Review: Book Digital Co. SmartBook G138 (Flashback)

Not right now no, I want to see what happens over a couple of weeks.

I would ignore the percentages - WinCE seems pessimistic or optimistic in reporting battery level depending on its mood (or more accurately temperature)

chiark, i think 1-2 hours WITHOUT gprs or anything, is not normal..

anyway it is not CE, it depends on the OEM implementation!

The percentages seem correct when compared to values provided by other users in the debug thing (testhw). 2 hours isnt good enough I cant really see what happens over two weeks because i cant use it for two weeks without battery power (i use it for note taking, and there are no electricity points).

EDIT: Now it wont go about 61%.

Edited by chazco 2006-09-13 2:56 AM

Now the maximum is 60%. It ran down to 20% during my lesson, when doing nothing more than typing. Had to borrow an extension lead so i could keep working. I need it sorting, anyone...

i'm sure it can be solved easily if you find someone who can do a little soldering. i know people who have done it with a smartbook. not very tricky, the battery isn't the smart type either (unlike the intermec), and consists of just two cells maybe one of your classmates could do it

That would be me.

I still would need to buy the cells, which i really cant at the moment. Plus, until i know why the ones that are in it (C:Amie says they are new) are going bad i dont want to risk new ones.

I've gone back to my J720 for now

Can anyone post instructions on how to get to the battery in the Smartbook, so i can see if anything obviously wrong (a loose connection on a PPC had a similar effect)?

i think this must be a misunderstanding, they aren't new, but the other smartbooks not sold yet will indeed have new cells. yours is one of the smartbooks that already had good batteries in them, without having to change the cells. mine is such a smartbook too. looks like it's bad luck that yours didn't last long

I never said they were new my friend, you have the 2200's in it, they are the higher rating cells but were manufacturered in 2004. I have all my messages to you and all users where this was discussed stating that the 2000 mAh's have been held up.

Ok since you went back to the J720. deplete the batteries completely on the G138 and try again.

Mine are still saying 79% and I have longer time on the train now.


S/F,
CEYA!

Edited by Ceya 2006-09-14 1:53 PM

Flip the device,

get a tray to put the screws in - lay them out in the order that you take them out, as they are different sizes and types.

Start running your fingers around the lower chassis and the base will start to lift off. The clips on the battery compartment will fight you the most, just be careful to push to as to release the clips, and not rip them.

The base play will lift off slightly, get your fingers in and release the ribbons. Be very careful of the keyboard as it has a screw on the underside of the trackpoint casing, if you force the plat around this is liable to break, I was wanred about this and was very careful, so please take it slowly yourself.

You can then unhook the antenna and the remainder of the ribons and get the battery out. Be careful again because the battery connector is slightly obstructed by a PCB module.

Okay, my mistake


From what i've read thats much more likely to do more harm than good.

I'll have a look to see at some point, but it sounds like it will take a while first time round.

Now it will only go to 53%

On the bright side, i've got cke editor running properly now thanks to Winwatch, and have converted some Kate syntax files into a format it understands. PHP/HTML/Javascript/Bash editor

The cells inside the unit... i dont suppose they're the same as the Jornada ones? I have a few Jornada batterys, including some 80004 models.

Edited by chazco 2006-09-16 3:26 AM