Battery Life

cvkemp · 01-02-2011, 10:33 AM

Folks today I am charging my K3 for the first time since Thanksgiving. I have the Wifi version with the lighted cover. I read about an hour every day.
I do not use the light very much at all and I only use Wifi when I am downloading ebooks. Also I have never had a reset or reboot issue. And I have had my K3 on the 3.03 firmware from about the first day it was available.

I love my K3

TheKindleWorm · 01-02-2011, 11:21 AM

That's really good going!

Mine can last anywhere between 1-2 weeks but I normally read a minimum of 2 hours per day up to about 4 hours, use the lighted cover daily plus the odd music file and wifi. So considering the usage, I'm pretty happy with that

Considering the battery cycle on other devices - e-ink rocks in that respect!

phil75070 · 01-02-2011, 01:22 PM

I have charged my K3 three times already since I opened the box on Christmas Eve. Granted, I have been reading a lot, used the light a fair amount, downloaded about 50 books that had to be indexed but have only used wireless sparingly. I recharge when the indicator shows about 25% charge left and I am somewhat disappointed in how often I have had to charge it. My wife, using our "old" K2 has been reading as much or more during the same timeframe and has charged only once. I thought the K3 had improved battery life over the K2!???!?

kindlekitten · 01-02-2011, 01:32 PM

yes, it's supposed to. if you don't need to download books for awhile, get a good charge and then see how long you can last

RexGalore · 01-02-2011, 01:33 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by phil75070

I have charged my K3 three times already since I opened the box on Christmas Eve. Granted, I have been reading a lot, used the light a fair amount, downloaded about 50 books that had to be indexed but have only used wireless sparingly. I recharge when the indicator shows about 25% charge left and I am somewhat disappointed in how often I have had to charge it. My wife, using our "old" K2 has been reading as much or more during the same timeframe and has charged only once. I thought the K3 had improved battery life over the K2!???!?

First of all, the indicator might not be properly calibrated at first. So it might be a good idea to let it drain completely to calibrate it.
When I tried draining my K3 i got it down to the point where it warned about low battery with a pop-up and the indicator was just an exclamation point. I still managed to read about 270 pages before it died completely.

You say you use the light a fair amount, by which I guess you're using the lighted cover. That drains quite a lot from the battery. The estimates I've heard (on this forum) is that the battery lasts about 20 hours with the light on. Since there is no lighted cover for the K2 I don't find it so strange that you have to reload your battery a lot more frequently than your wife.

And did your wife add 50 books on the old K2 during this time? If not the indexing will also add to the difference.

I have gotten about 3 weeks and 2500 page turns out of my K3 when not using the lighted cover and barely having wireless on. So try without the lighted cover and see if you really want to test it to the limit (and make a good comparison with the K2).

cvkemp · 01-02-2011, 01:43 PM

When I first got my K3 and I as downloading the books and it was indexing I was charging every other day. Now I have a rule of ordering and downloading a book every 2 weeks. The books I am getting or tech books for my job requirements. So I only turn on the Wifi as needed for the download. I know that now that the new year is here I will be reading a lot more so I do not expect that I will get that long out of the battery.

screwballl · 01-02-2011, 03:12 PM

3 weeks now since last charge and battery indicator still shows mostly full... that is with reading 2-4 hours a night and wifi off.

janeb · 01-03-2011, 01:04 AM

I don't have mine yet. Do they come fully charged? How long do they take to fully charge?
janeb

emellaich · 01-03-2011, 01:35 AM

The real funny thing with the battery life issue is the page turns thing. What uses the battery most is turning pages and there are several things that can make a big difference from user to user. For example:

1) Font size. If you have 'older eyes' and use a big font you will be turning a lot more pages per hour. Even though its the same amount of text, its the number of page turns that matter.

2) Reading speed. It should be obvious, but a quicker reader is going to turn pages faster.

3) Re-reading older books. This is a tricky one, but I like to reread books. The issue is that once I've read the book before I skip the boring parts. For example, one author I enjoy a lot gets quite long-winded at times. If you find your self skipping pages by hitting the next page button you are also using up the battery faster.

Finally, I have noticed my K2 has short charge cycles after I connect it via USB to my laptop. I guess it could be due to indexing, but that hasn't been my guess. Some USB ports don't have enough power to charge and Dell's are notorious for that. I have assumed that my book is actually draining while its hooked to the PC. If I have to leave it on for very long, it ends up going through the battery quite fast for that cycle. It takes a cycle or two to normalize.

kindlekitten · 01-03-2011, 01:51 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by janeb

I don't have mine yet. Do they come fully charged? How long do they take to fully charge?
janeb

it probably will not be completely charged when you get it, but it would not be a bad thing to plug it in as you play with it.

