PRS-950 950 Battery life?

Tieton · 12-01-2010, 03:16 PM

My new 950 gets charged each day. The battery icon shows all bars full.
After less than two hours of reading, the battery bars are down by one.
After 4-6 hours, there's one bar showing.
Is this normal?
Do I have a defective battery?
BestBuy says I've until the end of January to return it.
Others' battery use experience?
Thanks

Sonics99 · 12-01-2010, 03:31 PM

Do you have wifi/3G on? Are you reading ePub files or PDF files? PDF uses more battery as far as I know and also things like images effect that too. If you are using a memory card it uses more an if the card is really full or a larger card.

Tieton · 12-01-2010, 03:47 PM

Wifi and 3G are both off. Rarely in use, always off when not in use.
All ePubs. No PDFs at all.
I do have a memory card, 8GB: could that be the problem? It has less than a GB of data on it.

Bookworm_Girl · 12-01-2010, 03:50 PM

If you are just reading, then you should be getting days and not hours of battery life. Do you have music playing? Are you constantly checking Wikipedia? Are you using the browser lots? Do you have wireless standby turned on in settings? I also usually keep Wi-fi on but 3G off to help with battery life.

JSWolf · 12-01-2010, 04:06 PM

Try without the memory card. The amount of power drawn by a memory card varies.

vxf · 12-01-2010, 05:53 PM

I read 2-3 hours per day, wifi and 3g always on, I charge my device about once a week.

phenomshel · 12-01-2010, 05:59 PM

I bought a 950 Nov. 20th. I fully charged it on the day of purchase, using the included usb/ac adapter. It's now Dec. 1st, and it's on three bars. I have an 8 gig SD card in it (the same one I was using with my 600), and it is 1/3 full. I keep wifi and 3G off.

However, the longest I have gotten to read on it at one time has been ~2 hours. IMHO and from my own experience, you should be getting much longer battery life.

Tieton · 12-01-2010, 06:13 PM

In Settings;
Mobile Network is OFF
Wi-Fi is ON
Wireless Standby is ON
Standby Screen is OFF
Power Management is ON
I never listen to music on the Sony
I use the wifi/3g only when plugged into the wall wart power source. I turn off wifi/3g when I'm done using the hardware switch.
I'll try putting a few books into RAM from the SD card and remove the SD card.
Why having the SD card in should drain the battery is beyond me: it's nonvolatile memory.
Thanks for the suggestions: I especially appreciate hearing from you who have had extensive battery life: my guess is that things are not right with my particular device.

Sonics99 · 12-01-2010, 07:54 PM

It sounds like it just might be defective. I have heard that different memory cards drain differently but am not entirely sure why. If you turn to the spec page in the manual it gives the spec for battery life, explains the condition that time was met under and the variables that can cause it to fluctuate.

Lilly · 12-01-2010, 08:49 PM

That's the same issue that I ran into in Dec of 2007 when I bought my PRS-505. Everyone on this site was writing about how they get about 2 weeks of battery life and I could barely make it to 2 days. I returned it as defective and got a new one and that fixed the issue. So it does happen and you definitely got a defective 950. I would return it ASAP.

vxf · 12-22-2010, 12:02 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tieton

My new 950 gets charged each day. The battery icon shows all bars full.
After less than two hours of reading, the battery bars are down by one.
After 4-6 hours, there's one bar showing.
Is this normal?
Do I have a defective battery?
BestBuy says I've until the end of January to return it.
Others' battery use experience?
Thanks

It sounds like your device is defective. I did have that problem with the original PRS900 I bought. I ended up replacing the battery and the problem went away.

But before you go through the replacement process, make sure your wifi and 3g are off and then see how much battery time you get. Sometimes, the connection does not go into standby (it happened to me on the PRS950 one day when it was constantly trying to download a corrupted file - an issue of the Financial Times) and, if that's the case, your battery could drain in as little as 4-6 hours, as you describe.

benong · 01-01-2014, 09:32 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by vxf

It sounds like your device is defective. I did have that problem with the original PRS900 I bought. I ended up replacing the battery and the problem went away.

But before you go through the replacement process, make sure your wifi and 3g are off and then see how much battery time you get. Sometimes, the connection does not go into standby (it happened to me on the PRS950 one day when it was constantly trying to download a corrupted file - an issue of the Financial Times) and, if that's the case, your battery could drain in as little as 4-6 hours, as you describe.

You mentioned above about replacing the PRS-900 battery. Any ideal where to obtain 950 battery? I have been hunting for the source for the 950 battery but no luck so far. This information will be of great help to owners of 950 since it has been in the market for over 3 years.

advocate2 · 06-07-2014, 07:48 PM

I just saw this battery on the Bay. Has anyone tried it in the 950?

http://www.ebay.com/itm/380900233862...84.m1423.l2649

JSWolf · 06-07-2014, 08:07 PM

It looks exactly the same as the battery sold by NewPower99. NewPower99 is more expensive.

Canuck_in_Japan · 06-07-2014, 08:21 PM

I wonder if Tieton ever got his 950 replaced?

