MobileRead Forums - View Single Post - Alternative to DR1000 butchery for a Power Switch

Kent Walters · 10-13-2009, 11:58 PM

Shaggy,

Yes, you are right, I had forgotten about my Palm m515; it had drained during a four day weekend, and didn’t even have the courtesy of saving my notes and sketches, which I lost, and that cost me time and money. That was the last time I used it, and I will never buy Palm again. I don’t care for the option of removing the battery for a full off, but that is better than no option at all, as with the DR, and as you note, cell phones do provide an option.

As for the iPods, both my first generation and video (5th gen?) models had mechanical ‘click’ buttons in the center of the wheel, and a ‘lock’ (1st gen) or ‘hold’ (5th gen) slide switch to prevent accidents. And yes, both did fully power off. I can’t address the iPod touch, as I no longer have a need for an MP3 player. I would be surprised, though, to find out that Apple had not equipped it similarly, especially with a non-replaceable battery, but Apple, too, has made some dumb decisions. (I have been buying Apple since before the IPO; my avatar here is clipped from something I did on my Lisa/Mac XL. Honest, Apple has made some DUMB decisions, but they do good work...)

To return to the DR, I did, for the first time since upgrading to 1.7, unplug mine (fully charged) at about 11:00 AM last Saturday. At about 7:00 PM tonight (Tuesday) I turned it on, and, according to the battery indicator (and I have not had the problems with that that others have reported) it was still fully charged, which I suppose makes the point of this thread moot--at least for anyone staying with 1.7.

I am having the problems with 1.7 that are mentioned on the iRex thread ‘1.7 bugs,’ and another problem (with PDFs, and that’s serious, for me) not mentioned there (yet), which I’m investigating. I, as you mentioned somewhere, am not sure about going back to 1.6; that is, I’m not sure which can of worms I prefer. I’m leaning toward staying with 1.7, for the power... Dammit, Shaggy, I would love this thing if it weren’t driving me nuts.

You seem have more faith in iRex to deliver solutions than I have, but for me it has been a loss of faith. iRex needs to borrow a page from Linus Torvold’s book, and holler, “Stop!” Then quit adding frills to the OS and focus on making it stable; I’d rather they skip a bug-ridden 1.8 and 1.9 and deliver a stable 2.0. Wouldn’t it be nice...

And, Oh, BTW--Good news! Somewhere else I mentioned that I had put an aluminum doubler behind my DR (to stiffen it up, so as to avoid Grimulkin’s grief--mostly so I could stop worrying) and I have since noticed that I don’t have nearly the problems with eratic cap sense switch behavior that I used to; almost none, in fact. (Have I mentioned that I usually have my DR on my lap when I use it--especially at my computer?) The human body lives inside of a capacitive field, and this seems to provide effective shielding--who’s the happy boy?

So, Shaggy, you were right. As a hardware guy, there is nothing more that I can do... I only wish I shared your optomism about iRex fixing things.

I do recommend the USB extension cord and doubler, both for the DR’s sake and usability.

Kent Walters

10-13-2009, 11:58 PM	#23
Kent Walters Connoisseur Posts: 79 Karma: 92 Join Date: Sep 2009 Location: Northern California, USA Device: iRex DR1000S, Astak EZreader (Hanlin V3)	Shaggy, Yes, you are right, I had forgotten about my Palm m515; it had drained during a four day weekend, and didn’t even have the courtesy of saving my notes and sketches, which I lost, and that cost me time and money. That was the last time I used it, and I will never buy Palm again. I don’t care for the option of removing the battery for a full off, but that is better than no option at all, as with the DR, and as you note, cell phones do provide an option. As for the iPods, both my first generation and video (5th gen?) models had mechanical ‘click’ buttons in the center of the wheel, and a ‘lock’ (1st gen) or ‘hold’ (5th gen) slide switch to prevent accidents. And yes, both did fully power off. I can’t address the iPod touch, as I no longer have a need for an MP3 player. I would be surprised, though, to find out that Apple had not equipped it similarly, especially with a non-replaceable battery, but Apple, too, has made some dumb decisions. (I have been buying Apple since before the IPO; my avatar here is clipped from something I did on my Lisa/Mac XL. Honest, Apple has made some DUMB decisions, but they do good work...) To return to the DR, I did, for the first time since upgrading to 1.7, unplug mine (fully charged) at about 11:00 AM last Saturday. At about 7:00 PM tonight (Tuesday) I turned it on, and, according to the battery indicator (and I have not had the problems with that that others have reported) it was still fully charged, which I suppose makes the point of this thread moot--at least for anyone staying with 1.7. I am having the problems with 1.7 that are mentioned on the iRex thread ‘1.7 bugs,’ and another problem (with PDFs, and that’s serious, for me) not mentioned there (yet), which I’m investigating. I, as you mentioned somewhere, am not sure about going back to 1.6; that is, I’m not sure which can of worms I prefer. I’m leaning toward staying with 1.7, for the power... Dammit, Shaggy, I would love this thing if it weren’t driving me nuts. You seem have more faith in iRex to deliver solutions than I have, but for me it has been a loss of faith. iRex needs to borrow a page from Linus Torvold’s book, and holler, “Stop!” Then quit adding frills to the OS and focus on making it stable; I’d rather they skip a bug-ridden 1.8 and 1.9 and deliver a stable 2.0. Wouldn’t it be nice... And, Oh, BTW--Good news! Somewhere else I mentioned that I had put an aluminum doubler behind my DR (to stiffen it up, so as to avoid Grimulkin’s grief--mostly so I could stop worrying) and I have since noticed that I don’t have nearly the problems with eratic cap sense switch behavior that I used to; almost none, in fact. (Have I mentioned that I usually have my DR on my lap when I use it--especially at my computer?) The human body lives inside of a capacitive field, and this seems to provide effective shielding--who’s the happy boy? So, Shaggy, you were right. As a hardware guy, there is nothing more that I can do... I only wish I shared your optomism about iRex fixing things. I do recommend the USB extension cord and doubler, both for the DR’s sake and usability. Kent Walters Last edited by Kent Walters; 10-14-2009 at 12:08 AM. Reason: Misspelled 'Appple.' :)