A MYSTERY: SD and Power drain? - Page 2

xietamu · 12-28-2006, 05:25 AM

Have you guys tried to put it to sleep why your are in the Menu, compared to while reading a book? For me, if I put the reader to sleep while reading a book (i.e. while seeing the actual content), the bars go down rapidly in a week or so, if I leave it in the menu (i.e. I specifically go to the menu before putting the Reader to sleep) then it seems fine. Can you try this as well ?

RWood · 12-29-2006, 05:30 PM

I got over 16 hours of reading this past weekend and only went to the menu for changing books. All other times I stopped on a page in a book and returned to that page.

Nightwing · 12-29-2006, 05:58 PM

Sony recommends to turn it off. It lock's the other switches.

mlbspike · 01-09-2007, 06:02 PM

battery lasted 12 days ... from full charge. No reading (turned on every day or so to check charge). My first test (with the memory-stick in) went about a week. Started checking in to this when I realized I was only getting about 1600 pages on a charge ... after my initial charge had lasted closer to 5000 ... difference being the addition of the memory stick. Am going to email customer service to see if 12 days is reasonable ... given an advertised 7500 page flips, that would be an overhead cost to your battery of over 600 pages per day, if you don't read anything ... seems odd, but perhaps not out of line with what I've encountered with some Ipod's. So ... back to reading (without the memory stick) to see how many pages I get at this point ... will probably wait for this result before any emails to customer service. And ... yes, before anyone asks, I power down, and I have no mp3's to accidentally play.

Nightwing · 01-09-2007, 06:10 PM

Have finishes a bit of a test...

Basically DONT use old SD cards Those really eat the juce!

Using a Transcend 1GB 80x. Been bouncing between 3/4 to down for a short time 1/2. Has outlasted with the same contense that was on the 256MB Panasonic SD card.

I would assume its being shut off by the Reader when the Reader is off.

BettyE · 01-13-2007, 11:12 PM

I had been happy with the battery until tonight. I had not read anything on the reader in about 2 weeks and tonight the Reader was dead. It won't charge from the USB and I don't have my adapter with me. I won't have my adapter until Monday night. I'm really annoyed.

Before this, I was happy with the battery. Now, I realize I can't rely on it to be there unless I am reading/charging every few days. I was willing to put up with a lot of negatives such as the bad screen contrast, terrible Connect website, etc. , but if it can't even hold a charge when you don't read it for a week or so, that's the last straw....

I can understand that Sony wanted to intro the product before everything was perfect, but this is ridiculous.

Nightwing · 01-14-2007, 12:48 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BettyE

I had been happy with the battery until tonight. I had not read anything on the reader in about 2 weeks and tonight the Reader was dead. It won't charge from the USB and I don't have my adapter with me. I won't have my adapter until Monday night. I'm really annoyed.

Before this, I was happy with the battery. Now, I realize I can't rely on it to be there unless I am reading/charging every few days. I was willing to put up with a lot of negatives such as the bad screen contrast, terrible Connect website, etc. , but if it can't even hold a charge when you don't read it for a week or so, that's the last straw....

I can understand that Sony wanted to intro the product before everything was perfect, but this is ridiculous.

That is something I been thinking on....

Basically I fliped mine on the other night and found it not in the book I was in but in the main menu!

Could it be a glick in the unit that it wakes or does not really turn off checking buttons at times when off?

HarryT · 01-14-2007, 09:39 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BettyE

I had been happy with the battery until tonight. I had not read anything on the reader in about 2 weeks and tonight the Reader was dead. It won't charge from the USB and I don't have my adapter with me. I won't have my adapter until Monday night. I'm really annoyed.

Before this, I was happy with the battery. Now, I realize I can't rely on it to be there unless I am reading/charging every few days. I was willing to put up with a lot of negatives such as the bad screen contrast, terrible Connect website, etc. , but if it can't even hold a charge when you don't read it for a week or so, that's the last straw....

I can understand that Sony wanted to intro the product before everything was perfect, but this is ridiculous.

Betty,

Is there any possibility that you might have left the MP3 player playing? That seems to be the most common reason for "battery death". I've left my Reader unusued for 10 days, and switched it on to find the battery still on 4 bars.

MikiBroki · 01-15-2007, 04:14 AM

I never used the mp3 player, and I have the same problem with a Kingston SD 512mb. I will try inserting the card when I will use the Reader only

HarryT · 01-15-2007, 04:29 AM

I've stopped using a memory card at all. I've got over 50 books in main memory, and used less than a third of the available space. Unless you're storing MP3s, or very large "graphical" PDFs (comics, etc), or unless you're a non-Windows user who needs to load content directly onto the memory card, there seems to be little reason to use one. Reader compresses books in main memory, so you can store lots there!

