battery life as MP3 player

[RobTheHillbill]

Must be using an Energizer battery.

[bbz_Ghost]

In the past, when I owned an x50v - I just got another one a few days ago, still getting all the schtuffz together (Lenny's WM6.1 ROM, necessary apps, etc) - I did a test of sorts for just this purpose, music playback.

I converted a few albums from FLAC format to Ogg q5 (~160 Kbps average) as well as to LAME 3.97 v2 (~192 Kbps average) and then put both copies of the albums (37 songs so a total of 74 because of the dupes - both formats were being played, .ogg and .mp3). I put on PocketMusic and set it to turn off the display after 10 seconds, made sure shuffle and repeat were active so it would keep playing, played one track to verify it would turn off, then I shut off the x50v and put in the extended battery (I had 2 extendeds and 2 stock, was curious to see what the extended fully charged could do).

I turned it back on, ran PocketMusic, loaded the files, pressed Play then set the x50v down on the desk and went about my business. Came back to it ~12 hours later and it was still playing. The battery showed about 25% left sooo... mind you that was on the extended 2200 mAh battery, fully charged on the cradle. I would expect the following:

- the normal battery would most likely give about half this, best case
- using the device in any way after you start playback will lower the overall time you'll get, especially if the display comes on
- I normally would reassign the side buttons on the x50v to volume duties so I could change it on the fly and the display would still remain off

When I get this "new" x50v set up I'll redo the tests with the 16GB CF card I'm planning to get today if I can manage the trip to Fry's. Got lots of plans for this x50v this time around... ;)

Hope this helps...

ps
Here's one tip that helps that I didn't implement: use something to force the clockspeed to stay at a low setting, like 216 MHz which is more than adequate for music playback only meaning you're not doing anything but playing music, obviously. That's the one thing I neglected to do in the past test, I plan to do it properly this time out, and even if the RAM compaction issue kicks in during music playback the hard limit I create on the CPU speed might cause the music to skip or crackle somewhat but the battery life should increase if you force the CPU speed to stay low.

[Zaniax]

Nice work, bbz_Ghost

... mind you that was on the extended 2200 mAh battery, fully charged on the cradle. I would expect the following:

- the normal battery would most likely give about half this, best case

Long ago I red a note from an ax engineer that the ax is designed to cut off at a fixed, low voltage level which is indicated as 0% - but there is still adequate power left for several days if the ax remains switched off - like in a vacation.

To me it indicates that a 2200 mAh should perform a bit longer than the double of a standard 1100 mAh battery - based on the shape of the battery discharge curve.

But the very different history of my four batteries indicates a high deviation of the battery life.
It was never even near 1100 mAh on my ax - tested with acbPowermeter.

Zaniax ©

[johnhu_2005]

I got lazy and didn't do the battery test :(
The battery performs well for a mp3 player.

But my new iPod shuffle is still lasting for 5 days of some use with 1 charge. I can't believe it's still going!

[KimChee]

I don't see how you guys make it with the standard battery. I had a few of the 1300s, but definately the 2200 lasts forever as an mp3 player. I just wish the 2200 was the standard size

[Zaniax]

With full brightness on and a standard 950mAh battery, it will last 6.5 hours.

I got lazy and didn't do the battery test :(
The battery performs well for a mp3 player.

Thanks a lot

[johnhu_2005]

Where the bolding come from? It's an estimate ...

Stop cut-pasting posts like that...

[CarSalesman]

Well, getting back to the original question.... I used the X51v as an MP3 player during my trip. Bluetooth and Wifi turned off. Backlight set to turn off on the shortest interval. New standard size battery.

Unit shut off right about 5 hours, two different times.

[raincloudboy0]

What about these 3600mAh batteries I see on ebay and such? Are they legit?

[johnhu_2005]

I have a 2200mah battery. I don't think it goes beyond that?

@carsalesman, did you make sure that the unit doesn't auto-sleep?

[Zaniax]

Wouldn't an (unwanted) autosleep just show up as more hours - as in your case, John?

@ CarSalesman: Your observation is in line with mine when my batteries were new.
At what CPU clock setting did you do your test ?

Zaniax ©

[johnhu_2005]

Can't use auto-sleep unfortunately.
I use my GPS with it. If it auto-slept while on the road, it's not a good thing.

*edit:
Zaniax, could you please remove your infuriating progress bar?

Happy, Box?

[Zaniax]

*Z, get rid of that annoying progress bar in your signature. I'm about to freak!

If you just said that in a polite way I might consider, but who are you trying to dictate me, n00b !
Well, just freak out - and you're free to leave ...

This is a very polite and flame free site.
After 14,000+ posts I never posted anything like this one - but you just hit the buttom


Now, read my signature - again :p

[KimChee]

Yeah those 3600 batteries are legit, they'll add uhh quite a bit of thickness to the axim though. You'll have to charge them in the axim through the serial connector, they don't fit in the extra battery charger, or when docked in the axim.

[johnhu_2005]

Yes! I have got on Z's nerves. Uh-oh, I'm gonna start running.
Good word, "dictate"