Battery question

[Samantha]

Hi,

I have the application "Launch'Em" on a N760C. It gave me battery voltage indicator. When it was 100% charged, the voltage is at 4.12V. The voltage seemed low. Does this sound right? Or I will be looking at a new battery soon?

Please advise.

Thanks.

[mapabl]

Samantha -
My N760 Clie registers 4.21V at full charge and usually drops to 4.19 quickly. It shows a full 100% charge until the battery drops to about 4.10V, I believe. So your battery is still in the 100% range at 4.12V - it just not registering to the full 4.21V.
Sometimes it takes my Clie a good couple minutes of use before it registers to 4.19 - 4.21V.
If you can figure this out - some outlets in my home give my Clie a better "charge" than others. I read somewhere it has to do with the voltage output of your outlets as to how well the Clie battery "charge" will register.
I usually use the Clie with the frontlight off, if at all possible, to save battery drain. Also, I've read that keeping the beam ability set to "off" will save on battery drain.
Hope this helps. Mary

[red]

This is unlikely as the clie charger is a regulated switching power supply, it should be independent of any fluxuations on the line voltage.

[bettyboop]

Your battery should last minimum 3 years before you have
to replace it under normal usage. Meaning everyday.

If you haver had it for 3 years or more, it maybe time to replace.
If you have had the Clie far less then 3 years, try recharging
the Clie evry chance you get and even leave it charging over
night for over 8 hours.

[Avi]

Hi,
We have 3 610s in the family. I have found that the different chargers put out slightly different output voltages, as shown by the voltage indicator in a few apps that I have. Also, note that there's a delay of several seconds between the battery voltage changing and the display being updated - you can see this most easily when connecting or dsiconnecting your CLIE to the charger (or dropping it into the cradle). You have to realize that the voltage of the charger has to be higher than that of the battery for charging current to flow into the battery, so you will get a "false" indication of a higher voltage for a few seconds or even minutes after removing the CLIE from the charger as the battery settles back down to its nominal fully charged voltage.

Since these devices use lithium ion batteries, there's no issue of "memory effect' as with NiCDs (this effect sometimes appears with NICDs that are frequently not run down all the way between charges - on subsequent charge cycles, they display reduced capacity/operating time). What this means for the user is that you can safely charge your CLIE as frequently as you like -- and you can do it for as long as you like, because Lithium ion batteries require very specific charging control parameters to protect them, which have to be built into the CLIE, or else Sony would be getting lots of complaints about battery failures.

I must say that my personal experience with charge life in the 610 doesn't come close to that advertised; that having been said, I use the illumination at about 1/3 power ALL the time. I also think I've noticed, with out actually measuring it, since I started using a memory stick that I leave in it all the time, that time between charges has gotten a lot shorter, but this could be my imagination. I do know that even when off, the CLIE detects removal/insertion of the memory stick, which makes me think it may be drawing a bit of current from the battery all the time.

I can't imagine that disabling the IR port would make a difference when the CLIE is off, and typical IR receivers when running shouldn't draw significantly detectable current ( all they are is a light-sensitive diode junction), so the advice to turn off the IR port seems like an urban myth to me.

[bettyboop]

I beg to differ.
The IR port should be turned off if you want to conserve power.
You talk about the light sensitive diode not requiring
much current. This maybe true but we are not turning off this
diode only are we. Also we are referring to the battery drain
when the CLIE is ON but the IR is not being used for anything
therefore should be turned off during this time.
:D

We are referring to the whole IR port accessability meaning
the communication circuitry to the IR port and the OSes
access to the IR port on a regular basis to confirm that
the port is active. This drains battery even if you are not using
this port. Therefore why have it turned ON while doing non
IR related functions?

Lastly unless you monitor the voltages using an actual
voltage meter you will not get consistant readings.
Specially anything that involves a software based solution.
Your CLIE is not and was never designed as a voltage meter.
The accuracy is flaky at best.
:D