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Originally Posted by Cluey
You can't make claims like, "The battery is likely to give out soon," without something to back it up.
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Yes, meeera can make a simple statement like that without backing it up. As long as when asked, they can back it up. And meeera did when asked. And as a simple rule, I would completely agree with it. And that is based on a thorough reading of the Battery University the last 15 years.
Quote:
That quote is from this article from Battery University. If you read through the article you'll see that it might have lost up to 10% of it's brand new capacity by being stored for two years. The chart indicates 4% a year at 25C.
Something you'll also learn from reading that is how often you should charge your device. The battery will last longest if you use it until about 65% of its capacity and then charge it back up to 75% of its capacity.
I doubt many of us do that with our mobile devices, not just your Ereader but your phone/tablet/laptop or any other device you have using Lithium based batteries.
Personally I'd have no problem buying a device like that, even a manufacturer refurbished one if it had a warranty. The price saved by buying it at that price would cover the cost of replacing the battery.
From a World View level that is much better than letting it end up in land fill, unfortunately that seems to be the modern attitude to things which aren't the latest model. However unlike phones/tablets/laptops the performance of an Ereader isn't as important. They've become so popular because of the better reading experience, especially in direct sunlight, also battery life is much better than LCD based devices.
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Yes, meeera can make a simple statement like that without backing it up. As long as when asked, they can back it up which meeera did when asked. And as a simple rule, I would completely agree with it. And that is based on a thorough reading of the page you pointed to.
Your statement of 4% life lost after one year is based on being stored at 40% charge and 25C. But, we don't know what charge it was stored at and what conditions. We also don't know if the self-discharge has dropped the charge level below the safe position. Two years could easily put at the unsafe point if the storage conditions were bad, or the initial point was low.
Saying buy the device and replace the battery to avoid waste is great. But, for most people, it isn't practical. I know how to open the device and find a replacement battery. Most people don't, have no desire to do so, and if they tried would end up with a broken device. They want to get the device, turn it on and use it.
The Battery University is a great site for all you ever wanted to know about batteries. But, the theory and practical use is such a different thing. The idea that the life of a battery can be extended by keeping the charge between 65% and 75% is great. But, it's completely impractical for nearly all use (I believe NASA do this in satellites). The idea that I can charge my laptop battery to 40%, take it out, seal it and store it at 0C and get a really long life out of it is also absurd. What's the use of having a battery last five or ten years if I don't use it? I came to the conclusion a long time ago that for Li-Ion batteries, to just use it. Anything I could really do to extend the overall life was impractical from the point of view of actually using it. For a laptop, I just say put it in, use as necessary, charge when you can. And basically the same for ereaders.