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Old 10-08-2008, 06:17 AM
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cappy
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Re: i know why battery life sucks so much!

Quote:
Originally Posted by Dreading View Post
Thanks - I'm glad you were able to make sense of my post even though I misspoke and said "when" when I meant "without." Yes, I was using NuePower. Didn't realize it was inaccurate. My phone is also one of the ones that gets really hot. Not sure if that's also normal or just some folks are having it.

Oh, and I tried just putting the light sensor back on for a day (because I wasn't able to see the screen outside on a sunny day) and it drained much faster than normal, so it does seem to be a factor for mine. I then changed it back to level 3.
Observation of the mA discharge rate will help us manage the batttery discharge. If we know what is draining power and when, adjustments can be made. Your backlight adjustment is an example. Although true for me, the statement that I made that the light sensor has no effect on battery was wrong. It depends how the device is used. in my office, the screen brightness is usually at 3 and the screen is usually not on for long. In the sun, screen brightness would go to 5 (I think there are 5 levels). At 9mA draw for each level, that is 18mA more discharge per hour. So you do indeed save battery by turning off the light sensor and setting brightness to 3, if you are using the device in the sun and the screen remains on for long periods. But it should not be more than a savings of 1% to 3% over a 10 hour period.

I would not refer to the NuePower readings as inaccurate. Just different. I am not sure that any of the tools used for the readings are accurate in an absolute sense. NuePower and the other tools all appear to report consistently. But to establish a benchmark, apples to apples, we need to adjust NuePower by -100.

The heating issue is an unknown. My device does not heat up. It has been charging for an hour as I write this and it is not even warm. There are some smart people on this forum who appear to have the technical expertise to evaluate this heating issue. Perhaps they will evaluate the problem more closely and draw some conclusions. It may be defective hardware or a defective battery or weak signal or something else. Who knows? Though it is a problem that is widely reported, it is not universal.

IDEA for one of you programmers out there: We need a piece of software that will evaluate the mA discharge rates that we have been discussing. It should monitor the current discharge rate, screen on or off. It could then report your projected battery life, based upon the current discharge rate and make suggestions on what adjustments to make - well before you run out of power. It could catch things like active Data Connections, unusually high discharge rates, etc.

I have been writing code for many years, since Bill Gates moved out of his garage. I do not have the time to write for mobile devices. but might be willing to collaborate regarding the design and logic. I am confident that this can be done. Any takers? If the application has already been written, pass it on.

Last edited by cappy; 10-08-2008 at 07:41 AM.
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