5 hour battery life using mobimate reader, how to extend?

[phritosan]

i have to take my charger to work to plug in my 4150 after ive been using mobimate reader, can i get longer life out of my pda?


also, when i started using mobimate reader in landscape mode, i noticed that the bottom part of my screen is darker. is this normal? is it because of the little magnets in my sena case a la normal monitors?

[GSmith]

A couple of things to try: reduce screen brightness as far as you can, try an application to slow the clock, like Pocket Hack Master http://www.omegaone.com/PocketPC/PHM.html or XPUScaler http://www.immiersoft.com/

I haven't used either program, so I don't know how well they work.

If you don't want to lug a charger to work, buy a simple USB retractable sync/charge cable and keep it at work. Less than US$20 and sometimes less than US$10 (check tigerdirect.com and look for zip-linq). If you don't have a computer handy at work, consider a portable charger with rechargable batteries: http://www.semsons.com/batexwitusb.html or http://www.semsons.com/pocpowban.html
(I like the second one because it includes a US plug, just plug it in to an outlet to charge). Other inexpensive USB chargers require removing the batteries (and a battery charger). Keep all of that at work and you won't have to lug anything back and forth. US$30 for the cable and charger, done! If the 1600mAH batteries are not enough, you can get 2200mAH and maybe 2400mAH batteries to use in there. You might not have to get the separate charging cable, if your iPAQ came with that little charging dongle converting from a barrel connector to the iPAQ connector.

As for your second question about the magnets. Why don't you try removing your device from the case (for a while: overnight, or a few days)? Does that help?

[phritosan]

ill think about trying those programs. ive dropped alot of money into the ipaq recently and itll prolly have to wait for more presents

as for the charger thingies, they look cool, but dont work with my 4150

i leave the ipaq out of the case over night and havent noticed any difference, i cant leave it out for several days because i cant bear to be more than 5 feet away from it :D

[GSmith]

What do you mean "they don't work with your 4150"? I'm not sure where you got the idea that they don't work with the 4150. Here's one charge/sync cable that will plug your 4150 into the charger thingies:

http://www.boxwave.com/products/minisync/minisync-retractable-cable-hp-ipaq-4150_48.htm


$18 from boxwave, but there may be cheaper elsewhere. This charging cable plugs into the charger (USB) and into the 4150 (iPAQ connector).

Good luck!

[phritosan]

http://www.semsons.com/batexwitusb.html or http://www.semsons.com/pocpowban.html

these are what i meant dont work. the list of compatable devices does not include the 41** family

i dont have access to a pc at work. theres one box thats sooo old, but its got a bios password on it, and i dont want to mess with the boss's stuff :P

[applejosh]

Almost all recent iPAQ's (the past 3 years or so) have the same connector. The 1900 series is an exception, I think, and even then it might only be because the plug is reversed. Also, with those chargers (edit: the ones mentioned in the first reply), all you do is take the little adapter that should have come with your iPAQ to turn the barrel plug that the chargers have into a plug that fits into the bottom of your iPAQ. I was also a little hesitant at first when I upgraded my PPC (H3955 to rx3715), but the connector is the same, thankfully.

[uzetaab]

I haven't had a good look at many PPCs, but colour lcd screens, like all notebooks I've seen & my own ppc are only really designed for viewing from one side, which is when it's right side up. Most LCDs (these days) can be seen quite clearly from any direction & most angles, but they are never quite right unless your looking from the optimum position.

So there is nothing wrong with your LCD & it isn't magnets. Magnets don't affect LCDs.

[uzetaab]

there are 4 main ways to extend the battery life of a ppc for something like reading.

1) turn off bluetooth, wifi & infra red if you have those. Do this in settings>connections>*beam-for infra red, the others will be similar*

2) Turn the brightness of the screen's backlight down, the lower the better.

3) Turn the CPU speed down, the lower the better.

4) stop any running programs that you aren't using. Do this in settings>system>memory>running programs


*Note* options 2 & 3 are device specific. Most devices have these options, but they are accessed in different ways.

[phritosan]

okay cool, i might get one of those extra battery things


i wasnt thinking about the screen being lcd and immune to magnets :oops:

i like the brightness all the way up, normally leave the connections off, and mobireader is the only thing running

i guess thats all my options :?

thanks all

[surur]

i like the brightness all the way up

Thats your problem right there. A screen at full brightness sucks battery faster than a wifi connection even. If you turned your screen down to the lowest setting it would easily double your battery life. And if you are going to be reading for hours your eyes will thank you also.

If you look at the graphic here, notice the dramatic difference between "reading mode" (lowest backlight) and maximum load (highest backlight and wireless).

http://www.mobile-review.com/pda/review/vga-comparing-en.shtml
http://www.mobile-review.com/pda/review/image/vga-comparing/battery-s.png

Surur

[uzetaab]

When I'm reading, I turn the brightness right down to the minimum. It's a bit disconcerting at first, but after a while, I don't even notice.

Then when I finish reading, if I turn the contrast up again, I get a shock & it actually hurts my eyes to look at it for a while.

To quote Gizmo from Gremlins:

"Ahhhrg, bright light! Bright light!"

[phritosan]

the room that i work in is rather dark; i need a light on to read a paper book, so im not sure there would be enough light having the screen that low. there is light in the room, so the ambient light might drown out the light from the pda screen

[surur]

I only use my pda at minimum brightness, except when viewing video or a dark picture. Its adequate in most lightning conditions, and the darker the room the better. In bright sunlight with a transreflective screen its often better to just turn towards the sunlight and use that as a backlight.

Certainly when reading in bed the minimum backlight is mandatory, so as not to wake your partner. I suggest you try it out for a few hours and see how it goes. I expect you will be pleasantly surprised.

Surur

PS: Minimum does not mean off, its the one just above off.