Registered: Nov 1999
Location:
Posts: 47

Just curious how long people have had their Visor last with the supplied batteries. I got my Deluxe on Mon. and already I only have 40% battery life remaining (I eventually set SOUNDS off and BEAMING off). Seems like I will be spending quite a bit on batteries...

What alternatives do you guys find work best?

Thanks,
Peter

Registered: Sep 1999
Location: San Francisco
Posts: 23

My batteries have been lasting 4-weeks. I got my Visor in October and the "4-week" battery life has been pretty consistent.

Registered: Oct 1999
Location: Bath, Avon, UK
Posts: 56

I've been getting about 9-12 days out of a pair of Duracell batteries.
I've been using Voltage control hack and ocasionally clocking my visor down when I'm low on batteries.
I've been using my Visor more often than I think I should have been, reading books with the backlight on etc...
So I'm pretty happy, I've had it for about 2 months or so. (probably less)

Happy Christmas to all of you on Visor Central.

agoldfish

Registered: Nov 1999
Location: Vancouver, Canada
Posts: 97

Peter, a good alternative to changing and throwing away alkalines every 2-4 weeks is to use NiMH rechargeables. Swapping between 2 sets every 2 weeks or so with Afterburner overclocking at 22MHz, I get about 12 hours of on-time as tracked by Runtime. They will pay for themselves after a few recharges...

A very Merry Christmas to all...
He is the reason for the season...

Registered: Dec 1999
Location:
Posts: 52

Peter, are you leaving the Visor on 24 hours a day???

I use mine a lot...I've had it since Dec 16th and it's currently at 80%. This with the batteries that came with it.

Harry

Registered: Dec 1999
Location:
Posts: 7

How do you know what percent your batteries are?

Registered: Nov 1999
Location:
Posts: 47

Handspring Kid: Check out Battery Meter Hack... (www.palmgear.com)

Harry: I use my Visor daily, but not for 24 hours. I do play some games (might be one reason - Dragon's Bane for one) and do use the backlight (Invert Hack) quite a bit. I have had my Visor since 12/20/99... Battery Meter Hack seems to fluxuate quite a bit, because now it tells me I am at 60% strength.

visordoc: I plan on checking NiMH rechargeables ASAP. Any good brand/charger you can recommend?

Thanks,
Peter

Registered: Nov 1999
Location:
Posts: 70

I use a combination of BatteryInfo 1.2 and RunTime (both programs are freeware) to keep track of my power usage. I really don't like the idea of installing "hacks" unless I need to. With these two programs working in tandem, I can keep track of the RunTime of each set of batteries and see a graph of the voltage; also, I can use BatteryInfo to change warning thresholds, battery types, and see the CURRENT voltage/percentage.

I've been running off the OEM batteries for 12 days, 2 hours, and 41 minutes (at the time of this writing) and the Visor has been powered-on and actually RUNNING for an accumulated 1 day, 8 hours. Right now, my battery is at 2.23v and fluctuates between 15-20%.

I've been using the backlight lightly, I turned the beam-receive OFF as soon as I received it, and I've been doing quite a bit of e-book reading.

I just bought a 4-pack of Rayovac Renewal Alkaline batteries so I can recharge one pair while I use the other... we'll see how these do performance wise, but the results will take another month or two.

_________
William

Registered: Dec 1999
Location:
Posts: 33

I've had this dream machine for 2 days now. I've been Hotsyncing alot, installing programs and such then noticed that my battery life came down to 85%

I know about the leaving it in the cradle, and receive beam battery drain. I've been careful about this, yet the batteries came down pretty quick. I have a hunch that frequent hotsyncing can drain your battery, has anyone else seen evidence of this?

Registered: Nov 1999
Location: Vancouver, Canada
Posts: 97

Peter,
The following website for Nexcell batts has been mentioned in other threads in VC. http://thomas-distributing.com/index.htm

Radio Shack also sells NiMH batts for a bit more. You can get a recharger there too, but you can just as easily use a NiCd slow charger with a charging current of approx 100mA or less. The fancy (and expensive) NiMH chargers have a special circuitry to detect overcharging (something that is not good for NiMH because it shortens the lifespan), but if you are careful to remove the batts after a certain number of hours charging then you can just use a regular NiCD charger instead. Hope this helps.


Chow2: I haven't really noticed any difference with the Beam Receive on or off, but yes, HotSynching does use up more juice from the batteries.


[This message has been edited by visordoc (edited 12-26-1999).]

Registered: Nov 1999
Location: NY
Posts: 26

Ok, I MUST be doing something wrong here. Please help! I got my Visor, used the "industrial" brand alkaline batteries it came with, and they lasted 3 weeks. I used it very frequently, played lots of games, I would say approx 2hrs a day total time.

Then i went to Radio Shack. Big mistake appparently. The guy talked me into buying a very cheap NiCd charger("charges them in 7hrs"), it was around 5$. I bought 2 NiCd packs of 2 rechargeables. These are horrible!!! I just installed LauncherIII, which has a little battery meter, and from simply playing one game for 5min, my % went down 15%!! ack! this is the second pair, theyve been charged already etc. the 1st pair i had in only lasted a few days.

is there really such a huge difference between alkaline and NiCd? Could it be launcherIII eating up battery somehow?
should I try charging/buying the NiMH in this charger? the NiMH recharger at radio shack was 25$!!

i hate feeling like i have to worry about them running out. the last pair went from 30% to 0% in a manner of minutes.

any insight anyone could provide would be greatly appreciated.

andy

Registered: Nov 1999
Location:
Posts: 47

Thanks for the info...

Visordoc: I found these batteries on the site you supplied... are these the best for a Visor? (link below)
http://thomas-distributing.com/nexcell-aaa-t.htm

Also, what charger do you recommend on the same site. I would like one that if I forget how long my batteries are in will not damage them. I know I will easily forget about them.

I was looking at the following charger (link below). Any comments? This is NOT a fast charger right? ...as I heard FAST charging is bad for these batteries.
http://thomas-distributing.com/maha-mh-c124s.htm

Thanks,
Peter

Registered: Nov 1999
Location: Vancouver, Canada
Posts: 97

Peter,
The NexCells AAA rated at 650mAH have been highly reviewed in various threads at VC. They are probably the best deal out there.

The charger you were looking at is a slow charger and is a good deal at $12, but I still wouldn't leave batts in there charging indefinitely at 55-70mA (as spec'd). Just leave the NiMH batts in there overnight for 10-12 hours as recommended on their website, and you can change to a fully charged set in the morning when you wake up. If you *really* don't want to have to remember to remove the batts at the end of the charging cycle, then you may have to pay a little bit extra for the next model up, which has negative delta-V detection and a lower 25mA trickle charge. http://thomas-distributing.com/maha-mh-c204f.htm

You can also read some more about NiMH batt and charging characteristics from their FAQ list. http://thomas-distributing.com/nimhbattery-faq.htm

Hope this helps a bit more...