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View Full Version : e740 Battery Life / Battery Issues


JMH
01-16-2003, 02:53 PM
I just recently ordered an e740, and am now eagerly awaiting its arrival. While considering which PocketPC to order, I read reviews and customer feedback on CNET, and the main issues people seemed to have with the e740 related to the battery. I was actually ready to order an Axim until the $100 rebate on the e740 changed my mind. So now I'm wondering what to expect. Specifically:

1) What kind of battery life will I get? I'm especially concerned with standby time; I'll often go out of town for a 3-day weekend without a charger, and only use it occasionally over the course of the weekend. This was never a problem with my Palm m500, I'd routinely return home with my battery still halfway charged. Assuming occasional use, as I said, can I get through a weekend without charging?
2) A few users commented that the battery would go along for a while saying it was almost full, and then all of a sudden it'd be almost empty. Is this true?
3) If my battery gets too low, will I lose data? If so, will this happen without adequate warning?

Thanks!

Jimmy Dodd
01-16-2003, 05:32 PM
I've had an e740 for some time now, so I'll throw in my experiences.


1) What kind of battery life will I get? I'm especially concerned with standby time; I'll often go out of town for a 3-day weekend without a charger, and only use it occasionally over the course of the weekend. This was never a problem with my Palm m500, I'd routinely return home with my battery still halfway charged. Assuming occasional use, as I said, can I get through a weekend without charging?


I haven't had any trouble with my standby time not making it through a long weekend. I often carry mine all weekend and, with occaisional use only, neglect to charge it up. This is under normal circumstances, however. So see below.


2) A few users commented that the battery would go along for a while saying it was almost full, and then all of a sudden it'd be almost empty. Is this true?


There have been several people comment about battery problems. The problem I have is that on a few occasions (maybe five times in the past 6 months) I have picked it up in the morning to find that the battery has completely drained after a night of non-use even though it was completely charged. Depending on who you talk to this is related to either an alarm reminder going off at midnight and keeping the device on all night, the battery suffering from a poor connection and draining, or a problem with the battery firmware. There are probably other explanations as well. No one really seems to know what causes it or if there are actually different problems with different devices. I'm not sure if the newer e740s still suffer from this. Best Buy has offered to replace mine, however.

There is also a problem with certain devices' back up batteries not working so if you remove the main battery all is lost. Those units were recalled and replaced by Toshiba.


3) If my battery gets too low, will I lose data? If so, will this happen without adequate warning?


If your main battery completely discharges you have a limited amount of time to get it on a charger or the data will be lost. The backup battery is supposed to keep the memory for up to thirty minutes or so, but I've never tried to time it. You will get warnings that the battery is getting low during usage, so you can charge it.

All in all it's a really nice device, though some of them have power problems. Battery life isn't great, especially with WiFi on (understandably), and Toshiba offers an extended battery pack if you need it. I'm still debating whether to keep mine or exchange it (for another e740 or another model entirely I haven't decided).

As a rule of thumb I keep my data backed up every night (via ActiveSync) just in case.

JMH
01-16-2003, 06:55 PM
Presumably a new unit wouldn't have the non-functional backup battery issue, though, right? I'm pretty good about charging and syncing while I'm home, so I think the rest shouldn't be a problem.

Jimmy Dodd
01-16-2003, 07:26 PM
Presumably a new unit wouldn't have the non-functional backup battery issue, though, right? I'm pretty good about charging and syncing while I'm home, so I think the rest shouldn't be a problem.

In theory that is correct. Since Toshiba recalled the units that had the problem one can assume they are out of the channel. Toshiba's web page for the e740 lists the serial numbers that are affected so you can check it out immediately once you get the unit.

A good place for further info is http://www.pc-counselor.com/e740.htm. About half way down the page is a list of known issues with the e740. It is helpful to know these if you start seeing weirdness with your e740.