I've had my MPower fixed two times in the shop. The battery checked out ok
both times. However, if I get eight hours battery life, I'm very lucky
indeed. And I'm talking about using the machine over two or three days, not
waiting around for two weeks without using it. A Braille Sense user I just
talked to said she gets almost 40 hours! I'd be happy with 20. I hardly
ever use the media player, recorder or FM radio and when I do, I often have
the AC adapter plugged in. I also use external devices very infrequently
and usually also have the unit plugged in when I do. I have an SD card, a
USB thumb drive and a flash card, but since I'm usually using these with the
AC adapter on, that can't account for my short battery life.
By the way, I'm counting time the unit is on but probably in hibernation
mode as part of the hours I'm using my machine.
I also hope that some kind of patch comes along to fix this.
----- 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.
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