Best pratices towards power usage on PDA ?

[alvinsiow]

Hi Guys,

What is your best pratices towards power saving and avoid all your RAM info being wiped out if battery goes dead ?

1.Do you keep a spare battery ?

2. Have a USB charger or car charger nearby?

3. Always leave PDA on cradle and charge ( although knowing it may cause reduced battery life )

4. Reduce brightness ?

5. Use third party software to close programs ? ( which programs ? )

Looking forward to share this info.

[AnswerDude]

3> You should keep the ipaq charge in the cradle or plug in power supply whenever it's possible. All of these pocketpc uses Lithium Ion battery which has no memory and cannot be overcharged but has limited charging cycles(though quite large). It's recommeded not running the power down but keep topping it off whenover possible.

4> Reduce brightness, turn off screen completly when listen to music, uncheck Receive all incoming beams for infrared beam, turn off wifi and bluethooth when not in used.

5> I don't think leaving the programs running before turning the unit off will use more battery, but it can cause the unit to not turn off if it gets turn on automatically at night for housekeeping.
Here's a list of freewares task manager
http://www.pocketpcfreeware.com/en/index.php?cat=24&sortby=

The most important practice however is to backup the ipaq on a regular basis, either by Activesync backup to the desktop or Ipaq backup to storage card. No matter what steps you take, stuffs happen, you will be in much better position if you have a backup.