Pocket Pro battery issue?

[6charlong]

Originally Posted by SDRebel

what is the normal light supposed to be when the device is charging? Mine shows a green light, then a yellor or orange, then a red, then repeats.... I am still unable to bring it back to life and I hope I can do it before I send it back tomorrow morning

I wondered the same thing. My EZPro arrived this afternoon and I plugged it in first thing, taking care not to touch the power button. As soon as I put it on the [included] charger the screen came on. The light in the upper left corner went red, then orange, but it was dimly lit.

After about an hour it started blinking. At first it was blinking orange, but what the color was depended on what angle I looked at it from: it was either red or orange.

After about three hours it started blinking strongly. For several minutes it blinked orange; next it blinked red for several minutes, finally it started blinking orange for a few seconds followed by blinking green followed by blinking red before going back to orange.

After three hours and fifty-five minutes the light went out and it hasn't come back on.

The manual reads:

"The battery can also be charged by power adapter. Connect the device to the power adapter, and plug the power adapter into an electrical outlet. It takes about 3~4 hours to charge the battery. Anb orange light will flash while the battery is charging and a green light will shine steady when the battery is fully charged.
DO NOT remove the battery while it is charging.
The battery power icon is on the bottom right corner of the screen. When the icon indicates a low battery, please recharge the battery.
The device can be used while it is charging, but the charging time will be increased.
If the power of the battery is low, the indicator may be red. When the indicator is red, the device cannot be turned on. after the battery is fully charged, the device will work again."

There were a few things happening that were not mentioned in the manual. The icon in the bottom right doesn't look like any of the icons in the manual either. I hope that is just because it isn't calibrated yet.

No answers or questions in this post. Just observations.

[mrsquash]

Originally Posted by SDRebel

what is the normal light supposed to be when the device is charging? Mine shows a green light, then a yellor or orange, then a red, then repeats...

It's supposed to be a blinking orange, but as you've probably noticed, a change in viewing angle of just a few degrees shifts the color through red, orange, and green. Red is supposed to signify a severely depleted battery, apparently.

Last night when I was trying to revive my Pocket Pro, I also experienced the color-cycling you refer to, where the colors cycle independently of the viewing angle. This is different from what it looks like when doing a normal charge. I do not know what it means and a brief skim of the manual didn't turn up anything.

Originally Posted by SDRebel

With yours, did you leave the battery connected when you were able to turn it on?

Yes, I never removed the battery.

A few minutes ago I picked up my Pocket Pro that's been sitting around for about 12 hours since I finished charging it this morning. I had left it turned on with a book on-screen. When I hit the page-advance, nothing happened. Page-back, nothing. Menu, nothing. Locked up. I reset it, and the reset screen just showed "Starting..." for several minutes, until I reset it again. Now everything seems to be OK. Battery level is good.

I think I'll experiment with turning it off after every use, instead of just leaving it on like I do with it's bigger 6" EZReader brother, and see if that helps. Leaving it on all the time is obviously not working for me.

It's a young device and may just need a little more firmware work. Or maybe I got a lemon. I'll give it some more time and see what experience others have with it.

[SDRebel]

Originally Posted by mrsquash

It's supposed to be a blinking orange, but as you've probably noticed, a change in viewing angle of just a few degrees shifts the color through red, orange, and green. Red is supposed to signify a severely depleted battery, apparently.

Last night when I was trying to revive my Pocket Pro, I also experienced the color-cycling you refer to, where the colors cycle independently of the viewing angle. This is different from what it looks like when doing a normal charge. I do not know what it means and a brief skim of the manual didn't turn up anything.



Yes, I never removed the battery.

A few minutes ago I picked up my Pocket Pro that's been sitting around for about 12 hours since I finished charging it this morning. I had left it turned on with a book on-screen. When I hit the page-advance, nothing happened. Page-back, nothing. Menu, nothing. Locked up. I reset it, and the reset screen just showed "Starting..." for several minutes, until I reset it again. Now everything seems to be OK. Battery level is good.

I think I'll experiment with turning it off after every use, instead of just leaving it on like I do with it's bigger 6" EZReader brother, and see if that helps. Leaving it on all the time is obviously not working for me.

It's a young device and may just need a little more firmware work. Or maybe I got a lemon. I'll give it some more time and see what experience others have with it.

unluckily for me I can't even try it
upon further inspection, I see a green light, then both together (may appear as orange for some) and then red only, and then the cycle repeats.... I've got too much lemonade material

[DaleDe]

Originally Posted by SDRebel

hey, I also have a problem with 4 beeps, I don't know if you saw my thread about it locking up. I can't get it out of that state, though mine happened after I removed the SD and put it back again. I assumed that was it, but I wonder if my device and yours have the same problem. Let me know if yours comes back to life after charging. I left mine charging overnight but it didn't come back to life

Generally, on a locked device, putting in the SD card or removing it removes the lock same as touching the power button. At least that is how EZ reader basic works. I don't have a Pocket Pro yet to test it. I have never had this lock up my device although if you unplug the SD card while reading a book the current location is lost and reverts to the last location you were when you last read that book.

