Dumb Question, Turn Ereader off?

Cactusgod · 02-21-2010, 11:59 PM

I realize this is a dumb question, but I was thinking about whether or not you really should turn off an ereader. I use the PRS-300. If I dont turn it off, that is, push the switch and turn it on standby, thus blanking the screen, what happens? If the battery is only used to switch the pages, does the battery still drain? If not, is it simply an issue of the screen burning kinda like plasma tvs?

I'm just curious, because I just got the 300 in january, i've had it for over a month,I just charged it with an AC adapter for the first time, the light turned off meaning it was done, and I've barely turned a few hundred pages and I'm already at half battery life. The first time I charged it, the battery was fantastic. I haven't done anything differently, so I'm curious as to why this might be happening.

Also, does being on standby hurt the battery any more than if I just held the switch and completely powered it down?

Thanks for any comments and speculations.

banjobama · 02-22-2010, 12:45 AM

If you just put the reader on standby, it will not preserve the battery as well as if it was actually turned off. I'm not sure why. During the day when I'm reading off and on a lot I just leave my 600 on standby but when I go to sleep at night I turn it completely off.

soilwork · 02-22-2010, 12:53 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cactusgod

I'm just curious, because I just got the 300 in january, i've had it for over a month,I just charged it with an AC adapter for the first time, the light turned off meaning it was done, and I've barely turned a few hundred pages and I'm already at half battery life. The first time I charged it, the battery was fantastic. I haven't done anything differently, so I'm curious as to why this might be happening.

I don't think using stand-by instead of power-off will hurt the battery. I have used my PRS-505 more than two years on Stand-By and it still holds its charges about 1~2 weeks.

Since you had your PRS-300 only about a month, I guess it is not charged multiple times yet. It takes at least several or more recharging cycle to get the battery calibration (and battery meter) correct so I would not worry too much unless the problem persists after several more charges.

HarryT · 02-22-2010, 03:14 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by banjobama

If you just put the reader on standby, it will not preserve the battery as well as if it was actually turned off. I'm not sure why.

"Why" is very simply because the device is still running - all you've done is to blank the screen and lock most of the button. The operating system is still running; the CPU and memory are still consuming power. Not much, to be sure, but a small amount.

Bremen Cole · 02-22-2010, 07:02 AM

In two months of ownership I have turned my 300 off once, just to see what it would do. IMHO in normal daily use they are made to be left on standby, for prolonged periods of non-use, I would say it is better to turn them off.

Took mine a few charge cycles for the battery to come into it's own. Let it stay on the charger a few hours and unless there is something wrong with the charger or the battery it should last a good long while. I don't trust little lights and such when charging.

As far as just leaving it on... if you have left the settings to factory spec it will go on standby on it's own in an hour...

Kolenka · 02-22-2010, 11:24 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by HarryT

"Why" is very simply because the device is still running - all you've done is to blank the screen and lock most of the button. The operating system is still running; the CPU and memory are still consuming power. Not much, to be sure, but a small amount.

In sleep, the OS is not running. It's in a sort of 'frozen' state waiting for something to wake it up. The CPU and RAM still draw a little bit of power since the CPU is waiting for the wake signal, and both the CPU and RAM need to keep the contents of memory stable.

If the OS was running during sleep, the battery would be drained in a day or two.

darylbrayman · 02-22-2010, 11:27 AM

I never turn my PRS-300 off. I've disabled the auto standby. My girlfriend left hers as factory settings, ie: it goes into standby after an hour. I have not seen a difference between our readers, battery life seems to be about the same.

Regards, Daryl

HarryT · 02-22-2010, 11:42 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kolenka

In sleep, the OS is not running. It's in a sort of 'frozen' state waiting for something to wake it up. The CPU and RAM still draw a little bit of power since the CPU is waiting for the wake signal, and both the CPU and RAM need to keep the contents of memory stable.

If the OS was running during sleep, the battery would be drained in a day or two.

It's "running" in the sense that it's waiting for an interrupt; device drivers, at least, are running. It's not "powered off" is what I meant.

Kolenka · 02-22-2010, 12:08 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by HarryT

It's "running" in the sense that it's waiting for an interrupt; device drivers, at least, are running. It's not "powered off" is what I meant.

Nothing should be running. The CPU itself is put into a low power state where code can't execute if they are doing it right. It can be woken up for processing of incoming data off the cell modem via the interrupt, and return back to sleep after that.

It may be a minor distinction from a concept perspective, it's huge when it comes to the power consumption. Of course, it's gotten complicated lately now that we have processors that can put parts of itself to sleep while actually running in order to conserve power, but these are still fairly high power states compared to a full-sleep.

