Leave Wi-Fi running, or airplane mod ? ..... Poll

[library addict]

I keep it off on my Kobo as I have never synced the device with my Kobo account and only use calibre to add books to it.

I have Wifi on for my Nexus though as I use it to check email, etc. and can't be bothered to turn it off and on. I have to charge it roughly every other day, sometimes every three days depending upon how much I use it. So that's not bad to me.

[PurpleStar]

I keep the wifi off unless I want to use it to sync.

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by library addict

I keep it off on my Kobo as I have never synced the device with my Kobo account and only use calibre to add books to it.

I have Wifi on for my Nexus though as I use it to check email, etc. and can't be bothered to turn it off and on. I have to charge it roughly every other day, sometimes every three days depending upon how much I use it. So that's not bad to me.

The Nexus, though, has a much beefier battery than an eInk device, and the power usage of WiFi is a much smaller percentage of the total power usage of the device.

[RDaneel54]

Originally Posted by HarryT

The Nexus, though, has a much beefier battery than an eInk device, and the power usage of WiFi is a much smaller percentage of the total power usage of the device.

Harry, I think you've estimated that the WiFi halves the battery time on a Kindle. Do you have any idea what the numbers might be for the frontlights versus the WiFi/3g battery drain? In my experience, the lights don't use as much, but with both on my Kindles seem to drain really fast.

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by RDaneel54

Harry, I think you've estimated that the WiFi halves the battery time on a Kindle. Do you have any idea what the numbers might be for the frontlights versus the WiFi/3g battery drain? In my experience, the lights don't use as much, but with both on my Kindles seem to drain really fast.

WiFi uses a lot more power than the frontlight. The lighting LEDs don't use very much power.

[Hampshire Nanny]

I keep the networking (3G + Wi-Fi) turned off on my Kindle unless I'm actively using it. Whenever possible, I put it on the power adapter when I turn on the network. That keeps the network from drawing down the battery and also supports the increased background activity as the Kindle starts indexing the newly downloaded books.

I have sync turned off on my account. First, there are several readers, so I don't want a book I'm reading sync-ed to the the highest location when my sister or daughter are reading the same book. So, when I move from device to device, I simply note the current location on device 1 -- either chapter or absolute location -- and then manually go to that location when I start reading on device 2.

[DreamWriter]

WiFi is off permanently on my Kindle Keyboard (to save battery life and prevent automatic software updates). I turn on 3G only when I want to download books.

[4691mls]

I keep wifi turned off on my Sony PRS-T1 except if I am away from my home computer and want to download an Overdrive library book.

I don't know the battery life statistics, but the battery definitely needs to be charged sooner when I have been using wifi.

[Xanthe]

I normally keep the WiFi off on my ereaders and tablets unless I'm specifically going online for something, if a particular game needs the connection, or if I'm checking the weather. I don't read the same book across different devices, so that kind of syncing isn't important to me, nor do I have any email accounts set up on the tablets, so they don't need to be synced.

[crich70]

Originally Posted by HarryT

On the Kindle, turning WiFi off roughly doubles the battery life.

That's why I voted to shut it off when not in use. Why let it add drain to the battery when I can add hrs if not days onto the time before I have to plug in and recharge just by sliding the airplane mode switch to on when I'm not downloading a book? That would be like leaving your tap running when you aren't getting a drink of water. Granted I know some do that in winter to keep pipes from freezing, but generally all you do is add to your water bill.

[tomsem]

Leave it on and on and on. I switch devices a lot, so I want that syncing feeling.

Never turn it off on my tablets, either.

[jhowell]

I usually read on a Kindle at home and on my smartphone if I find myself with some spare time at a random moment when out and about. Leaving the wifi on and current book always synced means that I can pull out my phone any time and continue reading where I last left off in seconds. Otherwise it would probably take me longer to find my place than the time I have available. The convenience is worth having to charge the kindle more often. It still goes far longer than any of my other electronic devices between charges.

[pwalker8]

I tend to turn it off when I don't have a strong wifi signal. Weak signal is what drains the battery as the device cranks up the power to try to maintain the connection. If you have a strong signal, it's not a big deal. For practical purposes, I tend to leave the wifi on at home, and turn it off unless I'm actually using it when I'm not at home.

[ElspethB]

I leave wifi off on all my devices when not downloading books or using the internet, and I don't worry about syncing. I have whatever book I'm currently reading on my Kindle Paperwhite, my tablet, and my phone. When I stop reading, I take note of an unusual word on the page I stopped at, and then when I pick up another device, a quick search will take me back to that page.

[haydnfan]

Originally Posted by Teknikal

Cloud is a terrible idea for media,

You are absolutely wrong.

I hated buying music online simply because if I had not remembered to do a backup and my hd crashed my music would be gone. One time I had a hd failure, and my backup was also corrupt.

In the past few years when I can re-download music whenever I want, or play it through a media box through my hifi. Life is good.

When it comes to books, it allows me to easily download and sync across multiple devices. Just yesterday I gave an ebook to my Father for his birthday, and my Mother downloaded it on the kindle app on her Ipad and started reading it as well.

The cloud is the reason that I can keep a kindle at home and a kindle at work and always be on the same page. The cloud is the reason that if I have trouble with my kindle I can do a full restore without worrying about backing up my ebooks.

And do you know what I do to my ebooks? I also save them on dropbox to have access on multiple computers. That is right, I use the cloud.

When I rent or buy a movie on itunes, I can watch it on my Apple TV, Ipad or computer. Why? The cloud.

Terrible idea? Absolute not!