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Windows CE 2.0 Power Management Guide

CESD|200032

Applies To

  • Windows CE 2.0, 2.0 SP1

Overview

This article discusses the Power Management options available in Windows CE 2.00.

Contents

  • FAQ
  • Prolonging Your Battery Life Guide

FAQ

Listed below are some common questions and answers to user questions regarding Windows CE

A. How can I prolong the battery life of my CE 2 based organiser
        Please read the HPC Factor Power Management Software Guide which can be found later on in this article. If you are using CE 1 please visit the CE 1 Power Management Articlefor more information

 

A. What are the best type of batteries to use with my hp 320LX
        You can use any AA size batteries in your device. The hp 300 series supports both Rechargeable and Single-Use Cells. You can improve the length of the batteries by specifying what type of cell you are using from the 'Power Properties' applet in Control Panel.

Users may find it more economical to invest in Rechargeable cells for the device as they are more environmentally sound in respect to the environment, plus Reusable cells are available in higher Milli-Amperage (mAh) options such as 1300 mAh. Purchasing a set of such batteries and a compatible charger will extend the active life of the device significantly.

Remember Only to use nickel Cadium (NiCd) or nickel Metal Hydride (NiMH) Rechargeable cells and Alkaline Single Use cells

 

A. When I use peripheral devices, my battery power is lost. Is there something wrong
        No. Many CE based peripheral devices rely on the main power store when in use. PC Cards are very demanding on power, especially older, higher voltage cards. As a result try and use mains power as often as you can, use only modern, low powered devices and carry a extra main and backup battery set.

More Info

Prolonging Your Battery Life Guide

We all suffer from the problem of sitting, happily playing solitaire, while we really should be doing something constructive and suddenly. Low battery your device's backlight has been disabled. Moments later to be followed by, your device will now power off. This Guide will cover some of the obvious, and perhaps not so obvious solutions for prolonging your experience

  1.  

This Guide will cover some of the obvious, and perhaps not so obvious solutions for prolonging your experience

We suggest that you experiment with these settings to suit your needs. Always make sure to make regular backups on your docking PC, and maintain your backup battery at all times.


2.  

How do I increase battery life when using NiCd / NiMH (rechargeable) batteries:

When the system tells you that you main batteries are running low and the back light (if available) has been disabled. You can force the device to make use of the emergency store (a % of the main batteries that is kept in order to prolong data integrity).

Where as if you use Single use batteries the system will drain them to their capabilities and feed reserve straight from the CR2032 cell.

Once your system displays the disabling backlight message:

  1. Tap Start > Settings > Control Panel

  2. Open the 'Power' Applet

  3. On the 'Battery Type' tab change the selection to Alkaline (single use)

NB: Also in this section you can select whether the device is able to charge rechargeable batteries when connected to the mains. You can see the status of you primary power and backup power sources in this applet.

Tap OK

You will now find that the backlight has been re-enabled


3. 

Make use of the 320LX's power management:

  1. Tap Start > Settings > Control Panel

  2. Open the 'Power' Applet

  3. Tap on the 'Power Off' tab

  4. In the 'On continuous idle time' section use the drop box to specify when the device will automatically suspend.

Selecting a lower value will increase the battery life of the device. Upon suspending any un-saved data will be retained in memory and recalled when the device is "woken up".

NB: In this tab you can also specify if the device is to monitor the screen sensors for activity, waking it up when disturbed (This will require excess power).
Also whether the device is able to suspend when on AC power.

Tap OK


4.   

Set a time-out on the backlight:

  1. Tap Start > Settings > Control Panel

  2. Open the 'Display' Applet

  3. Tap on the 'Backlight' tab

In this section you can instruct the device to regulate the use of the backlight.

To conserve the battery power select 'Automatically turn of backlight while on battery power'.

Then select the idle time interval. (The lower the value the longer the batteries will last)

NB: Also in this menu you can specify if the backlight is to be disabled while on AC power.

Tap OK

Once the power management kicks in. You can restore the backlight by:

  1. Pressing the Backlight Key twice (once to disable it from system, twice to enable it)

  2. Pressing any of the main keyboard keys

  3. Touching the screen

 


5.   

If you know of any more tips for prolonging battery life on Windows CE, please let us know on contact