PP - Minor Issues

[theducks]

Originally Posted by Xerxes

I always figured On and off used more battery than locking it. How crazy is that.

I agree, Startup uses more power than Idle. , just watch the Green LED. That is power being used...

Wait a minute. When I am Idle, I read.
That uses more power.

[Xerxes]

I dropped a bar in one day. ~_~

[polly]

Originally Posted by Xerxes

I dropped a bar in one day. ~_~

Me too, after reading a relatively short book. I took out the SD card during the last charge, so I know that wasn't the issue. I really hope that the firmware update fixes this.

[ekaser]

I just realized that I updated my PP's firmware the same day that I started my recent test without an SD card, and that it MAY be the firmware update that's given me better battery performance, not the lack of an SD card.

For more info, see post #30 in this thread:
https://www.mobileread.com/forums/showthread.php?t=60413

[Xerxes]

Wow, I'm done to the second bar and... I CUT IT OFF LAST NIGHT.

[polly]

I removed the SD card on Sunday, when I last charged it. With 600 pages read between now and then, no SD card, and no usage of TTS or .mp3s, my battery was dead again this afternoon. If anything, I had better battery life with the SD card. I've already sent a note to Astak asking if they might want to send me a new battery.

[polly]

I have an official answer from PocketPro:

The 5" Pocket PRO has a program running in the background whenever it is on, so even if its left in Keyboard Locked mode, then it is still consuming power. That is why the battery is being drained so quickly. So please turn your reader off when not in use. Please test it this way, and if you find that even with shutting down the unit, the battery seems to drain very quickly, please let me know.

If the firmware update doesn't fix this, I'm going to be a very unhappy customer. Waiting for the device to start up and then renavigating to the correct book on the device is NOT something I want to have to do every time I have a few moments to read. The Sony 505 lasts for weeks in stand-by mode. I don't see why this one shouldn't be able to do the same. The two things that attract me to e-ink readers are that the screen is so very good and the battery lasts for a really long time. I wish that was true for the PocketPro.

[DaleDe]

Originally Posted by polly

I have an official answer from PocketPro:



If the firmware update doesn't fix this, I'm going to be a very unhappy customer. Waiting for the device to start up and then renavigating to the correct book on the device is NOT something I want to have to do every time I have a few moments to read. The Sony 505 lasts for weeks in stand-by mode. I don't see why this one shouldn't be able to do the same. The two things that attract me to e-ink readers are that the screen is so very good and the battery lasts for a really long time. I wish that was true for the PocketPro.

All of the ebook readers have something going on in the background when in standby mode. This is due to the need to respond to the power button press. It has to be recognized by the OS in order to start up again. However, there are techniques to minimize the power drain such as slowing down the processor, placing it in sleep mode waking up from time to time to check the power, etc. Jinke knows how to do this as the 6" device works fine.

Dale

[AJ Starr]

Originally Posted by polly

I have an official answer from PocketPro:



If the firmware update doesn't fix this, I'm going to be a very unhappy customer. Waiting for the device to start up and then renavigating to the correct book on the device is NOT something I want to have to do every time I have a few moments to read. The Sony 505 lasts for weeks in stand-by mode. I don't see why this one shouldn't be able to do the same. The two things that attract me to e-ink readers are that the screen is so very good and the battery lasts for a really long time. I wish that was true for the PocketPro.

Have you tried navigating to the Recent files folder. Your last book will be number 1. So, essentially, after the PocketPro loads, press "1" then "1" and you'll be back at your book. You don't even have to wait for the "Recent files" to open, just two firm pushes works.

AJ

[theducks]

Originally Posted by polly

I have an official answer from PocketPro:



If the firmware update doesn't fix this, I'm going to be a very unhappy customer. Waiting for the device to start up and then renavigating to the correct book on the device is NOT something I want to have to do every time I have a few moments to read. The Sony 505 lasts for weeks in stand-by mode. I don't see why this one shouldn't be able to do the same. The two things that attract me to e-ink readers are that the screen is so very good and the battery lasts for a really long time. I wish that was true for the PocketPro.