;o) welcome to the forums!

desertblues · 01-03-2011, 10:55 AM

Lost 1/3 of my batterylife since yesterday---book got stuck downloading from 'archives' to ' home'.
Option 'View Downloading Items' , was not greyed out and when I looked again after half an hour, it remained in limbo = downloading for ever.

Restarted the Kindle (home--menu--settings--menu--restart) and the book reappeared in 'archives' and could be downloaded 'home'.

Another thing to check (apart from indexing) when my battery drains quickly.

paperwastage · 01-03-2011, 02:50 PM

u and your Kindle 3 battery life...

but yeah, you might need to recondition/calibrate the battery by discharging and recharging it a few times... When i got my KDX G in september, i get about 1 week battery life when i read >4 hours a day with 3g sometimes on... now, i get about 1.5 weeks

reech · 01-03-2011, 04:37 PM

Got mine back in September; when first using it and loading books on, and leaving wiFi on, I needed to charge every 5 days or so (it used to flash up the low battery thing for at least a day and a bit!) I was reading on it for 2-3 hours every day.

Since I've finished sorting out my library, I only add the odd book from my archive or sideloading when I need it - and turn wireless off apart from a 'quick flick on' every few days or so. I haven't had to charge for about 3 weeks, and it's showing half full still

Definitely changes depending on your use and behaviour!

Doug Huffman · 01-04-2011, 08:44 AM

The KINDLE's Li Po battery capacity is 1750 mAh nominal (new). I believe end of life criterion is 80% capacity. All Li batteries have life time of three to five years from date of manufacture, and 300 - 500 charge-discharge cycles (1750 mAh), they have no memory or need of conditioning. The remaining capacity gauge needs occasional recalibration by normal discharge to the charge warning.

An LED is in general a high current device. A 1 watt LED may draw 250 mA at 4 VDC (KINDLE battery 3.7 VDC nominal) for 250 mAh for an hour of LED operation. Suggesting that the KINDLE battery may be able to light this high current LED for ~7 hours.

mikeayers · 01-04-2011, 09:24 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by janeb

I don't have mine yet. Do they come fully charged? How long do they take to fully charge?
janeb

When I got mine last November, I plugged it into my computer and let it charge. I think the green light was on within about 10 to 15 minutes.

01-02-2011, 10:33 AM	#1
cvkemp Loving life Posts: 1,412 Karma: 7991496 Join Date: Mar 2009 Location: Hot Springs Village, Arkansas Device: PaperWhite 5,iPhone 13, IPad, MacBook Air	Battery Life Folks today I am charging my K3 for the first time since Thanksgiving. I have the Wifi version with the lighted cover. I read about an hour every day. I do not use the light very much at all and I only use Wifi when I am downloading ebooks. Also I have never had a reset or reboot issue. And I have had my K3 on the 3.03 firmware from about the first day it was available. I love my K3

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01-02-2011, 11:21 AM	#2
TheKindleWorm Guru Posts: 860 Karma: 177868 Join Date: Aug 2010 Location: East Anglia UK Device: Kindle 3G, iPhone 3G, iPod 4G, PB 360, Sony 600 sold, Kindle 2i sold	That's really good going! Mine can last anywhere between 1-2 weeks but I normally read a minimum of 2 hours per day up to about 4 hours, use the lighted cover daily plus the odd music file and wifi. So considering the usage, I'm pretty happy with that Considering the battery cycle on other devices - e-ink rocks in that respect!

01-02-2011, 01:22 PM	#3
phil75070 Enthusiast Posts: 37 Karma: 658 Join Date: Dec 2009 Device: Kindle 2	I have charged my K3 three times already since I opened the box on Christmas Eve. Granted, I have been reading a lot, used the light a fair amount, downloaded about 50 books that had to be indexed but have only used wireless sparingly. I recharge when the indicator shows about 25% charge left and I am somewhat disappointed in how often I have had to charge it. My wife, using our "old" K2 has been reading as much or more during the same timeframe and has charged only once. I thought the K3 had improved battery life over the K2!???!?

01-02-2011, 01:32 PM	#4
kindlekitten Professional Adventuress Posts: 13,368 Karma: 50260224 Join Date: Sep 2009 Location: The Olympic Peninsula on the OTHER Washington! (the big green clean one on the west coast!) Device: Kindle, the original! Times Two! and gifting an International Kindle	yes, it's supposed to. if you don't need to download books for awhile, get a good charge and then see how long you can last

01-02-2011, 01:43 PM	#6
cvkemp Loving life Posts: 1,412 Karma: 7991496 Join Date: Mar 2009 Location: Hot Springs Village, Arkansas Device: PaperWhite 5,iPhone 13, IPad, MacBook Air	When I first got my K3 and I as downloading the books and it was indexing I was charging every other day. Now I have a rule of ordering and downloading a book every 2 weeks. The books I am getting or tech books for my job requirements. So I only turn on the Wifi as needed for the download. I know that now that the new year is here I will be reading a lot more so I do not expect that I will get that long out of the battery.

