I am not a heavy user yet and as of now, I only have to charge my MPower once a week. Terry Powers
-----Original Message----- From: Mary Ward [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Sunday, May 14, 2006 3:14 PM To: Braillenote List Subject: Re: [BrailleNote] my hypothesis on battery issue on mPower 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. > > > ___ > 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 ___ 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
