MobileRead Forums - View Single Post - Fix for poor battery life on PRS-500?

InspectorGadget · 11-29-2008, 08:15 PM

Harry is wise.

I agree with what he says about 20-30% capacity loss in 1-2 years.

I also agree that superstitious rules about do or don't discharge or top off are irrelevant with today's LiIon/LiPo batteries. The only real rule is that if you're going to store ot for some number of months, you'll minimize the aging and retain maximum capacity if you store it at half-charge. But in my experience, you can discharge it a little or a lot and recharge as many times as you want.

That being said, my experience with the PRS-500 is that its power management capabilities are poor compared to most other LiIon-powered devices I have. In fact, I've had my PRS-505 for a couple of months now and it's performed better with regard to the battery than the PRS-500 did even when new.

The PRS-500 only lasted about 3 weeks when new, regardless of the page-turns (I can only read about 200 pgs in a week what with work and family). Then it degraded to 1 1/2-2 weeks regardless of page turns after about a year. I blew my extended service plan on getting a replacement -- it was a refurb which was no better than my 1-yr degraded original unit.

The PRS-505, on the other hand, lasts over 4 weeks with few page turns. Granted, it's new, and we'll have to see how it works after a year, but it's starting out a lot better.

11-29-2008, 08:15 PM	#11
InspectorGadget Enthusiast Posts: 47 Karma: 70 Join Date: Apr 2007 Device: Sony PRS-500	Harry is wise. I agree with what he says about 20-30% capacity loss in 1-2 years. I also agree that superstitious rules about do or don't discharge or top off are irrelevant with today's LiIon/LiPo batteries. The only real rule is that if you're going to store ot for some number of months, you'll minimize the aging and retain maximum capacity if you store it at half-charge. But in my experience, you can discharge it a little or a lot and recharge as many times as you want. That being said, my experience with the PRS-500 is that its power management capabilities are poor compared to most other LiIon-powered devices I have. In fact, I've had my PRS-505 for a couple of months now and it's performed better with regard to the battery than the PRS-500 did even when new. The PRS-500 only lasted about 3 weeks when new, regardless of the page-turns (I can only read about 200 pgs in a week what with work and family). Then it degraded to 1 1/2-2 weeks regardless of page turns after about a year. I blew my extended service plan on getting a replacement -- it was a refurb which was no better than my 1-yr degraded original unit. The PRS-505, on the other hand, lasts over 4 weeks with few page turns. Granted, it's new, and we'll have to see how it works after a year, but it's starting out a lot better.