn
I took my XDA with me when I went away for a short trip outside Calgary this weekend, and I was outside the GSM coverage while there. I manually turned off the phone software, so it was no longer seeking a signal. On the Sunday morning when we were leaving, I turned it back on - still no signal, but I figured it would pick it back up when it came within range.....
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08-20-2002, 12:11 AM
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Intellectual
Join Date: Jul 2003
Posts: 217
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Re: Random XDA musings, part 3
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Originally Posted by vikasmg
Is the ability and method of switching off the phone in a Pocket PC Phone eddition machine specific to the brand or generic to Phone edition Pocket PCs. I'm about to buy an HP Jornada 928 in a day or two (becomes available here in Singapore sometime in the next couple of days) this week and have been worrying about turning the phone off on planes since I read in PC magazine that it couldn't be done on the T-mobile (or whatever the O2 XDA is called in North America).
TIA
- Vikas
Quote:
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Originally Posted by Jason Dunn
I took my XDA with me when I went away for a short trip outside Calgary this weekend, and I was outside the GSM coverage while there. I manually turned off the phone software, so it was no longer seeking a signal. On the Sunday morning when we were leaving, I turned it back on - still no signal, but I figured it would pick it back up when it came within range.....
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All of these devices have the ability to turn off the radio including the T-Mobile XDA.
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Linear Mode
