Jornada 720 extended life battery

thinking about picking up an extended life battery for my 720 wanted to get some input on any of you who have used one. not sure if i want to buy that or just get a second standard battery. is the extra size and weight worth it? Planning on using it mainly when traveling (flying). Thanks

Edited by jorel101 2009-04-22 3:11 PM

I used the extended battery on a Jornada 690 a while back. The extended battery is quite big. It sticks out in the back and ways just as much as the computer itself if I remember correctly. I bought the extended battery for a research trip to Mexico and I didn't have to charge the device for two weeks of moderate use. Mind you I didn't use the internet or wireless. I think I got about 20 hours continuous use out of it.

Hope that helps...

I do not think extended battery is a good choice - it is too big! And it was made with older cells. I mean normal capacity battery for J720 is 1500mAh and it is build with 2 cells each rated at 1500 mAh. Extended battery is 4500 mAh and it is build with 6 cells (3x2 in parallel) each rated at 1500 mAh.

J728 battery is better - capacity is 1960 mAh (each cell is 1960 mAh).

I do think getting one additional normal battery will be enough. On ebay there are batteries rated at 2000 mAh - I do have one and it does good job!

You may also rebuild your battery pack and install fresh cells with capacity up to 2600 - 2700 mAh.

Edited by rumen_s 2009-04-22 5:25 PM

I can recommend getting the extended battery, particularly if you travel far and intend to browse the Web. The 20 hours of use that design.fort reports is in fact what it is rated to provide.

Just how much battery life is a wifi card supposed to suck? I used one in my J728 with standard battery, charged only the night before, and after less than an hour of wifi the battery meter showed only two bars left.

But it is so huge!!!





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oh wow i didn't realize it was stuck out THAT much! sheesh it looks like it would be as deep as my mobile pro. (nice sticker on your jornada by the way ;-) bummer i thought it sat underneath and acted like a lift at the back of the device. hey rumen_s how long is battery life on those 2000mAh packs? and where do i find those 2600-2700 mAh version you're talking about? perhaps those might be more up my alley. thanks again

Man, that's ugly! Something you'd find in the midst of a colonoscopy... "This can't belong here," said the proctologist.

Jake

TMI, Jake.

jorel101,

battery packs with 2000 mAh capacity may be found on e-bay for about $30; battery life is excellent but it mainly depends on usage - brightness of screen, consumption of WiFi card, etc.; I get 10h. - 12h. with normal world processing, some web browsing, some music...

about 2600-2700 mAh versions - there are not any; I meant rebuilding battery pack by yourself - it is not very complicated task; cells specifications and details about rebuilding process may be found on this site

Yeah, the 1.96 Ah pack, while the standard size like the original 1.5 Ah pack, is supposed to max out at 14 hours of use, compared to nine hours with the 1.5 Ah one.

I have one of these extended packs. I agree that it is pretty bulky and almost defeats the point of the Jornada. But I do use it as a back-up. Typically I carry it in my truck. If I end up running low on power, it does come in handy from time to time.

When I travel by plane, I generally just take along the pack in the Jornada and an extra "normal" pack and that works well enough. And it is not too big, bulky and heavy.

HG

Edited by H2OGuru 2009-04-23 11:43 AM

I have a few of these machines, about 4 720s and 3 728s to be exact. about two of them are for spares and some of them with minor problems. Trying to mix and match them to get a few decent working devices.

Regarding the batteries, I am in the process of rebuilding one to experiment. I know someone has tried doing it but it was not an easy job. I found a little way around the problem. I am waiting for my two brand new cells to arrive. If I successfully replace them, my standard battery will have 2600mAh. I am replacing them with two Sanyo 3.7V 2600mAh 18650 cells. I managed to find a contact who sells these cells and can provide tabbing prior to shipping.

Tabbing is the welding of the contact plates to the batteries, and by desoldering the original circuitry from the original battery and solder them back to the newer batteries, I should be able to get 2600mAh from a standard battery!

Others here have done this too - it's not too hard.

Would the battery source you used be batteryspace.com, by any chance?

No, not from there. I am located in Singapore.....