Registered: Jan 2000
Location:
Posts: 1

visior deluxe batteries

I recently have had problems with my 2 year old
Visor Deluxe with 8 mb of memory. It is powered by 2 AAA batteries and they used to last about 5 to 6 weeks. Now it seems that they last about 3 weeks.
Any suggestions ? I don't think I have overloaded it at all.

Registered: Feb 2002
Location: Washburn University in Topeka, KS
Posts: 450

Well....

Couple Questions:

- Are you using your Visor more, playing a game or something that you were not earlier? Are you using a new accessory, like a Springboard or a Keyboard that could lead to a quicker battery drain?

- What type of batteries are you using, and what type did you used to use?

BTW - Three weeks battery life is still pretty good - I use mine so much, I use it about 20 hours in 3-4 days, causing for a lot of battery changes! that is why I use rechargable batteries - it saves me a lot in batteries!

If you are concerned about battery life, and the cost of batteries, invest in 4 AAA NiMH Rechargable Batteries and a charger. You can use one pair at a time and leave the other pair in the charger. The batteries will not last as long (maybe a day or two less) but you will never have to buy batteries again (except for emergencies...)

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Registered: Mar 2001
Location: Nebraska- the Good life
Posts: 695

I agree with Terry (and not just 'cuz he's a Nebraskan!)

NiMH rechargeables are THE way to go with the Deluxe- you'll save in the long run (money and headaches!)

I noticed my Deluxe was really sucking the juice after a while as well- but then i noticed I was using it a lot more, and using things that sucked juice a lot more- the modules, backlight, longer running times, etc. (I was reading stuff on it, swapping things between the card and RAM, etc.)

Got the NiMH's and it was wonderful! My daily routine included hot-syncing it, backing it up, then swapping the batteries (NiMH can be swapped daily). With perpetually 'fresh' batteries, I was good for several days if I could not swap them again- and I kept a pair of spare AAA's just in case that I never got around to using.

Personally- I think it makes a LOT more sense to do something that lets you keep using the device the way you want, AND to grow your usage more, than to try to figure out how use it soas to save battery life.

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Do what you can, with what you have, where you are at!

Registered: May 2000
Location: Arlington, VA USA
Posts: 4

Kensington PocketType keyboard likely culprit

I have noticed a similar battery drain behavior that began around the time I first installed the PRC for Kensington's PocketType keyboard. I downloaded an updated driver for it (v1.1) from
http://kensington.com/html/1491.html and disabled it using a checkbox value they supply on their interface on the visor.

No word yet on the effectiveness of these measures, but it is truly interesting to note that PocketType will not work unless beam receive is on (turning beam receive off is a battery saving measure detailed in a similar thread elsewhere, which is what led me to suspect the pocketType keyboard in the first place). I am hoping this corrects the problem.

Incidentally, my batteries were not actually draining, it was just that the power on button would often not work. Performing a soft reset while in the cradle, although lame and not very practical, recovered the unit with data intact. How weird is that?

Registered: Mar 2001
Location: Nebraska- the Good life
Posts: 695

Re: Kensington PocketType keyboard likely culprit

quote:

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Originally posted by dan2bit
I have noticed a similar battery drain behavior that began around the time I first installed the PRC for Kensington's PocketType keyboard. I downloaded an updated driver for it (v1.1) from
http://kensington.com/html/1491.html and disabled it using a checkbox value they supply on their interface on the visor.

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Do what you can, with what you have, where you are at!

Registered: May 2000
Location: Arlington, VA USA
Posts: 4

Re: Re: Kensington PocketType keyboard likely culprit

quote:

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Originally posted by Madkins007


Of course, when this was first posted, the Pockettop was not available, so I doubt that it was the culprit! ;-)

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