WOW, The Kindle's battery life doubles overnight

[ApK]

And by the way, presuming the the wifi components in these devices are like most, I think you also will consume a lot more power using wifi in a weak signal area than in a strong one. I believe the power management features of wifi will reduce it's signal strength to only as much power as needed to get a good connection.

[=X=]

Originally Posted by boswd

yup

nook wifi then kindle wifi

nook lendme then kindle lendme books

nook tablet (if rumors hold true) possibly a kindle tablet

nook touch - well we'll wait and see

but it does seem Kindle is always on it's heels.

Or you can say B&N is on Kindles heels

Releases an eInk reader tied to their books store (3G)
Released high contrast low lag eInk (perl screen)
Releases an app store

Unfortunately in the area that matters most to me is in books and content, B&N just don't seem to try to compete(aside from the Terrible 5 books)

So now I'm reading kindle books on nook hardware. Go figure.

The truth is both react to each other and the absence of one would be bad news for the consumer.

=X=

[Keroberos]

I just love this bit.

I spoke to Michael Serbinis, the CEO of Kobo, which this week announced a new $129.99 touch-screen e-ink reader, the Kobo WiFi Touch Edition. He, too was troubled by Barnes & Noble's battery life claims.

"We didn't calculate our numbers like they [B&N] did," Serbinis said. "If you kept the wireless off and only read for 30 minutes a day, you'd get close to two months of battery life with Kobo's new e-reader, too. But that's not a typical usage scenario."

So....., Amazon's admitting that the specs for the Kindle's battery life are just made up BS?

[boswd]

Originally Posted by =X=

Or you can say B&N is on Kindles heels

Releases an eInk reader tied to their books store (3G)
Released high contrast low lag eInk (perl screen)
Releases an app store

Unfortunately in the area that matters most to me is in books and content, B&N just don't seem to try to compete(aside from the Terrible 5 books)

So now I'm reading kindle books on nook hardware. Go figure.

The truth is both react to each other and the absence of one would be bad news for the consumer.

=X=

I agree, competition is the cosumer's friend. without it who knows how much they would still cost, still look like etc.

[ApK]

Originally Posted by Keroberos

I just love this bit.



So....., Amazon's admitting that the specs for the Kindle's battery life are just made up BS?

They are not made up and not BS, they are just not representative of typical use.

Personally, I think Amazon should have made the point by changing their materials to read:

Battery Life: >5 months*

*if left shut off the entire time.
Yeah, we know, but it's as useful as the calculation B&N used....

[Keroberos]

Originally Posted by ApK

They are not made up and not BS, they are just not representative of typical use.

Personally, I think Amazon should have made the point by changing their materials to read:

Battery Life: >5 months*

*if left shut off the entire time.
Yeah, we know, but it's as useful as the calculation B&N used....

Yes they are made up. When you don't post anywhere on your product page how you got your numbers, your numbers are made up BS.

PS.

Kudos to Kobo for posting the battery life in page turns (something that can be used to make an honest comparison to other devices).

[ApK]

Originally Posted by Keroberos

Yes they are made up. When you don't post anywhere on your product page how you got your numbers, your numbers are made up BS.

No, that makes no sense at all. The presence or absence of an explaination on a web site has no effect on the facts.

Kudos to Kobo for posting the battery life in page turns (something that can be used to make an honest comparison to other devices).

No it can't, if none of the other devices tell you that. What would you be comparing it to?

[Blossom]

The longest I've gotten out of my Kindle is a month and that's with light use. That's reading 3 to 5 hours once to twice a week. Most of the time my battery lasts about two and half weeks with WiFi off with regular use.

If you add books alot indexing will eat the battery so it wont last long at all.

[crich70]

Originally Posted by AnemicOak

I know I don't. You can calculate it any way you want to make it seem longer than it is in practical use, but marketing folks keep doing it so I suppose some folks must take it seriously. It's kinda like printer and copier manufacturers when they tell you you'll get X number of copies out of a toner cartridge.


The battery on my Kindle might last 2 months if I hardly read on it. As it stands in practical use I get about a week with WiFi off and reading quite a bit. I'd expect I'd get similar from the nook.

That's about what I get from my Kindle as well. Of course I also run apps (games) on it which also contributes to the drain on the battery.

[tubemonkey]

Originally Posted by maianhvk

These days when my pace increases, I think "What? This is supposed to last a whole month? Ridiculous!" WiFi off and it merely lasts 1 week, 8-9 days - top. Now they say it should last 2 months. WOW.

Those figures are based on reading 60 minutes a day for one month and 30 minutes a day for two months. Either way, the battery is supposed to get about 30 hours of use before needing a recharge.

[ApK]

Originally Posted by Keroberos

Yes they are made up. When you don't post anywhere on your product page how you got your numbers, your numbers are made up BS.

And by the way, it is on the product page, in the "Technical Details":

Battery Life A single charge lasts up to two months with wireless off based upon a half-hour of daily reading time. If you read for one hour a day, you will get battery life of up to one month. Keep wireless always on and it lasts for up to 3 weeks. Battery life will vary based on wireless usage, such as shopping the Kindle Store, web browsing, and downloading content.

[Keroberos]

Originally Posted by ApK

No, that makes no sense at all. The presence or absence of an explaination on a web site has no effect on the facts.

Yes it does. Without an explanation of their testing methodology I have no way to verify the accuracy of their specs. The whole reason why they use the term "Up to X days" is so they can claim their ridiculous specs are accurate.

Originally Posted by ApK

No it can't, if none of the other devices tell you that. What would you be comparing it to?

Doesn't matter. It's something I can test myself (or find on review sites who tests it for us). And is more helpful in making a purchasing decision (10,000 page turns = about 10 books with the font size I use. Up to X days reading time = who knows without any frame of reference).

[RockdaMan]

Originally Posted by khalleron

I wouldn't say 'fear' either, but it does seem that Amazon is taking BN more seriously than its other competitors.

Thats how you stay on top.

[Keroberos]

Originally Posted by ApK

And by the way, it is on the product page, in the "Technical Details":

Battery Life A single charge lasts up to two months with wireless off based upon a half-hour of daily reading time. If you read for one hour a day, you will get battery life of up to one month. Keep wireless always on and it lasts for up to 3 weeks. Battery life will vary based on wireless usage, such as shopping the Kindle Store, web browsing, and downloading content.

True, but still misleading. Since battery life on e-ink devices is determined mostly by number of page turns and less by reading time I still can't use that number to make any kind of conclusion based on my reading habits, or use the number to compare to other devices.

And that info is rather hard to find on Amazon's poorly formated wall of text-and-pictures that is the Kindle product page.

[Joykins]

Originally Posted by ApK

On an eink device, absolutely.
Unlike an LCD device, which constantly has to light and update the display, the eink device consumes virtually no power when just displaying a page for you to read (essentially in standby, except for whatever computational tasks are going on in the background, like indexing, etc).
Only when the screen has to change what it is displaying, like when you change pages, or worse, scroll around a website or zoomed-in pdf, does it draw a lot of power.
This is why eink devices are as power efficient as they are, and why page-turns have been an appropriate unit of battery life measurement.

Of course using any other features of the device, like playing audio and using wifi, changes the numbers greatly.

ApK

They must calculate some average of page turns per hour I guess.