MobileRead Forums - View Single Post - Touch I'm quite worried about the battery.

RAH · 04-19-2012, 08:15 AM

You are right to be a little worried, because 14 days isn't enough to tell whether your Touch has the problem. One reason is because the very first thing they tell you to do when you get it home is to charge it. So, depending on how much charge it has when you start, you may actually be using my "topping off" routine which gets around the problem.

In other words, if it has a fair amount of charge when you first get it (say 75% or higher), when you charge it from there to 100%, you are performing the topping off technique which makes it behave itself, drain-wise.

If it only has a small charge when you get it home (say 30% or less), then this is a better test, since starting at so low an amount and charging it all the way to 100% is where the rapid drain problem is apt to occur, if you are going to get it at all.

So, one thing you could do is check the charge BEFORE charging it, right when you get home. If it is pretty high, then I'd suggest just using it WITHOUT CHARGING IT and see if it behaves OK. If so, you may have a good one. But if you charge it right away (i.e. you are topping it off), you won't know for a month. This is what happened to me with both bad Touches I got - they were pretty full when I first got them, but I followed instructions and charged them up right away and didn't find out I had the problem till over a month went by.

However, if the charge is low when you get it home, you'll have no choice but to charge it as instructed. But if you are going to have the problem, this is when you will get it - after a charge from low up to full.

So, it's better if the charge is low when you get it home, so you'll probably be able to see right after your initial charge whether it will behave OK.

Hope this helps. I say that you should be "a little" worried because it appears that B&N is now exchanging Touches that have this problem at the store, even after the 14-day return period, giving you a new one, not a refurb. They weren't doing this back when I had the problem with my first Touch.

The entire thread about "Excessive Battery Use?" has more info about my topping off technique, if you do need to use it.

04-19-2012, 08:15 AM	#5
RAH Guru Posts: 611 Karma: 575652 Join Date: Oct 2010 Location: Hampton, NH Device: Color Nook; Nook Touch	You are right to be a little worried, because 14 days isn't enough to tell whether your Touch has the problem. One reason is because the very first thing they tell you to do when you get it home is to charge it. So, depending on how much charge it has when you start, you may actually be using my "topping off" routine which gets around the problem. In other words, if it has a fair amount of charge when you first get it (say 75% or higher), when you charge it from there to 100%, you are performing the topping off technique which makes it behave itself, drain-wise. If it only has a small charge when you get it home (say 30% or less), then this is a better test, since starting at so low an amount and charging it all the way to 100% is where the rapid drain problem is apt to occur, if you are going to get it at all. So, one thing you could do is check the charge BEFORE charging it, right when you get home. If it is pretty high, then I'd suggest just using it WITHOUT CHARGING IT and see if it behaves OK. If so, you may have a good one. But if you charge it right away (i.e. you are topping it off), you won't know for a month. This is what happened to me with both bad Touches I got - they were pretty full when I first got them, but I followed instructions and charged them up right away and didn't find out I had the problem till over a month went by. However, if the charge is low when you get it home, you'll have no choice but to charge it as instructed. But if you are going to have the problem, this is when you will get it - after a charge from low up to full. So, it's better if the charge is low when you get it home, so you'll probably be able to see right after your initial charge whether it will behave OK. Hope this helps. I say that you should be "a little" worried because it appears that B&N is now exchanging Touches that have this problem at the store, even after the 14-day return period, giving you a new one, not a refurb. They weren't doing this back when I had the problem with my first Touch. The entire thread about "Excessive Battery Use?" has more info about my topping off technique, if you do need to use it.