Why use Sleep Mode?

[carpii]

I just got my Sony PRS-505 today, and Im wondering about a few things...

The device turns itself off after it hasnt been used for a bit. Whats the benefit of this, since I was under the impression power is only consumed when you turn the page.

Likewise, do many people bother to use the power button to turn it off. I quite like the idea of just closing it like a book and leaving it in whatever state its in.

Finally, is there a risk of screen burn on eInk devices, similar to old CRT monitors? Ive noticed that quite often on the menu headers, it displays white text on a black background. When this text changes (ie moving to a different menu), the previous text is still faintly visible even though its supposed to have been obliterated by the new black header.

Thanks

[pilotbob]

Originally Posted by carpii

Likewise, do many people bother to use the power button to turn it off. I quite like the idea of just closing it like a book and leaving it in whatever state its in.

The button doesn't power it off... it puts it into "hold" mode basically. If you just close the cover it is possible that you will push one off the number buttons which jump to that section of the book loosing your location.

BOb

[Valloric]

Originally Posted by carpii

Finally, is there a risk of screen burn on eInk devices, similar to old CRT monitors? Ive noticed that quite often on the menu headers, it displays white text on a black background. When this text changes (ie moving to a different menu), the previous text is still faintly visible even though its supposed to have been obliterated by the new black header.

There should be no burn-in, but ghosting is apparent, as you have mentioned. It is only temporary, and you will get used to it.

[BookishDreamer]

I use the sleep mode for the reason that BOb mentioned. My Reader travels in my purse every day so the risk of a button being pressed is high even though I do my best to minimize the amount of pressure exerted on the device.

Even when I'm at home and there's no potential for unexpected button pushing, I still toggle the power switch. I guess it's a habit, like turning out the lights when I leave a room.

Dreamer

[xanlexian]

I was actually thinking the other day how a "LOCK" feature would be nice.

Even though I'm in the habit of pressing MARK button then flicking the power switch when I set the reader down -- I'm also equally in the habit of just closing the cover without touching the power switch. I use the PRSCustomizer and disable the number buttons while reading a book -- but I've though that maybe holding down one of the number keys for a few seconds should lock the device, until a button sequence was pressed, or a certain key was held down for a few seconds.

Is this possible? I've seen the lock feature in the settings menu -- I like things to be a button press, instead of navigation.

[kezza]

One time when I really wish I'd had sleep mode turned on is when I left the screen on while on the settings menu which shows the date and time. This means that every minute the screen updates to reflect the new time. I picked up my reader the next day and the battery was dead and gone, and I was at home without my charger. I had to charge from USB which was a pain, the device cycled through several reboots before there was enough power to get all the way through and connect to the computer and I couldn't read it while it was charging.

[jedavis1]

Originally Posted by kezza

One time when I really wish I'd had sleep mode turned on is when I left the screen on while on the settings menu which shows the date and time. This means that every minute the screen updates to reflect the new time. I picked up my reader the next day and the battery was dead and gone, and I was at home without my charger. I had to charge from USB which was a pain, the device cycled through several reboots before there was enough power to get all the way through and connect to the computer and I couldn't read it while it was charging.

Actually, that wouldn't have had anything to do with the clock. The only time the clock updates is with a page turn, so unless you had little kitties running across the top of the cover turning the pages every minute, it wouldn't have gone dead because of that...

[BlackVoid]

Originally Posted by carpii

The device turns itself off after it hasnt been used for a bit. Whats the benefit of this, since I was under the impression power is only consumed when you turn the page.

1. You do not have to switch off the reader. I never switch it off.
2. If you do not switch off, the startup is considerably faster.

[kezza]

Originally Posted by jedavis1

Actually, that wouldn't have had anything to do with the clock. The only time the clock updates is with a page turn, so unless you had little kitties running across the top of the cover turning the pages every minute, it wouldn't have gone dead because of that...

I promise there were no little kitties. I've not had any problems leaving my reader screen turned on to any other page, just the one that shows the clock. It drained the battery completely, I had to reset the system date/time when I finally got it charged back up.

Update: I just did a little experiment, sat the reader on the table next to me with the settings screen displayed, the time was shown as 10:54. Glanced over a minute later and it had updated itself to 10:55, now it's displaying 10:56. The reader *does* automatically update the clock on this page, which confirms my original assumption about my major battery drain a few weeks back.