Consumer Report: BN/Amazon e-reader battery life claims are essentially meaningless

[RockdaMan]

We’re not sure that how many months they claim to run matters much. A supposed run-time of 4 to 5 months rather than a month or two might, we suppose, be marginally more convenient. But it could also allow more opportunity to, say, misplace that seldom-used battery charger.

Our bottom line with battery life and e-book readers: Pay attention to whether the battery times (based on manufacturers’ claims) that we include in our Ratings are in hours (like the models that have backlit LCD screens, such as the Nook Color) or in days or weeks (like the models with E Ink screens). After that, worrying about relative differences in battery life may consume more energy than it’s worth.

Smart. Very smart.

http://news.consumerreports.org/elec...and-noble.html

[GreenMonkey]

Originally Posted by RockdaMan

Smart. Very smart.

http://news.consumerreports.org/elec...and-noble.html

I don't agree.

My original Nook didn't get enough battery life. I had to plug it in and charge every 2-4 days most of the time. I need more.

[bhartman36]

Originally Posted by RockdaMan

Smart. Very smart.

http://news.consumerreports.org/elec...and-noble.html

I tend to agree with this. I've run down my Kindle (Kindle 1, at the time) by not charging it for a month or so, but that was very, very rare. Going without charging for 2 months is theoretically possible, but it would take an almost impressive amount of oversight unless you really didn't use your e-reader.

[cromag]

Well, not to be a fanboy, but this is just not a problem for me!

[Sil_liS]

The author of the article is missing the point. During normal use you do more than just flip pages. This is why B&N said 2 months and not 4-5, and the argument with Amazon came from the fact that people want to know which is better.

And the whole thing about not needing it to run for more than a month on a single battery charge is not the point of having a better battery. Generally speaking people who get a device with wifi would want to use it, and there are also those who use tts, or play games, or listen to music. A better battery means that you can do those things for longer on a single charge.

[RockdaMan]

Originally Posted by Sil_liS

people want to know which is better.

Do they?

[tubemonkey]

Originally Posted by RockdaMan

Do they?

Yes..

[Kali Yuga]

I also agree with the article, and that 3rd parties like CR ought to get into the act.

Battery life is often horribly misrepresented, to the point where I for one can't trust the claimed times. Hopefully CR will publish their results publicly, rather than just to subscribers.

[iandix]

it's funny how when the Kindle has the best battery life .. it was very important, now that it's the nook .. well

But let's be honest where on earth do you people live if you need to go months without access to a power point??

[Sil_liS]

Originally Posted by RockdaMan

Do they?

Amazon has been driving hard the argument that they have the best device. When the pearl screen came out and there was the exclusive deal with Amazon and Sony, there were many people on the forum that kept saying the same thing when a new ereader came out: Does it have pearl? No? Then it isn't good enough.

Many of the attributes of an ereader are a matter of preference: some people want touch screen; some don't, some people want tts, some don't; etc. But there are two things that stand out when it comes to choosing eink over LCD: the screen and the battery. For at least a year, the kindle and the nook will be matched when it comes to the screen, so the thing that matters is the battery.

Oh, and of course, the bookstore behind it. But while everybody is saying on the forum that Amazon is better, it is B&N that has the words "World's Largest Bookstore" on their website.

Not that this has anything to do with me, since I'm in Europe.

[wyndslash]

Originally Posted by iandix

But let's be honest where on earth do you people live if you need to go months without access to a power point??

well, naturally people want the features that these stores boast of and they paid for ;P

[RainingLemur]

I tend to play battery life by ear. Once I get something new, I'll use it heavily to see how much use it takes to kill the charge. Then I taper it back and find my sweet spot for charge cycles.

[Penforhire]

Good general point about battery life. What is the minimum we want before we feel constrained? If I get a week of reading (say 20 hours of active time or 1500 page turns) then I'll never feel restricted by my reader's battery. But at, say, ten hours of reading (thinking of a tablet PC) I'll start to feel tied to an outlet.

[Andrew H.]

Originally Posted by Sil_liS

Oh, and of course, the bookstore behind it. But while everybody is saying on the forum that Amazon is better, it is B&N that has the words "World's Largest Bookstore" on their website.

Not that this has anything to do with me, since I'm in Europe.

B&N owns the most brick and mortar bookstores. This doesn't really affect what's available on an e-reader, though.

[AnemicOak]

Battery life claims are similar to ink/toner cartridge yield claims. They can be made to say almost anything the marketing folks want given certain parameters and should be taken with a big grain of salt.