dwayne001

So i've read taht the x50v gets something like 4 hours while going strong with the wifi off--brightness full (www.cnet.com (search x50v)).

I'm not seein that at all on my new toy. On a 25min commute from my house to work, the battery dropped from 100% to 88% --neary 15%!!

The screen was on the setting that has backlight, but just above teh setting that has no backlight--so it was like the lowest usable setting. WinamPAQ was running with the volume on mid and i'm pretty sure file browser and calendar were running in the background.

the backlight was set to go off after 3 seconds of inactivity and the keys were locked via the hold button on the axim's side...

Is it normal for the device to drop nearly 15% in under half an hour? That wpuld put me at a battery life of somthing like 1:45 min...which seesm a little low?

So my question is: Does this battery seem *norma* to you guys or should I contact Dell about a replacement battery?

bbdad

It dropped 12% in 25 minutes. This means that if it dropped at this rate it would take 8.333 (aka 100/12), 25 minute periods to deplete. This means it would last 208.333 minutes or 3.47 hours. Considering that the 88% is just an estimate, it may not be too far off.

dwayne001

Still, isn't that a little low? or am I picky?
(Thank you by the way)

JonathanAquino

Originally Posted by dwayne001

Still, isn't that a little low? or am I picky? (Thank you by the way)

Yeah, does sound low, considering that the CNet 4-hour estimate was for full brightness.

(I own an X30 but not an X50).

dwayne001

Yes, thinking about it, the spec is still low--really low. if cnet could do a test on the batt at full prightnss and with the cpu at 624mhz or auto while mine is set for 208mhz (unwavering) than I'm still worried.

Should I be contacting Dell? or is thire something --like an overnight charge while the thing it off that I should try and do before the hassle of RMAing hte battery?

JonathanAquino

Hi dwayne001 - sounds like you're anxious because you value effectiveness in your tools.

Your plan sounds good: do an overnight charge, test it again tomorrow, and if it is still performing poorly contact Dell.

I assume that when you first got your X50 you did an 8-hour charge - that's what the instructions said to do when I first got my X30.

JonathanAquino

Another thing you could do is to buy a high-capacity battery (8 hours). Perhaps a blessing in disguise.

(I've got one on order from Lion Battery - twice the life for $30US (for an X30 mind you). Hope to get it soon - I ordered it 13 days ago)

mishaq

Don't expect to get a difinitive time for your battery life. It's going to vary based on what you do, it's a computer. That being said the x50 doesn't get that great of a time with the standard 1100 mAh battery depending on what you do. I'd recommend getting the extended battery if you dont mind the bulk, I havent used my regular one ever since.

dwayne001

Ok...nevermind. My question was whether or not my baterry life was standard. not to sound rude, but being told to pay another $100 or so for a second battery isn't a help at all; it's out of scope. It's clear to me now that my battery isn't doing as well as it should be, gien the lamo way i'm using the device. 4 hours on bright with wireless off is what I should be getting yet al the thing can muster is 3.5hrs with the screen 'really not that bright.'

Now, mishaq, how bulky is that super battery? For something that's not a phone, this thing is huge(so happy they didn't try and cram a camera in there), so if you could give me an idea or point me to some linkage as to the volume this thing is with the bulk, i'd be much obliged.

socpsy

Here's a picture of the 2200 battery installed.

JakeRich

Did you read Chris' review? He reported on battery life in the review. Your results seem to be better than he reported.

dwayne001

He had his machine at full brightness, mine was on the lowest setting w/o the backlight being off. I was also wireless disabled. I suppose this could be as good as it gets....which IS pretty lackluster.

I suppose i'll have to deal with a hump on my Axim.....which looks AWFUL. It was so cool before that aspect. With the hump it can't even lay flat! Once again, i've been duped by a dell. I'm kinda upset.

lwehrung

Your battery life seems typical. If you do not like the hump of the extended battery, you could just purchase an additional 1100 mAh battery. I purchased an additional 1100 mAh battery, and I find it easy to carry with me. In addition, I can use one while charging the other in the cradle.

Take care,
Lance

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bigempty

Slow charge your x50 for another 8 hours while it's on. Make sure your power settings are completely off so it won't auto shut off, but your screen dim option is on.

This is basically reconditioning the battery. I had to do this myself when I realized that I didn't charge my x50 correctly the very first time I got it. The x50 has to stay on while charging the full 8 hours when you first get it.

Whirre

When I'm using betaplayer on my x50v with no wireless and light set to one notch above off - the thing uses up 1% per minute...!!! It get's rather warm. It would be interesting to hear if someone else could test this config and what the results would be...!!!

lwehrung

Originally Posted by Whirre

When I'm using betaplayer on my x50v with no wireless and light set to one notch above off - the thing uses up 1% per minute...!!! It get's rather warm. It would be interesting to hear if someone else could test this config and what the results would be...!!!

Playing the same video on on three devices. Here are the numbers I came up with when doing my tests with settings very similar across platforms and similar to those mentioned.

The Dell X50v played the video for 2 hours and 35 minutes with the standard battery (1100 mAh). The PalmOne Tungsten T5 lasted 3 hours and 40 minutes, and the PalmOne Tungsten T3 lasted 2 hours and 10 minutes.