/pedantic

HarryT · 02-22-2010, 12:10 PM

All true, but when it comes to answering the original poster's question, the answer basically is "it continues to consume a small amount of power in standby, but none when shut down" (other than the slow natural discharge of the battery, that is).

Kolenka · 02-22-2010, 01:01 PM

Which is also true. I only went pedantic because if we are going to try to give a technical explanation, we might as well also try to avoid giving wrong impressions to people who don't know the details already.

It's a habit of mine after being part of products that get lashed in the public space, and told we should be trying to do "X" (which we already did like everyone else has been doing for the last 10 years) to make some aspect of the product better, simply because they had gotten the wrong impression on what "X" was from someone else.

02-21-2010, 11:59 PM	#1
Cactusgod Enthusiast Posts: 40 Karma: 252 Join Date: Nov 2009 Device: none	Dumb Question, Turn Ereader off? I realize this is a dumb question, but I was thinking about whether or not you really should turn off an ereader. I use the PRS-300. If I dont turn it off, that is, push the switch and turn it on standby, thus blanking the screen, what happens? If the battery is only used to switch the pages, does the battery still drain? If not, is it simply an issue of the screen burning kinda like plasma tvs? I'm just curious, because I just got the 300 in january, i've had it for over a month,I just charged it with an AC adapter for the first time, the light turned off meaning it was done, and I've barely turned a few hundred pages and I'm already at half battery life. The first time I charged it, the battery was fantastic. I haven't done anything differently, so I'm curious as to why this might be happening. Also, does being on standby hurt the battery any more than if I just held the switch and completely powered it down? Thanks for any comments and speculations.

02-22-2010, 11:27 AM	#7
darylbrayman Connoisseur Posts: 76 Karma: 1944308 Join Date: Sep 2009 Location: Nova Scotia, Canada Device: Kobo, Mini, Glo, Aura and Aura H20	Turn off or not I never turn my PRS-300 off. I've disabled the auto standby. My girlfriend left hers as factory settings, ie: it goes into standby after an hour. I have not seen a difference between our readers, battery life seems to be about the same. Regards, Daryl

Similar Threads
Thread	Thread Starter	Forum	Replies	Last Post
Dumb question but need to ask....	chilady1	Amazon Kindle	4	06-17-2010 03:43 AM
Dumb Question, but...	omro	Astak EZReader	6	12-04-2009 04:32 PM
Dumb Question about eReader	phenomshel	Reading and Management	2	09-13-2009 07:51 PM
Unutterably Silly There is never a dumb question, only dumb people!	Dr. Drib	Lounge	17	12-29-2008 09:43 AM
Maybe this seems like a dumb question, but...	JohnsnowNW	Sony Reader	6	12-15-2007 11:10 AM

02-22-2010, 12:45 AM	#2
banjobama Busy Read'n Posts: 980 Karma: 5039283 Join Date: Feb 2010 Location: Auburn, WA Device: Pocketbook Touch Lux 5	If you just put the reader on standby, it will not preserve the battery as well as if it was actually turned off. I'm not sure why. During the day when I'm reading off and on a lot I just leave my 600 on standby but when I go to sleep at night I turn it completely off.

02-22-2010, 07:02 AM	#5
Bremen Cole Wizard Posts: 1,115 Karma: 2718 Join Date: Dec 2009 Location: Texas Device: iPad	In two months of ownership I have turned my 300 off once, just to see what it would do. IMHO in normal daily use they are made to be left on standby, for prolonged periods of non-use, I would say it is better to turn them off. Took mine a few charge cycles for the battery to come into it's own. Let it stay on the charger a few hours and unless there is something wrong with the charger or the battery it should last a good long while. I don't trust little lights and such when charging. As far as just leaving it on... if you have left the settings to factory spec it will go on standby on it's own in an hour...

02-22-2010, 12:10 PM	#10
HarryT eBook Enthusiast Posts: 85,544 Karma: 93383043 Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: UK Device: Kindle Oasis 2, iPad Pro 10.5", iPhone 6	All true, but when it comes to answering the original poster's question, the answer basically is "it continues to consume a small amount of power in standby, but none when shut down" (other than the slow natural discharge of the battery, that is).

02-22-2010, 01:01 PM	#11
Kolenka <Insert Wit Here> Posts: 1,017 Karma: 1275899 Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: Puget Sound Device: Kindle Oasis, Kobo Forma	Which is also true. I only went pedantic because if we are going to try to give a technical explanation, we might as well also try to avoid giving wrong impressions to people who don't know the details already. It's a habit of mine after being part of products that get lashed in the public space, and told we should be trying to do "X" (which we already did like everyone else has been doing for the last 10 years) to make some aspect of the product better, simply because they had gotten the wrong impression on what "X" was from someone else.

Advert

Advert