Registered: Nov 1999
Location: bright side of the moon.
Posts: 996

I bought my Stowaway on friday afternoon (from CompUSA..they said they didn't have any at thier 800 # but a quick trip to the store proved them wrong)...

I was using it this weekend when i noticed 2 things.

1) when i went to bed saturday night, my battery was at ~25%. When i woke up this morning (sunday) my battery was in the high teens % and after alittle use the battery warning came around.

2) While trying to edit an address book entry, i did the dot-slash to make the dash in the phone number (-) and when i did the 'dot' part, it wouldn't stay in punctuation mode.

The only thing i could think of was the stowaway software. SO i disabled the Keyboard in the Stowaway app and that solved the dot-slash problem. Has anybody else noticed battery drain with the Visor OFF when the keyboard is 'enabled'?

BTW, LOVVVVE the stowaway. It'll increase my visor usage considerably.

Registered: Dec 1999
Location: Connecticut USA
Posts: 2682

I've been using my Stowaway since last Wednesday and haven't noticed any real change in the battery drain (except that the Visor seems to be ON a lot more lately ). I found that I DO NOT need Beam Receive set to on for the Stowaway to work. That could be one thing. Another, did you leave the Visor in the Stowaway overnight? In the HS DevKit manual, it states that when a serial device is attached to the Visor, the TX line actually provides 3 volts to the peripheral. What it doesn't say, and my email to HS DevSupport hasn't been answered yet, is whether this power is supplied when the unit is off as well.

And... I agree with you on the Stowaway... can't seem to stop using it myself

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MarkEagle - Ice is nice!

Registered: Nov 1999
Location: bright side of the moon.
Posts: 996

I didn't realize i had to have beam receive on to use the Stowaway?!?1 I don't have mine turned on and the keyboard works fine.

I didn't have the Visor on the Stowaway when it was turned off and i noticed the battery drain.

The only thing that was different was the 'enable keyboard' was switched on.

Have you noticed the punctuation problem?
Turn on the keyboard, (enable check box) then go into Address book (that's where it occured for me). Try editing a phone number in an entry and add a - in the phone number. whenever you tap the graffiti area the punctuation dot appears in the lower right for a fraction of a second then disappears.

I'll run some more tests on the this battery drain problem ...let you know.

Registered: Jan 2000
Location: Kansas City
Posts: 18

Hoser, thanks for the post, I thought it was just me. In regards to the battery drain - yep, that has happened to me. If I disable the keyboard, then my battery definitely lasts longer. In fact, now that I think about it, I've found my Visor "mysteriously" on a couple of times when I removed it from my brief case. (Yes, I could be bumping the "on" button, but that hasn't been a problem before.)

I also had a similar graffiti problem. When I'm in the Datebook+ - and not using the keyboard - sometimes my "caps lock" command (two up strokes) doesn't work. But, sometimes, when I power off and go back in, it does. It's not consistent. (Sometimes I've powered off and on a couple of times and still couldn't get the caps to work.) However, when I disabled the keyboard, the caps/caps lock worked just fine.

Not a huge problem; I don't mind enabling/disabling - small price to pay in order to use such an excellent accessory! But I am curious if there have been any other "discoveries."

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Joe Visor
"You were born an original; don't die a copy."

Registered: Jan 2000
Location: Kansas City
Posts: 18

Forgot to add that I do not have "beaming" turned on, so that isn't draining my batteries. My experience has been that the keyboard has functioned just fine without the beaming activated.

Registered: Dec 1999
Location:
Posts: 103

Yeah, I noticed that my batteries drained really fast also. They (NiMH) were in the high 20s and within 15 minutes I was receiving the low battery warning. Could just be the rapid drop off of that type of battery.

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Jay

Registered: Feb 2000
Location:
Posts: 94

hoser
you didn't mention what kind of batteries you're using, with rechargeables you'll get a drop off when they come out of the charger and right before they need to go into the charger.

i think you'd get this with alkalines too but not that bad, hmm.

Minh

Registered: Nov 1999
Location: bright side of the moon.
Posts: 996

I was using your average Duracell batteries.

I'll 'enable' my keyboard today (while at work) and check the difference in battery level (I only access my Visor occasionally during the day.

Right now i'm at 100% and 2.76v (Wed. 8:45am)

I will post the voltage and time twice today (lunch and late afternoon).

(i'm using regular alkaline batteries (SuperG no name brand from the local Giant Supermarket)

It is now 11:30am and my visor battery indicator says: 89% and 2.73v. I was out of the office all morning and left it on my desk with keyboard 'enabled'. I did not turn on the visor or sync all morning.
I'll post voltage and battery % later this afternoon.


[This message has been edited by Hoser_in_USA (edited 05-03-2000).]

Registered: Nov 1999
Location: bright side of the moon.
Posts: 996

it's now 5pm

I have had my IR Beam receive OFF all day. I used my visor a half dozen times to check appointments (on for about a minute or 2 each time) and i've had the 'keyboard enabled' ON. See above post for previous times and battery levels.

As of 5:05pm my battery is at 86% and 2.70v

so in one day i've gone from 100% and 2.76v to 86% and 2.70v

now the question is...does using your visor a half dozen times for a minute or 2 result in the same power drain with 'keyboard enabled' OFF. I know, not a cliffhanger of an episode, but i'll test this scenario tomorrow.

same bat-time, same bat-channel.

Registered: Nov 1999
Location:
Posts: 29

I also have been having some conflicts/complications with the stowaway driver. I have noticed a significant battery drain when I have keyboard enabled. I use nexcell 650mA rechargeables and usually get about 10-14 days out of a pair. With keyboard enabled, I'm looking at getting 3-5 days. Also, it seems to screw up the visor's ability to turn itself off. I usually have it set to turn off after 1 minute of inactivity, but I can come back 30 minutes later and still find it on. These are definitely some issues that targus needs to address.

Registered: Dec 1999
Location:
Posts: 103

It seems like they (Targus - ThinkOutside) should have come up with a hack that could detect when the keyboard was actually connected to the visor. When connected at power-on, enable the driver, otherwise, disable the driver.

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Jay

Registered: Sep 1999
Location: Seattle, Wa, USA
Posts: 66

Not to start a flamewar, but...

The Gotype has a Hackmaster hack available on it's site. Does seem to have problems with the "keyboard" hack, but other than that, it works like a dream.


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"Scalpel"
Atomic Hyrax Games