Two Battery Questions

Hi,
I have the Plus! pack for HPC and use the resource meter. I noticed something strange when I check my battery. When the screen comes up it says 83%, then pops up to 100%, then back down to 83% and so on. It keeps flucuating. Do I have a bad battery?
That leads to my second question, anyone know where I can get a quality battery for my 720 at a reasonable price? Thanks!

Sue

Hi, Sue,

100% of your battery is, by definition, hard to maintain for more than a couple of seconds, since the battery has already started to drain. The battery meter on Plus, if I'm not mistaken, goes down in increments of 17%, which is why it falls to 83%.

Why it goes back up to 100% is because battery meters are not particularly accurate. I would imagine that if you continued to let the battery drain, the meter would not go back to 100%, but might start fluctuating between 83% and the next level below.

ebay is still the best place for batteries. I got nailed on one deal, and had to fight to get my money back for an undelivered battery. But my next time around, I got two brand new J-720 batteries plus a used one for $50, which I considered a good deal.

Hope this helps,
Jake

this fluctuating is perfectly normal. if it stops after a while and the charge level stays at 83% then there's nothing to worry about.

hmm, three J batteries for 50$? how much capacity? 1100, 1500, 1960, more? so lucky!

Thanks guys!
I've mostly had it on the cradle since I got it so I haven't really had a chance to test the battery. I did use it for about 4.5 hours the other night on battery only dialed into my ISP and checking email, and chatting on IrcCE before it dropped to 16% and popped up a warning. I also had the screen on pretty full brightness. I'm not sure if the battery was fully charged when I started using it though.
May have to pick up a spare one!


Sue

There are some battery tips in /Control Panel/Power, about contrast versus brightness. Dem modems will eat up the power, even just checking email. If you want to really conserve, use the ROM programs and no CF card/modem.

Yeah, cmonex, I copped three F1262s, two still sealed in the box. I can power my house if I have blackout

Jake

the CF card doesnt really eat any power! (well, it is like 0.1 mA when idle, 10 mA when active)

oh, three F1262s (1500 mAh)? i have two F4361s (1960 mAh) and two rebuilt 1262's, to 2400 mAh. also the extended battery (forgot its part number but its 4500 mAh and brand new) and recently a plain but brand new 1262, along with a dead j720 for 30$ in total (i mean last battery + j720).

now now who wins? lol
but i didnt get such a cool deal on the batteries except the last one as it came with a whole j720.

Sue, your battery if it's a std 1500 one, should last 9 hrs with 50% brightness without connectivity. 5 hours: continuous wifi with same brightness. but your numbers may be lower if the battery isn't new.

Spare battery, or spare Jornada?