> What constitutes normal use? I use my PDA about 1-2 hours every other day.
> I prefer to use milli-amp-hours to guage battery life. For example, a
> PalmIIIx using TRG's SPII-XL memory card will run for approximately 1800mAh
> or roughly 18 hours of 'real' usage. I suspect that 'constant run time' is
> implying that the PalmIIIc is turned off and the processor is in idle/sleep
> mode most of the time.
I'm not a hardware engineer, but my understanding was that the mAh rating is
purely a function of the battery. A 1mAh battery can supply 1 mA of current for
1 hour before its drained. Or a 1400 mAh battery can supply 1400 mA for 1 hour,
or 700 mA for 2 hours, 350 mA for 4 hours, etc... So the particular hardware
configuration shouldn't matter, and you can't really say that something runs for
1000 mAh... mAh isn't a unit of time. If I'm mistaken here, then hopefully
someone will correct me...
Anyways, I don't want to argue about the marketing text, but the Palm IIIc has a
1400mAh Li-Ion rechargable battery. What this translates to in terms of what
_I_ call "constant run time" depends greatly on how bright you've got your
screen turned up. The screen is by far the greatest power-hog in the device.
It can be anywhere from about 3 hours at maximum brightness, up to at least 6 at
minimum brightness (we improved this late in the project, so this number is a
bit less accurate...). Please note that these numbers are NOT in ANY WAY
official... they're just what I seem to remember from working on the project. I
expect that we'll be seeing many reasonably impartial 3rd party tests before too
long.
So, those of you that use your device for 2 hours per day shouldn't have a
problem... but you will certainly have to recharge it more often. Just drop it
into its cradle when you go to bed at night or something.
Jesse
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