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BarePaw
12-10-2004, 02:46 AM
Since Pocket PC's don't have fans, I never really thought about heat damage before, but recently I've started carrying mine as an mp3 player while I run and ride my bike. It has a metal case that I keep closed so as not to damage it from bumps and vibrations. It stays either in my pocket or a zippered bag, so heat from operation could potentially build up. I need it for more serious reasons at work and I'd hate to damage it for unnecessary reasons like this. Then again, a real mp3 player costs about a third as much as I paid for the pocket pc (or more), so if this can do double duty, that would be nice. Has anybody seen any reports about operating heat being an issue?

Darius Wey
12-10-2004, 04:11 AM
My Pocket PC can get quite hot sometimes, and I imagine, most others would too, especially if you're engaging in some intensive multimedia action or a game. Even though they don't have fans, I'm sure they have heatsinks, and in my many years of playing around with mobile , I haven't heard of a device that has suffered death from "heatstroke". 8) Of course, I'd like to hear stories from any unfortunate people who have actually suffered from this. But in the long run, I don't think you really need to worry about it. My thoughts anyway...

Dave Beauvais
12-10-2004, 04:30 AM
The only time my Pocket PCs have ever gotten what I would consider "hot" is when they are charging with the Wi-Fi radio on for a long period of time. (Usually a couple hours or more.) They have gotten warm during regular use -- especially during extended gaming or online use -- but nothing I would ever consider harmful to the device or my hand. :) If only my PC could run fanless...

Sven Johannsen
12-10-2004, 04:47 AM
I know that at least some have thermal shutdown circuitry. My and my Wife's 4155s have both shut themselves off when they were left in a car on a trip during summer and connected to the charger. We got back out of a food stop and found the PPC off. Turning it on displayed a screen indiv=cating it had shut off due to excessive heat, and quit charging. A few minutes on the road with the AC going, and everything was back to normal. So you can add PPCs to pets and kids that shouldn't be left in a hot car. Point here is that it seems that there likely is thermal protection built in...at least on 4155s, and I would suppose other HPs.

BarePaw
12-10-2004, 06:50 AM
That's actually what I'm using, a 4155, so that's good to hear. Thanks.

ADBrown
12-10-2004, 07:21 AM
Since Pocket PC's don't have fans, I never really thought about heat damage before, but recently I've started carrying mine as an mp3 player while I run and ride my bike. It has a metal case that I keep closed so as not to damage it from bumps and vibrations. It stays either in my pocket or a zippered bag, so heat from operation could potentially build up. I need it for more serious reasons at work and I'd hate to damage it for unnecessary reasons like this. Then again, a real mp3 player costs about a third as much as I paid for the pocket pc (or more), so if this can do double duty, that would be nice. Has anybody seen any reports about operating heat being an issue?

Excess heat from a PocketPC is usually so small as to be utterly insignificant. It's not like a desktop with a 20 watt processor that can fry itself if it overheats. The only PocketPC I've ever had that's gotten noticibly hot from extended use was the iPaq 5550.

delfuhd
12-10-2004, 01:48 PM
I know that at least some have thermal shutdown circuitry. My and my Wife's 4155s have both shut themselves off when they were left in a car on a trip during summer and connected to the charger. We got back out of a food stop and found the PPC off. Turning it on displayed a screen indiv=cating it had shut off due to excessive heat, and quit charging. A few minutes on the road with the AC going, and everything was back to normal. So you can add PPCs to pets and kids that shouldn't be left in a hot car. Point here is that it seems that there likely is thermal protection built in...at least on 4155s, and I would suppose other HPs.

I also remember a thread (I think it was on these forums) where someone went skiing and left their 4155 in their cold car, and when they came back they found the iPAQ off and when they turned it on it gave them a message like "Your iPAQ has shut off to prevent damage in the cold." well, obviously not that exact message, but something like that..