Possible iPAQ 5450 Battery Problem?

[Jason Dunn]

I received a message today from an anonymous reader who had an interesting experience when ordering a 5450 from HP:<br /><br />"After resolving some online ordering issues (HP's website doesn't like suite #'s in the address) my order was finally cleared today. However, the 5450 is on backorder. One of the order status clerks indicated HP suspended shipments of the 5450 so they could resolve a battery issue. The clerk had no further information, although he did say his system indicated shipments would resume the first week in January. I'll let you know if I hear more. I'm anxiously awaiting the new 5450!"<br /><br />I wonder what the battery issue is? I have no firm information on this, so please treat this as a completely unsubstantiated rumour.

[Daniel]

Maybe that the battery life is way lower than it should be with wi-fi and bt turned off? Seems like it should last a fair bit longer then 4 hours on a charge.

Daniel

[TMAN]

Several times I have gone to charge my 5450. During these times the charge light would never come on and the device would not charge. I had to remove the battery and reinsert it so the device would charge.

Things that make you go Hmmmm.....

[Daniel]

Things that make you go Hmmmm.....

Man, PocetPCs didn't even exist when this song came out! :)

Daniel

[eustts]

This is very interesting indeed. I plan on purchasing the new Ipaq within a week. I wonder if this battery rumor affects the 5455 retail version. :D

[Paul P]

One of the order status clerks indicated HP suspended shipments of the 5450 so they could resolve a battery issue. The clerk had no further information, although he did say his system indicated shipments would resume the first week in January. I'll let you know if I hear more. I'm anxiously awaiting the new 5450!"

Probably stupid question, but what does that mean exactly - that the battery is faulty or there is something wrong with the iPaq, making the battery quickly discharge? Or 'no further information' means just that.

[rich_75034]

I upgraded from a 3970 to a 5450 about three or four weeks ago, and I have definitely noticed some issues with the battery. For starters, it never seems to charge to 100%. When I take it off of the charger, after having supposedly charged it all night, it is usually at 85%-90%. The battery also seems to run down very quickly, even with BT & WiFi turned off. If I use my 5450 for roughly an hour, I start getting battery alerts.

Other problems I have experienced: :(

Yesterday it completely locked up when I wasn't even using it. After performing a soft reset, it locked up on the boot screen. I eventually had to remove the battery to get the thing to boot again. Surprise, Surprise all my data was gone. :evil: It was as though I had performed a hard reset.

Wifi often fails to start up again after it has been turned off. On several occasions, I have attempted to start up WiFi and it has failed repeatedly. The only way that I was finally able to get it started was by removing the battery (I'm starting to notice a pattern here).

The bottom line (at least in my case) is that the 5450 is a really cool device when it is working properly. Which in my case, has not been the norm.

I will definitely be putting in a call to HP.

[thelastknight]

:cry:

I returned mine today thinking that it was just me. I let the battery run dead through Christmas. When I came home and charged it up... for some reason it would power on while in the cradle but not when disconned from cradle. I was able to exchange it because I had it just less than 14 days. I will try to make sure it will not remain dead to see if that helps. I removed the battery then tried to soft reset and this did not help at all. In fact... on the 5455 I have no idea how to hard reset the thing... anyway...

[email protected]
James

[van_mierlo]

I upgraded from a 3970 to a 5450 about three or four weeks ago, and I have definitely noticed some issues with the battery. For starters, it never seems to charge to 100%. When I take it off of the charger, after having supposedly charged it all night, it is usually at 85%-90%. The battery also seems to run down very quickly, even with BT & WiFi turned off. If I use my 5450 for roughly an hour, I start getting battery alerts.

Other problems I have experienced: :(

Yesterday it completely locked up when I wasn't even using it. After performing a soft reset, it locked up on the boot screen. I eventually had to remove the battery to get the thing to boot again. Surprise, Surprise all my data was gone. :evil: It was as though I had performed a hard reset.

Wifi often fails to start up again after it has been turned off. On several occasions, I have attempted to start up WiFi and it has failed repeatedly. The only way that I was finally able to get it started was by removing the battery (I'm starting to notice a pattern here).

The bottom line (at least in my case) is that the 5450 is a really cool device when it is working properly. Which in my case, has not been the norm.

I will definitely be putting in a call to HP.

I noticed too that if you use the usb charge only it only goes to maximum of 99% charge. However connecting the adapter to the 5455 it is right away at a 100%

I changed from a 3635 to the 5455 and yes the battery drains even if the unit is off for a couple hours after it comes of the charger. And then in use it drains quicker then my 3635 without using bluetooth and wifi

Please let there be a replacement battery soon.

[taxlax]

My only issue is that my battery discharges even when the Ipaq is off. Lets say I leave work with a full charge, come home and use it moderately with my wireless lan. At this point let's say there is 50%-75% charge left, and then when I wanke up the next morning there is almost no battery life remaining. I have set all alerts to off. Thus, I don't think there is any drainage from it powering on overnight. Anyway, this is quite annoying, as it has caused me to have a couple of hard resets.

[merlin]

Same problem here. I love my new 5450 :D but it's the battery life that sucks. :?

[Janak Parekh]

At this point let's say there is 50%-75% charge left, and then when I wanke up the next morning there is almost no battery life remaining.
This is not typical drain, this is a defect. I'd call up HP and get your unit exchanged or at least have them debug what's going on.

--janak

[PocketASP]

The bigger question is - what about the current 5450 users - if they are making changes and updates then what happens to us ? Do we get them free or what ?

david

[denis1967]

I've been reading these post for sometimes and considered myself pretty #@$% lucky not to have had any batt problems so far (I have a 5450). Well this morning things changed: I tried turning it on & it was as dead as roadkill...
Of course, being the good engineer that I am (a little modesty here) I tried soft reset: nothing... tried removing/reinstalling battery: nothing... cursed out loud in French/Spanish/English before trying a hard reset: nothing. During brief spurts of prayers to someone many Murphy, I tried all of the above several times over (well you know; sometimes it works the 5th time around...) - still nothing. By now, I'm wiping the drops of cold sweat of my forehead thinking... well nothing really. Didn't know what to think... Anyway, I just put the #$%^ thing back in the cradle and stared at it for about 5 minutes while I search the web for help. Tried turning the thing on again and - low and behold - it turns on! As I am picking myself off the ground (thanking Murphy for not messing with me anymore), I run a quick check and everything is there. Not a file missing. Nothing wrong (exept my batt life shows 0%). Moral of the story --> if this ever happens to you try simply hooking a recharger to the unit and waiting BEFORE hard-resetting. Might just work for you as well (but it was the 6th time!!). Take care, Denis