Sony reveals prototype 13.3-inch e-ink slate with stylus

[murraypaul]

Originally Posted by ST-One

If it is only about reading, then, yeah, they do. Perhaps not 50 times the battery life of a tablet (which does a lot more things, even when you don't use it actively) but significantly more than just 2 or 4 times more.

That isn't what the manufactures claim.
Half an hour a day for a month is 15 hours.

[murraypaul]

To highlight what I find objectionable, this is the battery life graph from the Kindle page on Amazon:


That is flat out misleading.
(And is not included in the equivalent page on the European Amazon sites.)

[ApK]

Originally Posted by murraypaul

To highlight what I find objectionable, this is the battery life graph from the Kindle page on Amazon:


That is flat out misleading.
(And is not included in the equivalent page on the European Amazon sites.)

I do see what you mean, and I agree that it can be misleading.
However, it probably does reflect actual user experience. People with smartphones and tablets typically have to charge them every day, they typically only need to charge their e-reader every two weeks.

So few people are likely to notice or complain that the chart is not technically a fair comparison. They are likely to to see the promised behavior and be satisfied.

[HarryT]

It's certainly true that you genuinely can use a Kindle for 4 weeks between charges. You can't use an iPad for 4 weeks, no matter how little you use it each day. Its "sleeping" power consumption is significant, whereas that of the Kindle is negligible.

(OK, you could switch the thing off every day, rather than put it to sleep, but I've never encountered anyone who use an iPad or other tablet that way. It's certainly not normal device usage.)

[murraypaul]

Do you think the graph is misleading, or not?

[Feher]

Originally Posted by murraypaul

Do you think the graph is misleading, or not?

I think the graph is atrocious

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by murraypaul

Do you think the graph is misleading, or not?

That's a difficult question to answer.

In some ways it's misleading, yes. According to Amazon's figures (which my own usage experience bears out), the actual usage time of a Kindle Paperwhite on a single battery charge is around 28h. So in one sense it would be better to have the Kindle with "28h" alongside it. On the other hand, the typical user probably is going to spread that usage over several weeks - something which can't be done with a tablet - so I kind of see the point of what Amazon are saying about it, which is that you'll probably only need to recharge it every few weeks.

So I guess I'd probably say that Amazon's graph is accurate, but open to misinterpretation. Sorry, that sounds like a cop-out, I know.

[j.p.s]

Originally Posted by HarryT

You can't use an iPad for 4 weeks, no matter how little you use it each day. Its "sleeping" power consumption is significant, whereas that of the Kindle is negligible.

The sleeping power of a Kindle is not negligible. I hope you don't think that a Kindle battery charge would last 2 months on 15 minutes reading per day.

Originally Posted by HarryT

(OK, you could switch the thing off every day, rather than put it to sleep, but I've never encountered anyone who use an iPad or other tablet that way. It's certainly not normal device usage.)

But at least it is an option for when it won't be used for an extended period.

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by j.p.s

The sleeping power of a Kindle is not negligible. I hope you don't think that a Kindle battery charge would last 2 months on 15 minutes reading per day.

Depends what you mean by "negligible", I guess. It's a heck of a lot less than that of the iPad. My Kindle will retain a battery charge for many weeks in sleep mode; the iPad will drain its battery flat in about a week.

[5thWiggle]

Originally Posted by HarryT

(OK, you could switch the thing off every day, rather than put it to sleep, but I've never encountered anyone who use an iPad or other tablet that way. It's certainly not normal device usage.)

Are you insinuating I'm not normal???

In our household, when the lights go out for the night the devices go off (unless the device is being used as an alarm clock, of course). The only exception is 5thWiggleWife's work cell phone. Too many nights looking for "that strange beeping noise". Almost all devices have less than a two minute boot time anyway, so what's the point of leaving them in sleep mode and consumming power?

[ST-One]

Originally Posted by murraypaul

That isn't what the manufactures claim.
Half an hour a day for a month is 15 hours.

But that's half an hour continuous page-turning, isn't it?

[murraypaul]

Originally Posted by ST-One

But that's half an hour continuous page-turning, isn't it?

No, it is half an hour of reading (use).

[ST-One]

Originally Posted by murraypaul

No, it is half an hour of reading (use).

The "reading" part is what drains the battery the least.

I can get about four weeks out of my readers with at least 2 hours of reading each day.

[BoldlyDubious]

murraypaul, the difference between eInk-based ereaders and tablets is, very simply, this one:

• for ereaders, showing a page of text is very close to being in standby. The only power it requires is that used by the device to be ready to respond to commands.
• for tablets, showing a page of text requires significant power because the backlight needs to be on. And the backlight is one of the subsystems that draw the highest power.

So, as a reading tool, an ereader is vastly superior to a tablet for battery life. Naturally, if you do other things with it (such as web browsing) things change. But of course for that we have PCs... and tablets :-)
It's like a comparison between sitting on a still (but with engine running) motorbike versus sitting on a still bicycle. Both let you relax your legs, but only one of them requires gas!

[Sil_liS]

Originally Posted by 5thWiggle

Are you insinuating I'm not normal???

In our household, when the lights go out for the night the devices go off (unless the device is being used as an alarm clock, of course). The only exception is 5thWiggleWife's work cell phone. Too many nights looking for "that strange beeping noise". Almost all devices have less than a two minute boot time anyway, so what's the point of leaving them in sleep mode and consumming power?

The kindle can't be turned off.

Originally Posted by murraypaul

No, it is half an hour of reading (use).

I know I can read 3 books of 300+ pages with one battery charge on my PB903 under normal conditions. I went to visit some relatives and I had to stop reading frequently and the battery was drained much faster. Since my reader actually turns off, when I turn it back on it goes through a couple of images, essentially turning pages.