01-02-2011, 03:12 PM	#7
screwballl NewKindler Posts: 504 Karma: 1865773 Join Date: Dec 2010 Location: NWFL Device: Kindle3 Wifi	3 weeks now since last charge and battery indicator still shows mostly full... that is with reading 2-4 hours a night and wifi off.

01-03-2011, 01:04 AM	#8
janeb Member Posts: 17 Karma: 10 Join Date: Dec 2010 Device: kindle 3G	I don't have mine yet. Do they come fully charged? How long do they take to fully charge? janeb

01-03-2011, 01:35 AM	#9
emellaich Wizard Posts: 1,101 Karma: 4388403 Join Date: Oct 2007 Device: Palm>Ebookman>IPaq>Axim>Cybook>Kndl2>IPAD>Kndl3SO>Voyager>Oasis	The real funny thing with the battery life issue is the page turns thing. What uses the battery most is turning pages and there are several things that can make a big difference from user to user. For example: 1) Font size. If you have 'older eyes' and use a big font you will be turning a lot more pages per hour. Even though its the same amount of text, its the number of page turns that matter. 2) Reading speed. It should be obvious, but a quicker reader is going to turn pages faster. 3) Re-reading older books. This is a tricky one, but I like to reread books. The issue is that once I've read the book before I skip the boring parts. For example, one author I enjoy a lot gets quite long-winded at times. If you find your self skipping pages by hitting the next page button you are also using up the battery faster. Finally, I have noticed my K2 has short charge cycles after I connect it via USB to my laptop. I guess it could be due to indexing, but that hasn't been my guess. Some USB ports don't have enough power to charge and Dell's are notorious for that. I have assumed that my book is actually draining while its hooked to the PC. If I have to leave it on for very long, it ends up going through the battery quite fast for that cycle. It takes a cycle or two to normalize.

01-03-2011, 10:55 AM	#11
desertblues Home for the moment Posts: 5,127 Karma: 27718936 Join Date: Jan 2009 Location: travelling Device: various	Lost 1/3 of my batterylife since yesterday---book got stuck downloading from 'archives' to ' home'. Option 'View Downloading Items' , was not greyed out and when I looked again after half an hour, it remained in limbo = downloading for ever. Restarted the Kindle (home--menu--settings--menu--restart) and the book reappeared in 'archives' and could be downloaded 'home'. Another thing to check (apart from indexing) when my battery drains quickly.

01-03-2011, 02:50 PM	#12
paperwastage Groupie Posts: 154 Karma: 1310 Join Date: Dec 2009 Device: kindle DX Graphite	u and your Kindle 3 battery life... but yeah, you might need to recondition/calibrate the battery by discharging and recharging it a few times... When i got my KDX G in september, i get about 1 week battery life when i read >4 hours a day with 3g sometimes on... now, i get about 1.5 weeks

01-03-2011, 04:37 PM	#13
reech Connoisseur Posts: 97 Karma: 132 Join Date: Sep 2009 Device: Sony eReader PRS-600	Got mine back in September; when first using it and loading books on, and leaving wiFi on, I needed to charge every 5 days or so (it used to flash up the low battery thing for at least a day and a bit!) I was reading on it for 2-3 hours every day. Since I've finished sorting out my library, I only add the odd book from my archive or sideloading when I need it - and turn wireless off apart from a 'quick flick on' every few days or so. I haven't had to charge for about 3 weeks, and it's showing half full still Definitely changes depending on your use and behaviour!

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01-04-2011, 08:44 AM	#14
Doug Huffman Banned Posts: 102 Karma: 7860 Join Date: Nov 2010 Location: Washington Island, across Death's Door, Wisconsin, USA Device: KINDLE 3 WiFi	The KINDLE's Li Po battery capacity is 1750 mAh nominal (new). I believe end of life criterion is 80% capacity. All Li batteries have life time of three to five years from date of manufacture, and 300 - 500 charge-discharge cycles (1750 mAh), they have no memory or need of conditioning. The remaining capacity gauge needs occasional recalibration by normal discharge to the charge warning. An LED is in general a high current device. A 1 watt LED may draw 250 mA at 4 VDC (KINDLE battery 3.7 VDC nominal) for 250 mAh for an hour of LED operation. Suggesting that the KINDLE battery may be able to light this high current LED for ~7 hours.