Vacation with Pocket PCs

[Andy Sjostrom]

I am back from a couple of days of family vacation. It's really nice to sometimes log off and just spend time with spouse, kids and Pocket PCs. Yes, Pocket PCs are very much part of our family. I use my <a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B00005J7L6/qid=1026857261/sr=8-9/ref=sr_8_9/103-7252347-5697414">HP Pocket Camera</a> a lot, as you can see below! My wife spent quite some time playing <a href="http://www.handango.com/PlatformProductDetail.jsp?siteId=301&jid=E11BEX4B43DA46ADA4BB4XBAD14125X7&zsortParams=true&productId=18501&optionId=1_2_2&productType=2&catalog=30&txtSearch=athlete&sectionId=0&platformId=2">ZIO Interactive's Pocket Athlete</a> and my kids took turns playing <a href="http://www.handango.com/PlatformProductDetail.jsp?siteId=301&jid=E11BEX4B43DA46ADA4BB4XBAD14125X7&zsortParams=true&productId=14285&optionId=1_2_2&productType=2&catalog=30&txtSearch=metalion&sectionId=0&platformId=2">ZIO Interactive's Metalion</a>, <a href="http://www.handango.com/PlatformProductDetail.jsp?siteId=301&jid=E11BEX4B43DA46ADA4BB4XBAD14125X7&zsortParams=true&productId=18440&optionId=1_2_2&productType=2&catalog=30&txtSearch=fograin&sectionId=0&platformId=2">Wizet's Fograin</a> and <a href="http://www.handango.com/PlatformProductDetail.jsp?siteId=301&jid=E11BEX4B43DA46ADA4BB4XBAD14125X7&zsortParams=true&productId=31389&optionId=1_2_2&productType=2&catalog=30&txtSearch=lemonade&sectionId=0&platformId=2">Hexacto's Lemonade</a>. The HP Jornada 545 is still a good friend of mine, but my main man is the Pocket PC 2002 Phone Edition (XDA / Joey). Actually, I bring both.<br /><br />Battery life. We left home on Friday morning. My wife's upgraded iPAQ Pocket PC 3630 had to get five full recharges. I did not even bring the chargers for the HP Jornada 545 or the Pocket PC 2002 Phone Edition (XDA / Joey)...<br /><br /><img src="http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/images/halland_01.jpg" />

[JonnoB]

Good to see you back... looks like you had a good time. The HP CF camera doesn't do too bad a job, does it. Indoors however, it is terrible, but for the occasional outside snapshot or well-lit indoor shot, it is very convenient.

[Jonathon Watkins]

Wow - I didn't realise that the IPAQ was that bad! How did you find the XDA for extended use? Is the 12bit screen liveable with?

[Andy Sjostrom]

Thanks! The HP Pocket Camera does work much better out doors!
The XDA screen is quite good. I live a happy life with it! :-)

Could the poor battery performance of the iPAQ Pocket PC 3630 be related to the fact that it is more than two years old?

[kagayaki1]

Indeed, some have mentioned (and proved) that an older, more used 36xx iPaq had poorer battery performance than, say, a new one. I believe some tests are floating around at the major PPC sites about this.

I would look to Times2Tech for a replacement battery. Not only will be it be new, but it likely will have increased amperage.

[Ed Hansberry]

Could the poor battery performance of the iPAQ Pocket PC 3630 be related to the fact that it is more than two years old?
I think so. Mine used to be much better than it is now.

[beyondallcom]

Don't forget games suck the life out of the battery like crazy :lol: you always have to take that into account.

[Jorj Bauer]

Wow - I didn't realise that the IPAQ was that bad!

Sounds about right. I just got done a 380-mile bike tour with an iPaq on the handlebars, doing pretty extensive math continually (keeping track of position, drawing maps onscreen, and uploading data to a web site live, all via custom software). My internal battery on a 3635 seems to last about two hours under serious drain (I hacked together some external batteries for the trip... you can see all about it on my biking page: http://binky.seas.upenn.edu/bike/, under the 2002 technobabble section.

My biking partner brought along his iPaq 37xx, and while we didn't use it during the trip, I know that he gets about half the battery life that I do from my 3635. I think he's cursed, though.

[Jason Dunn]

I would look to Times2Tech for a replacement battery. Not only will be it be new, but it likely will have increased amperage.

We've got a coupon discount deal coming up with them, so stay tuned...

[Marc Zimmermann]

The XDA screen is quite good. I live a happy life with it! :-)

Definitely. Unless you need it as a high quality photo album, the XDA's display is more than adequate.

Could the poor battery performance of the iPAQ Pocket PC 3630 be related to the fact that it is more than two years old?

I doubt that. I haven't noticed a degradation in the almost two years that I have my H3650 now. It still allows for 14 days of standby and usage time also hasn't decreased.

The iPAQ's power drain simply sucks. Even without use it would have chewed through 50% of the charge in a week. And I see even worse drain in the H3875 so that the enhanced battery in the H3800 series doesn't give me any advantage.

I wonder how HTC, the company that builds both the iPAQ and XDA, have managed to make the XDA's battery life so much better...

[Janak Parekh]

Could the poor battery performance of the iPAQ Pocket PC 3630 be related to the fact that it is more than two years old?

I doubt that. I haven't noticed a degradation in the almost two years that I have my H3650 now. It still allows for 14 days of standby and usage time also hasn't decreased.
Don't worry, it will :) It depends on how many charge cycles you've achieved. My 36xx unit now has about 1/2 its original capacity. (BTW, my 3870 works great, unlike yours...)

--bdj

[Marc Zimmermann]

Don't worry, it will :) It depends on how many charge cycles you've achieved.

Well, maybe I have a slight advantage due to the fact that I usually don't use cradles but rather sync via IrDA and only connect to the charger when necessary. I am reducing the number of charging cycles to the minimun.

(BTW, my 3870 works great, unlike yours...)

I have had the standby discharge of about 1% in roughly 3 hours confirmed by the man behind http://www.cnetx.com who used a brand new H3870 for verification. In further comparisons the H3870 also showed higher drain than the H3850, even with the Bluetooth radio off.

[Janak Parekh]

Well, maybe I have a slight advantage due to the fact that I usually don't use cradles but rather sync via IrDA and only connect to the charger when necessary. I am reducing the number of charging cycles to the minimun.
Absolutely, that makes a huge difference. It's all in the number of cycles. I used my Microdrive heavily and near the end was doing 50-60% charges twice a day.

I have had the standby discharge of about 1% in roughly 3 hours confirmed by the man behind http://www.cnetx.com who used a brand new H3870 for verification. In further comparisons the H3870 also showed higher drain than the H3850, even with the Bluetooth radio off.
Hmm... I don't watch it closely enough to be able to confirm this, but if I have data I'll get back to you. I use it daily too much... I'll take your word for it, but I wonder if different generations of the 3870 differ. :)

--bdj