Cool-er vs EB 1150 battery life

sassanik · 10-16-2009, 12:12 AM

So I have a question for those that have a e-ink reader.

My EB 1150 battery life is around 4 books to for me, I don't have my back light set up very high. So battery life roughly 20ish hours.

My Cool-er seems to last about 4 books for me as well. I have managed to run its battery down to it shutting off while I was in the middle of a book. I am hesitant to plug in my Cool-er to charge it because of its firmware issues so I try and wait til the battery is low to charge it.

Has this been the experience of other people? I thought that e-ink was supposed to have really good battery life? 8,000 page turns? I don't feel like it lasts 8,000 page turns and that is what the Cool-er website says its supposed to last. Maybe I am not getting a full charge when I plug it in? I have been leaving it charging overnight, one would think that would be enough for a full charge.

Amy

PS. I would have posted this on the Cool-er section of the forums... but we don't have one yet amd I could not think of a better area...*looks at the mods*

dazcox · 10-17-2009, 02:27 PM

Amy,

I don't have another reader to compare with, but my Cool-ER seems same as yours, nowhere near 8000 page turns!

I generally use epub, don't know if format would make a difference to battery life?

I finished a 300 page book and battery is like half drained already...

sassanik · 10-18-2009, 12:07 AM

I use epub format as well. I do not think that should effect how long the battery lasts? I am guessing they count changing screens when picking books to the 8,000 but even with that, it seems like it should last longer.

So far I am mostly through my third book on this battery charge, we shall see how much longer it lasts.

Amy

HarryT · 10-18-2009, 05:33 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dazcox

Amy,

I don't have another reader to compare with, but my Cool-ER seems same as yours, nowhere near 8000 page turns!

The "8000 page turns" figure means that if you fully charge the battery, then turn the page as fast as it will turn until the battery is flat, you will get 8000 turns.

That is NOT how you use an eBook Reader in the real world; it spends most of its time sitting there waiting for you to turn the page, during which time the operating system is running and consuming power.

DrMoze · 10-18-2009, 11:58 PM

Some e-ink devices apparently consume less power than others. I don't count exact pages, but I generally read about 100-150 pages or so per day on most days (plus some occasional book switching). The Sony Readers I use still last about 2.5-3 weeks if I let the battery run down to 1 bar.

superbimble · 10-19-2009, 02:42 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by HarryT

The "8000 page turns" figure means that if you fully charge the battery, then turn the page as fast as it will turn until the battery is flat, you will get 8000 turns.

That is NOT how you use an eBook Reader in the real world; it spends most of its time sitting there waiting for you to turn the page, during which time the operating system is running and consuming power.

Well darn it... marketing speak that got through my filter. I was, like others, expecting it to mean that I got to read 8000 pages between charges. Ah well, thanks for the clarification HarryT. Might be time to hand off the Cool-ER to the Missus and look into a sony for myself.

neilmarr · 10-19-2009, 03:38 AM

Thanks, Harry: I didn't know about the page turn measuring system either and assumed no power at all was eaten up when a page remained open. By the way, folks, I had some serious issues with my PRS-505 when I first got it. I was charging by cable connection to my PC and laptop. On advice here, I picked up a mains charger and have never had a single problem since. It seems that battery-meters on readers can sometimes be overly optimistic, showing a full charge when, in fact, the device is actually very low on the power necessary to do its job properly. Have you tried a mains charge? Good luck. Neil

sassanik · 10-19-2009, 11:16 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by neilmarr

Thanks, Harry: I didn't know about the page turn measuring system either and assumed no power at all was eaten up when a page remained open. By the way, folks, I had some serious issues with my PRS-505 when I first got it. I was charging by cable connection to my PC and laptop. On advice here, I picked up a mains charger and have never had a single problem since. It seems that battery-meters on readers can sometimes be overly optimistic, showing a full charge when, in fact, the device is actually very low on the power necessary to do its job properly. Have you tried a mains charge? Good luck. Neil

Hah! I like that overly optimistic!

It is also good to know how the machine measures "pages turns".

So far I would say it lasts me about 4 decent length books (over 300 pages) on an overnight charge.

I think that its charging light still is not working correctly, because I believe it is supposed to show green when the charge is full? After an overnight charge mine is still red.
Amazons Gomadic Cool-er supplies

I had assumed, because e-ink is supposed to not use much power, that its charge would last longer than my little EB1550 since it has a back lit LCD screen.

I think I saw a wall charger on amazon for the Cool-er I will have to check out getting one.