I don't entirely believe this answer

If it were absolutely the solution, it would not explain how many of us high usage (page turns) users get a week or more on a charge.

I would suggest that you at least LOCK the keypad any time you close the cover. When I don't, I have seen the menu in some random selection. That implies that some keys were getting pressed
AND That will use power

[ekaser]

Originally Posted by DaleDe

All of the ebook readers have something going on in the background when in standby mode. This is due to the need to respond to the power button press. It has to be recognized by the OS in order to start up again. However, there are techniques to minimize the power drain such as slowing down the processor, placing it in sleep mode waking up from time to time to check the power, etc. Jinke knows how to do this as the 6" device works fine.

Actually there's NOT any need for ANY software to be running at all in order for the POWER button to wake up the unit. There are simple circuits that accomplish this in low power situations. (I worked for Hewlett-Packard in their calculator division from the late 70s through the mid 90s, and had a lot of experience with these kinds of things.) The basic idea is that you have a very high resistance resistor and a capacitor, which hold a pin of the CPU (or the wake-up circuit if the CPU is not designed for it, but I suspect the CPUs used in these readers ARE designed for this) at close to the battery voltage, but with essentially no current flowing (yes, a few electrons dribble out, but it's so little that it's essentially 0). When you press the POWER button, that shorts the far side of the resistor from the battery to GROUND, which drops that 'point' in the circuit from near battery voltage to 0 volts, which turns on a power-transistor that applies power to the rest of the device (or at least, enough of it to get the CPU and ROM running so that everything else can be brought up).

But, if there's a periodic timer that Jinke left runing (left power to) that generates a power-up interrupt, or actually left a program running that prevented the CPU from shutting down, that would definitely explain things. And I now believe that something along that line IS the cause of much of these battery problems, as my problem went away when I did two things:

1) removed my SD card
2) updated my firmware to Jinke's latest (Oct 15th) build

It lasted 11 days before it dropped from 4 bars to 3 (when before that would happen after 2-3 days at most). All indications are, from what we're hearing and what we're seeing, that it was the firmware update that did this, not the SD card removal. I'm now 1 1/2 days into a second test with the SD card back in and the unit fully charged, to verify that it was the firmware update that fixed things. If it's still at 4 bars Saturday morning (that'll be 4 full days), I'll be 100% convinced.

[pilotbob]

Originally Posted by Xerxes

Wow, I'm done to the second bar and... I CUT IT OFF LAST NIGHT.

I hate when they cut me off at the bar. But, I usually get to more than the second. Usually by the 4th they cut me off.. then the 5th or 6th they kick me out.

BOb

[Sweetpea]

Originally Posted by ekaser

It lasted 11 days before it dropped from 4 bars to 3 (when before that would happen after 2-3 days at most). All indications are, from what we're hearing and what we're seeing, that it was the firmware update that did this, not the SD card removal. I'm now 1 1/2 days into a second test with the SD card back in and the unit fully charged, to verify that it was the firmware update that fixed things. If it's still at 4 bars Saturday morning (that'll be 4 full days), I'll be 100% convinced.

I updated the day before yesterday. I never had a SD card in it (I still need to buy one), and last week it would have been empty by now (or close to). I now have still 4 bars. So, yes, I think it's something in the firmware as the rest is unchanged (for me).

[Robertb]

Originally Posted by Sweetpea

I updated the day before yesterday. I never had a SD card in it (I still need to buy one), and last week it would have been empty by now (or close to). I now have still 4 bars. So, yes, I think it's something in the firmware as the rest is unchanged (for me).

Dear ALL:

I am watching this closely. I THINK the last few posts show that essentially the firmware upgrade helped.

Right now I am working with the factory on dictionary support amd more use for the scroll wheel.

I am prepared to take this to the factory if needed.

[Xerxes]

And after cutting it off for the past couple of days; then on to read about 20 pages, I'm now at 1 bar. Just wow. My mom is still going from the initial charge on the EZ Reader. The Pro is just getting out classed here. My battery has to be busted.