ZIRE 71 battery life???

[stanmanh]

When I first got my Zire 71. I fully charged the battery up for approximately 8 hours. I then took it to work and began setting up my preferences. I was very disappointed that at about the 5-6th hour of use the battery gauge read 2/3 full!!! I'll try to charge it for another eight hours tonight and see how long the battery will run. Does any one know how long a full charge should last? Will playing mp3 or video limit the battery time? Any suggestion will help. This is my 1st PDA and so far it lives up to most of my expectations minus the battery issue.

[salmas]

Playing mp3s and video will definately impact battery performance as they both require frequent access to the SD card. You should try to keep the backlight on as low as possible and the beam receive off to maximize battery performance.

Even so, 5 or 6 hours and the thing is still more than half charges is nothing to sneeze about. Could be worse; could be a PPC ;-) or a Clie NX90

['_']

i will also be using it as an mp3 player for most of the time...and would like to hear some more info from users regarding the battery life before i buy one.

thanks

[palm boy]

My m130 gets about 3 days worth of battery with heavy SD card use. I am assuming that the mp3s would really impact it though.

[Sparticus Caine]

Anything other than standard address book, memo pad, datebook, etc use is going to result in a battery drain. The only thing thats keeping me from purchasing a Zire 71 is the fact that with a camera/mp3 player/video player the battery life is going to be short. If you use the unit primarily for mp3 usage, or even for alot of the time, then expect to see constant recharging. Even with heavy SD/MMC card use, the unit should go at least 3 days before needing any kind of power-up. "Extra" features that are found in PDA's in general always take more power, more quickly.