K4 Trivial Questions - Sleep vs. Turn Off?

[oommggwwttff]

1. Is it better to let the K4 go to sleep with the screen saver on or to turn if completely off?
2. How often should I charge it to get the most battery life?

1. I would leave it on an let it go to sleep, or briefly press to power button to put it to sleep. It takes too long to start after being completely shut down, but will start immediately when in sleep mode.

2. There is much debate on battery charging. I prefer charging when the battery is about half discharged. You can wait longer, but I wouldn't let it discharge below 15%.

[oommggwwttff]

Do you know if it indexes while sleeping?

I'm fairly sure it does. If you add a few hundred books it will take a long time to index, so many people add their books then leave the Kindle plugged in over night to ensure it doesn't drain the battery all the way down. While indexing, the Kindle can slow down and become sluggish, hence allowing it to index over night.

[HarryT]

You can't turn a Kindle off. You can either put it to sleep or reboot it, but you can't turn it off.

Battery drain in sleep mode is minuscule; don't worry about it.

[terencek]

Yes Kindles do index while asleep -- to answer one of the questions above

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by terencek

Yes Kindles do index while asleep -- to answer one of the questions above

Yes. It's generally recommended to keep the Kindle connected to the charger while it's indexing. It will really drain the battery otherwise.

[geekmaster]

Originally Posted by HarryT

You can't turn a Kindle off. You can either put it to sleep or reboot it, but you can't turn it off.

Battery drain in sleep mode is minuscule; don't worry about it.

You can turn a Kindle off by holding the power button until the screen goes all white (about 7 seconds), then release the power button. If you hold the power button too long (more than about 20 seconds), the kindle will do a hard reset when you release the power button.

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by geekmaster

You can turn a Kindle off by holding the power button until the screen goes all white (about 7 seconds), then release the power button. If you hold the power button too long (more than about 20 seconds), the kindle will do a hard reset when you release the power button.

We've discussed this before . The "hold the power button in for 7 seconds until the screen goes blank" mode is a kind of suspend mode, with RAM still powered. The Kindle is not truly off. This is trivially demonstrated by the fact that it wakes instantly when the power switch is pressed; you don't get the "boy reading under a tree" boot screen.

But, since Amazon themselves choose to call it "turned off", I guess there's no harm in using that expression for it, even if it's not strictly speaking accurate.

[geekmaster]

Originally Posted by HarryT

We've discussed this before . The "hold the power button in for 7 seconds until the screen goes blank" mode is a kind of suspend mode, with RAM still powered. The Kindle is not truly off. This is trivially demonstrated by the fact that it wakes instantly when the power switch is pressed; you don't get the "boy reading under a tree" boot screen.

But, since Amazon themselves choose to call it "turned off", I guess there's no harm in using that expression for it, even if it's not strictly speaking accurate.

As I understand it, this "off" suspend mode actually turns off the power to most of the circuitry (including the CPU), keeping a trickle charge to the RAM so that it does not lose its contents. Because only the RAM has a minuscule power, it draws almost no battery current. Other than battery backed RAM, the rest of the kindle is essentially off.

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by geekmaster

As I understand it, this "off" suspend mode actually turns off the power to most of the circuitry (including the CPU), keeping a trickle charge to the RAM so that it does not lose its contents. Because only the RAM has a minuscule power, it draws almost no battery current. Other than battery backed RAM, the rest of the kindle is essentially off.

Yes, I agree with you. Really the only thing that makes me hesitate to say "it's turned off" is that it doesn't boot when you press the power switch; it just wakes up. But perhaps I'm just nitpicking.

[geekmaster]

Originally Posted by HarryT

Yes, I agree with you. Really the only thing that makes me hesitate to say "it's turned off" is that it doesn't boot when you press the power switch; it just wakes up. But perhaps I'm just nitpicking.

It may also keep a clock/calendar chip powered (low power like a digital watch). Some devices can power themselves on at preset times. Not sure about the kindles though...

In reference to this thread, this "off" mode should prevent indexing.

Perhaps "mostly off" is a better term. So, you should agree with the "Princess Bride" misquote: "There's a big difference between mostly off and all off.".

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by geekmaster

It may also keep a clock/calendar chip powered (low power like a digital watch). Some devices can power themselves on at preset times. Not sure about the kindles though...

In reference to this thread, this "off" mode should prevent indexing.

Perhaps "mostly off" is a better term.

One difference between the two modes is that if you leave WiFi/3G on, in sleep mode the Kindle will occasionally wake up and "phone home" to Amazon. Eg if you have a newspaper subscription, your daily newspaper will download while your Kindle (and you) are asleep. It doesn't do that in "mostly off" (I like that! ) mode.

[RDaneel54]

Originally Posted by geekmaster

It may also keep a clock/calendar chip powered (low power like a digital watch). Some devices can power themselves on at preset times. Not sure about the kindles though...

In reference to this thread, this "off" mode should prevent indexing.

Perhaps "mostly off" is a better term. So, you should agree with the "Princes Bride" misquote: "There's a big difference between mostly off and all off.".

Who could disagree with a Princess Bride quote?

Well hopefully we didn't totally confuse the OP who is probably a new Kindle owner...