One thing that I have noticed, is that if you go into support information mode and look at nominal available charge, the value continues to go down each successive charge. It never goes above the last measured discharge value, and never gets to the designed value.
----- Original Message ----- From: "Joseph Lee" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: "'Braillenote List'" <[email protected]> Sent: Sunday, May 14, 2006 9:31 AM Subject: [BrailleNote] my hypothesis on battery issue on mPower > Dear listers, > This is Jospeh. I know this might sound technical or confusing t first. Here > we go: > On the BrailleNote mPower units, there has been numberous reports about > battery life. The manual indicates that you can use your BN for up to 20 > hours. Many people on the list has reported that the battery only lasts > about 10 to 15 hours. > The Intel Xscale PXA27x series of processors, the one used by mPower (the > actual thing is PXA272) has a feature called Wireless SpeedStep. For those > of use who are not technically inclined, SpeedStep is Intel's innovation > that allows the operating system to clock, or change the speed of the > processor dependin g on what application is using its resources. On easy > terms, the operating system can either slow down or speed up the processor > when certain programs needs the functionality. > The SpeedStep technology was first introduced with Pentium 4 CPU's. It was > mainly offered on laptops. > While it sold considerablly, it has been found that the laptop's battery > shortens a little bit when powered by SpeedStep-enabled CPU (I've found this > out myself since I own Toshiba Sattellite notebook which has SpeedStep > built-in). Laptops with these CPU's generally has almost same battery life > as the other counterparts, the battery life on these notebooks tend to be > quite short. The actual thing is that it runs longer if the processor's > speed is slow, and it runs shorter if the processor's speed is fast enough. > PXA272, used on mPower, also has the SpeedStep technology. My hypothesis is > this: because mPower also has SpeedStep technology, it is proactical that > some applications might need more resources than others, meaning that > Wincows CE would have to clock the CPU to use a lot of battery power. Some > of these applications include FM Radio, Media Player and Recorder, Web > Browser, and so on. Here's my question to HW staff: will there be some a > patch for these ongoing battery issue? If SpeedStep is used, could KeySoft > caontrol the adjustment of the CPU depending on wich KeySoft application is > used? > For folks who are experiencing this issue: > 1. Try battery recalibration with f parameter to see how long the battery > would last. > 2. Run the mPower until the battery dies, and recharge the unit (you should > use Media Player or FM Radio at this time.). Please record how long you can > use your unit.3. Repeat the procedure that has been outlined on item number > 2 (this time, use applications such as keyWord, KeyList, and so on. I > recommend that you do not connect to the Internet for this trial.). Again, > please record how long you've been able to use your unit. > I'm hoping that the battery issue would be fixed in near future. > > > ___ > To leave the BrailleNote list, send a blank message to > [EMAIL PROTECTED] > To view the list archives or change your preferences, visit > http://list.humanware.com/mailman/listinfo/braillenote > > ___ To leave the BrailleNote list, send a blank message to [EMAIL PROTECTED] To view the list archives or change your preferences, visit http://list.humanware.com/mailman/listinfo/braillenote