For the Palm OS devices, I used MMPlayer. For the X50v, I used Betaplayer.

The video details are as follows:

Video Size: 320 x 176
File Size: 230 MB
Length: 2:16:21
Bit Rate: 231 Kbps
Video: XviD MPEG-4 Video Decoder
Audio: MPEG Layer-3 Decoder

Take care,
Lance

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Whirre

Hi! Thanx for the comparison!

I'm using the x50v in Auto-mode and it really eats up battery-power 1% per minute. Does the battery in you're device getting very warm too...? I've spoken to Dell today and they said it's ok for a x50v to draw so much power during "heavy" usage... I mean - I'm playing a movie with Betaplayer for god's sake...! By that rate a two hour movie would be out of the question then...?

lwehrung

Originally Posted by Whirre

Hi! Thanx for the comparison! I'm using the x50v in Auto-mode and it really eats up battery-power 1% per minute. Does the battery in you're device getting very warm too...? I've spoken to Dell today and they said it's ok for a x50v to draw so much power during "heavy" usage... I mean - I'm playing a movie with Betaplayer for god's sake...! By that rate a two hour movie would be out of the question then...?

I would say the battery is pretty warm to the touch after heavy use. The information I gave you on the X50v, it was also in auto-mode. I have two batteries. I might rerun the test with each battery to see what happens. Do you have any details on the videos you are using?

Thanks,
Lance

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Whirre

Just some Southpark episodes converted from DivX to VGA resoulution - but it seem's to draw to much battery-power whatever I try. The question really is - should it consume so much power during heavy usage? Is this normal for the x50v, or should I ask for a replacement from Dell...?

I am NOT going to buy the better, bigger, longer lasting and EXPENSIVE battery. I would rather change to a HX4700...

lwehrung

Originally Posted by Whirre

I am NOT going to buy the better, bigger, longer lasting and EXPENSIVE battery. I would rather change to a HX4700...

I understand. I went with an extra 1100 mAh because I did not want to add to the bulk of the device. Plus, an extra 1100 mAh battery is pretty easy to carry around.

Originally Posted by Whirre

Just some Southpark episodes converted from DivX to VGA resoulution - but it seem's to draw to much battery-power whatever I try. The question really is - should it consume so much power during heavy usage? Is this normal for the x50v, or should I ask for a replacement from Dell...?

1% a minute seems excessive to me. Here is some more information on the battery test I conducted previously on the X50v...

62% after 1 hour of Video Playback
43% after 1 hour and 30 minutes of Video Playback

All in all, if you are not satisfied, you have every right to return the device. It is up to you whether you want to give Dell another try or go with HP. I will let you know what my other tests tell us.

Take care,
Lance

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gm646

hehe, I get about 4.2 minutes per 1% increment.

But I have a Toshiba, w/ 980mah



G-M,

Un[R]egistered

dwayne001: The main factor that affects the X50v's battery life is CPU speed. What CPU speed setting are you using it at? Auto? If so, try setting it to "Power-Saving" and if you get less than 4 hours on that you should start to worry. If not, your device is unfortunately standard.

And yes, the battery life really is not that great.

Gambino P

Add me to the 1% drain per minute club. Also, how about some results for mp3 playback with the screen off? Right now it seems I'm getting about 3.5 hours of music playback at 160 and 192 kbps (ogg and mp3 respectively) using Pocketmusic WITH THE SCREEN OFF. Other than the atrocious battery life, I love this device.

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thom28

Originally Posted by lwehrung

Your battery life seems typical. If you do not like the hump of the extended battery, you could just purchase an additional 1100 mAh battery. I purchased an additional 1100 mAh battery, and I find it easy to carry with me. In addition, I can use one while charging the other in the cradle. Take care, Lance

Don't you find it kind of an inconvience to carry your cradle with you and have to look for AC plug to plug it into to keep both batteries charged? Am I missing something here, is there a way to recharge the second battery without the cradle? just seems like a lot of stuff to be carrying around.

40th Floor

Originally Posted by Gambino P

Add me to the 1% drain per minute club. Also, how about some results for mp3 playback with the screen off? Right now it seems I'm getting about 3.5 hours of music playback at 160 and 192 kbps (ogg and mp3 respectively) using Pocketmusic WITH THE SCREEN OFF. Other than the atrocious battery life, I love this device.

I recently tested iPlay out. At 624 it was sucking up battery fast, so I went to 208 MHz (powersave). Here, with full effects (reverb4, xfeed6, two active EQ bands -- my standard play setup, and at my typical play volume, with headphones plugged in) it's 12.5 % per hour. At two hours it's 75%. I took it down to 19% (battery warning). It would have gone 7 hours to "dead", easy, on the standard battery, at 208. With F/X off, it could have gone quite a bit more (all those F/X use about 3x the CPU compared to the F/X being off). Not great, but mine came with a second battery thrown in, so if I had to, that'd be close to 14 hours between the two. You may as well use 208 if the goal is to get the most life out of the battery. Third-party OC'ers won't do, since none change the voltage; you have to use the built-in clock adjuster.