12-01-2010, 03:16 PM	#1
Tieton Member Posts: 19 Karma: 10 Join Date: Nov 2010 Device: Sony	950 Battery life? My new 950 gets charged each day. The battery icon shows all bars full. After less than two hours of reading, the battery bars are down by one. After 4-6 hours, there's one bar showing. Is this normal? Do I have a defective battery? BestBuy says I've until the end of January to return it. Others' battery use experience? Thanks

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12-01-2010, 03:31 PM	#2
Sonics99 Member Posts: 17 Karma: 106 Join Date: Nov 2010 Device: Sony Reader Daily 950	Do you have wifi/3G on? Are you reading ePub files or PDF files? PDF uses more battery as far as I know and also things like images effect that too. If you are using a memory card it uses more an if the card is really full or a larger card.

12-01-2010, 03:47 PM	#3
Tieton Member Posts: 19 Karma: 10 Join Date: Nov 2010 Device: Sony	Wifi and 3G are both off. Rarely in use, always off when not in use. All ePubs. No PDFs at all. I do have a memory card, 8GB: could that be the problem? It has less than a GB of data on it.

12-01-2010, 03:50 PM	#4
Bookworm_Girl E-reader Enthusiast Posts: 4,873 Karma: 36536965 Join Date: Aug 2010 Location: Southwest, USA Device: Kindle Oasis 3; Kobo Aura One; iPad Mini 5	If you are just reading, then you should be getting days and not hours of battery life. Do you have music playing? Are you constantly checking Wikipedia? Are you using the browser lots? Do you have wireless standby turned on in settings? I also usually keep Wi-fi on but 3G off to help with battery life.

12-01-2010, 04:06 PM	#5
JSWolf Resident Curmudgeon Posts: 80,782 Karma: 150249619 Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Roslindale, Massachusetts Device: Kobo Libra 2, Kobo Aura H2O, PRS-650, PRS-T1, nook STR, PW3	Try without the memory card. The amount of power drawn by a memory card varies.

12-01-2010, 05:53 PM	#6
vxf Guru Posts: 944 Karma: 1490348 Join Date: Jun 2010 Location: Norman, OK Device: Sony PRS 350, 900, 950; Kindles (ALL of them!); Kobo Aura One	I read 2-3 hours per day, wifi and 3g always on, I charge my device about once a week.

12-01-2010, 05:59 PM	#7
phenomshel ZCD BombShel Posts: 4,793 Karma: 8293322 Join Date: Jan 2009 Location: The Frozen North (aka Illinois, USA) Device: iPad, STB Kindle Oasis	I bought a 950 Nov. 20th. I fully charged it on the day of purchase, using the included usb/ac adapter. It's now Dec. 1st, and it's on three bars. I have an 8 gig SD card in it (the same one I was using with my 600), and it is 1/3 full. I keep wifi and 3G off. However, the longest I have gotten to read on it at one time has been ~2 hours. IMHO and from my own experience, you should be getting much longer battery life.

12-01-2010, 06:13 PM	#8
Tieton Member Posts: 19 Karma: 10 Join Date: Nov 2010 Device: Sony	In Settings; Mobile Network is OFF Wi-Fi is ON Wireless Standby is ON Standby Screen is OFF Power Management is ON I never listen to music on the Sony I use the wifi/3g only when plugged into the wall wart power source. I turn off wifi/3g when I'm done using the hardware switch. I'll try putting a few books into RAM from the SD card and remove the SD card. Why having the SD card in should drain the battery is beyond me: it's nonvolatile memory. Thanks for the suggestions: I especially appreciate hearing from you who have had extensive battery life: my guess is that things are not right with my particular device.

12-01-2010, 07:54 PM	#9
Sonics99 Member Posts: 17 Karma: 106 Join Date: Nov 2010 Device: Sony Reader Daily 950	It sounds like it just might be defective. I have heard that different memory cards drain differently but am not entirely sure why. If you turn to the spec page in the manual it gives the spec for battery life, explains the condition that time was met under and the variables that can cause it to fluctuate.

12-01-2010, 08:49 PM	#10
Lilly Guru Posts: 688 Karma: 2090 Join Date: Dec 2007 Device: Sony PRS-505, PRS-900 & PRS-950, Amazon Kindle2	That's the same issue that I ran into in Dec of 2007 when I bought my PRS-505. Everyone on this site was writing about how they get about 2 weeks of battery life and I could barely make it to 2 days. I returned it as defective and got a new one and that fixed the issue. So it does happen and you definitely got a defective 950. I would return it ASAP.

06-07-2014, 07:48 PM	#13
advocate2 My Kingdom for Karma Posts: 430 Karma: 7125 Join Date: Jul 2009 Location: Las Vegas Device: Sony 350, 650, 950, Nook Color	I just saw this battery on the Bay. Has anyone tried it in the 950? http://www.ebay.com/itm/380900233862...84.m1423.l2649

06-07-2014, 08:07 PM	#14
JSWolf Resident Curmudgeon Posts: 80,782 Karma: 150249619 Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Roslindale, Massachusetts Device: Kobo Libra 2, Kobo Aura H2O, PRS-650, PRS-T1, nook STR, PW3	It looks exactly the same as the battery sold by NewPower99. NewPower99 is more expensive.

06-07-2014, 08:21 PM	#15
Canuck_in_Japan Wizard Posts: 1,476 Karma: 14328611 Join Date: May 2009 Location: Tokyo, Japan Device: Aura, Aura H2O, Kindle PW3	I wonder if Tieton ever got his 950 replaced?