Amy

PS I checked Amazon and apparently there is more than one Cool-er cover available these days!

DrMoze · 10-19-2009, 02:46 PM

The ebook devices do have a processor that also requires power. The Cool-er may not be very efficient, and use up more power than some other devices (in addition to the display power alone). Sony is known for putting out very power-conservative devices. My favorite music player was/is a small round 1GB Sony unit (forget the exact model number). It ran for over 40 hours on a single AAA battery. My later rechargeable Sony music player also got over 40 hours on a single charge, and was the size of a butane lighter. Even my old hard-disk-based SOny player (HD-5) got well over 30 hours on a single charge.

10-16-2009, 12:12 AM	#1
sassanik Guru Posts: 774 Karma: 1211741 Join Date: May 2008 Location: Oregon Device: EB1150, iPhone, Cool-er Purple, Pocketbook 360, Kindle Fire	Cool-er vs EB 1150 battery life So I have a question for those that have a e-ink reader. My EB 1150 battery life is around 4 books to for me, I don't have my back light set up very high. So battery life roughly 20ish hours. My Cool-er seems to last about 4 books for me as well. I have managed to run its battery down to it shutting off while I was in the middle of a book. I am hesitant to plug in my Cool-er to charge it because of its firmware issues so I try and wait til the battery is low to charge it. Has this been the experience of other people? I thought that e-ink was supposed to have really good battery life? 8,000 page turns? I don't feel like it lasts 8,000 page turns and that is what the Cool-er website says its supposed to last. Maybe I am not getting a full charge when I plug it in? I have been leaving it charging overnight, one would think that would be enough for a full charge. Amy PS. I would have posted this on the Cool-er section of the forums... but we don't have one yet amd I could not think of a better area...looks at the mods

10-18-2009, 12:07 AM	#3
sassanik Guru Posts: 774 Karma: 1211741 Join Date: May 2008 Location: Oregon Device: EB1150, iPhone, Cool-er Purple, Pocketbook 360, Kindle Fire	yep I use epub format as well. I do not think that should effect how long the battery lasts? I am guessing they count changing screens when picking books to the 8,000 but even with that, it seems like it should last longer. So far I am mostly through my third book on this battery charge, we shall see how much longer it lasts. Amy

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10-17-2009, 02:27 PM	#2
dazcox Enthusiast Posts: 29 Karma: 24 Join Date: Oct 2009 Device: Sony PRS 300	Amy, I don't have another reader to compare with, but my Cool-ER seems same as yours, nowhere near 8000 page turns! I generally use epub, don't know if format would make a difference to battery life? I finished a 300 page book and battery is like half drained already...

10-18-2009, 11:58 PM	#5
DrMoze Booknut Posts: 858 Karma: 2852 Join Date: Jul 2007 Location: West Palm Beach, Florida! Device: Sony Reader 500/505/300/350, Nook Glowlight Plus (6")	Some e-ink devices apparently consume less power than others. I don't count exact pages, but I generally read about 100-150 pages or so per day on most days (plus some occasional book switching). The Sony Readers I use still last about 2.5-3 weeks if I let the battery run down to 1 bar.

10-19-2009, 03:38 AM	#7
neilmarr neilmarr Posts: 7,216 Karma: 6000059 Join Date: Apr 2009 Location: Monaco-Menton, France Device: sony	Thanks, Harry: I didn't know about the page turn measuring system either and assumed no power at all was eaten up when a page remained open. By the way, folks, I had some serious issues with my PRS-505 when I first got it. I was charging by cable connection to my PC and laptop. On advice here, I picked up a mains charger and have never had a single problem since. It seems that battery-meters on readers can sometimes be overly optimistic, showing a full charge when, in fact, the device is actually very low on the power necessary to do its job properly. Have you tried a mains charge? Good luck. Neil

10-19-2009, 02:46 PM	#9
DrMoze Booknut Posts: 858 Karma: 2852 Join Date: Jul 2007 Location: West Palm Beach, Florida! Device: Sony Reader 500/505/300/350, Nook Glowlight Plus (6")	The ebook devices do have a processor that also requires power. The Cool-er may not be very efficient, and use up more power than some other devices (in addition to the display power alone). Sony is known for putting out very power-conservative devices. My favorite music player was/is a small round 1GB Sony unit (forget the exact model number). It ran for over 40 hours on a single AAA battery. My later rechargeable Sony music player also got over 40 hours on a single charge, and was the size of a butane lighter. Even my old hard-disk-based SOny player (HD-5) got well over 30 hours on a single charge.