Dale

[DaleDe]

Originally Posted by SDRebel

i am concerned that I didn't find these issues with google on any of other devices but there's already 3 people with this problem with the v5(pocket pro)

What problem is that? I have not heard of 3 people with any particular problem except they need to wait and calibrate the battery to get an accurate reading. Is that what you are talking about?

Dale

[SDRebel]

Originally Posted by DaleDe

What problem is that? I have not heard of 3 people with any particular problem except they need to wait and calibrate the battery to get an accurate reading. Is that what you are talking about?

Dale

var and mrsquash reported also in this thread that their PEZ was locked up in this state (with 4 beeps). Luckily for them they were able to recover them, unlike me

[SDRebel]

Originally Posted by DaleDe

Generally, on a locked device, putting in the SD card or removing it removes the lock same as touching the power button. At least that is how EZ reader basic works. I don't have a Pocket Pro yet to test it. I have never had this lock up my device although if you unplug the SD card while reading a book the current location is lost and reverts to the last location you were when you last read that book.

Dale

then I guess it was a coincidence and my problem may be due to something else, maybe related to the battery as others suggested.

[DaleDe]

Originally Posted by SDRebel

var and mrsquash reported also in this thread that their PEZ was locked up in this state (with 4 beeps). Luckily for them they were able to recover them, unlike me

Theirs simply ran down however yours seems to be a bad battery or something that won't take a charge. The 4 beeps indicate that the battery has discharged. The gauge is not reliable until it sees the battery run down a couple of times.

Dale

[SDRebel]

Originally Posted by DaleDe

Theirs simply ran down however yours seems to be a bad battery or something that won't take a charge. The 4 beeps indicate that the battery has discharged. The gauge is not reliable until it sees the battery run down a couple of times.

Dale

the 4 beeps happen even without battery (connected to power)...I don't think mrsquash was a simple depleted-battery issue

[griffonwing]

The hanlins are know to use cheap batteries. I would go ahead and order a new battery from a reputable brand/source before spending the money on returning reader. It will save you time, as well as shipping charges.

[Dave_S]

Originally Posted by wallcraft

My impression is that the Pocket Pro's battery does not last as long as the Basic's battery. There might still be battery calibration going on, but the Pocket Pro seems to last ~1 week vs ~3 weeks for the Basic.

I have ordered a Pocket Pro but I have not received it yet. I am curious if the battery issues being discussed *might* be related to a TTS or MP3 error in the firmware? If the firmware is leaving the analog TTS or MP3 circuitry powered up even if it is not being used, that would deplete the battery much more rapidly. The standard battery specifications for the V5 has a higher capacity than the V3, but also a much faster processor clock speed, so that probably more than cancels out the battery capacity advantage. But still, a total discharge in just a few days of light activity makes me wonder if some internal circuitry is being left powered up even if it is unused?

[Sweetpea]

Originally Posted by slayda

I can vouch for (b) because I lost my EZ Reader basic at the first of the summer. When she went back for the fall term teashing school, my wife found it with some of her stuff. The battery was completely dead but the display still showed the page I was reading when it was lost.

I can vouch for (b) too... The second e-ink device I saw was the BeBook2. It was (is) still under development and the 3G implementation was draining the battery even when turned off (one of the things they were working on). So, the battery was removed. But there was a page on the screen that was not a mockup, but a real page (which was shown once the battery was inserted )

Actually, that was one the neatest things I've ever seen!

[SDRebel]

I was finally able to briefly revive my pocket pro after leaving it connected all night (again) and then pressed the firmware upgrade combination and it came up, but after I canceled it, it died again in the cancel screen.. Then without being connected, I reset the power button and tried to turn it on with no luck. Then tried resetting again and the firmware upgrade canceled, but this time it got stuck in that screen.
Even after charging overnight, no light will turn on if it is not connected....
it does seem like a battery-related issue

[Dave_S]

Originally Posted by SDRebel

it does seem like a battery-related issue

It sure does! Have you opened it up and checked the battery connections yet?

[kennyc]

Originally Posted by SDRebel

I was finally able to briefly revive my pocket pro after leaving it connected all night (again) and then pressed the firmware upgrade combination and it came up, but after I canceled it, it died again in the cancel screen.. Then without being connected, I reset the power button and tried to turn it on with no luck. Then tried resetting again and the firmware upgrade canceled, but this time it got stuck in that screen.
Even after charging overnight, no light will turn on if it is not connected....
it does seem like a battery-related issue

I concur. Ship the sucker.

BTW. I am returning mine as well.....just too many niggling issues that I'm not feeling comfortable with..