JimCuk · 01-15-2007, 06:07 AM

Harry my PDFs are around 10 Mb a file...so that doesn't leave much room. They are text based. Maybe just the way im converting or something.

I bought a seriously cheap SD card off play.com and its not drained the Battery yet. Will post back if I have any problems.

HarryT · 01-15-2007, 07:47 AM

Is there any particular reason you're using PDFs, Jim? The only real benefit of them seems to be they support pictures, which RTF doesn't. For straight text (fiction books, etc) RTF seems to be far more efficient - even the longest book (something like "The Count of Monte Cristo) is only a MB or so, and typically compresses to a few hundred kb in Reader.

RWood · 01-15-2007, 11:11 AM

I have even converted some PDFs to RTF for the Reader. Sure I lose the pictures but the text remains. The size is much smaller than the original PDF and as Harry pointed out, the Reader performs some compression when storing on internal memory.

01-15-2007, 04:14 AM	#24
MikiBroki Junior Member Posts: 9 Karma: 10 Join Date: Dec 2006 Device: Sony Reader	I never used the mp3 player, and I have the same problem with a Kingston SD 512mb. I will try inserting the card when I will use the Reader only Last edited by MikiBroki; 01-15-2007 at 04:21 AM.

Similar Threads
Thread	Thread Starter	Forum	Replies	Last Post
DOWN THE DRAIN—A 99¢ Horror Novelette for Monster Lovers	djpyle	Self-Promotions by Authors and Publishers	26	06-03-2011 10:09 AM
DR1000 Battery drain with 1.7.1	Gogolo	iRex	11	09-14-2010 06:37 AM
Classic Battery Drain	Pomtroll	Barnes & Noble NOOK	2	07-11-2010 09:58 PM
Kindle Mystery - Shadow of Power Free with Bonus Material	Susan Crealock	Deals and Resources (No Self-Promotion or Affiliate Links)	6	06-04-2010 10:41 PM
Kindle power drain	Nogg	Sony Reader	5	11-23-2007 01:38 PM

12-28-2006, 05:25 AM	#16
xietamu Junior Member Posts: 2 Karma: 10 Join Date: Dec 2006	Have you guys tried to put it to sleep why your are in the Menu, compared to while reading a book? For me, if I put the reader to sleep while reading a book (i.e. while seeing the actual content), the bars go down rapidly in a week or so, if I leave it in the menu (i.e. I specifically go to the menu before putting the Reader to sleep) then it seems fine. Can you try this as well ?

12-29-2006, 05:30 PM	#17
RWood Technogeezer Posts: 7,233 Karma: 1601464 Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Virginia, USA Device: Sony PRS-500	I got over 16 hours of reading this past weekend and only went to the menu for changing books. All other times I stopped on a page in a book and returned to that page.

12-29-2006, 05:58 PM	#18
Nightwing Addict Posts: 303 Karma: 541 Join Date: Oct 2006 Device: Cowon A2 Dell x3i, Sony Reader & Eee PC!	Sony recommends to turn it off. It lock's the other switches.

01-09-2007, 06:02 PM	#19
mlbspike Enthusiast Posts: 35 Karma: 12 Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: San Diego Device: Sony PRS500, PRS505	battery lasted 12 days ... from full charge. No reading (turned on every day or so to check charge). My first test (with the memory-stick in) went about a week. Started checking in to this when I realized I was only getting about 1600 pages on a charge ... after my initial charge had lasted closer to 5000 ... difference being the addition of the memory stick. Am going to email customer service to see if 12 days is reasonable ... given an advertised 7500 page flips, that would be an overhead cost to your battery of over 600 pages per day, if you don't read anything ... seems odd, but perhaps not out of line with what I've encountered with some Ipod's. So ... back to reading (without the memory stick) to see how many pages I get at this point ... will probably wait for this result before any emails to customer service. And ... yes, before anyone asks, I power down, and I have no mp3's to accidentally play.

01-09-2007, 06:10 PM	#20
Nightwing Addict Posts: 303 Karma: 541 Join Date: Oct 2006 Device: Cowon A2 Dell x3i, Sony Reader & Eee PC!	Have finishes a bit of a test... Basically DONT use old SD cards Those really eat the juce! Using a Transcend 1GB 80x. Been bouncing between 3/4 to down for a short time 1/2. Has outlasted with the same contense that was on the 256MB Panasonic SD card. I would assume its being shut off by the Reader when the Reader is off.

01-13-2007, 11:12 PM	#21
BettyE Connoisseur Posts: 64 Karma: 130 Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: NJ Device: Rocket eBook / Sony PRS-500 / Kindle	I had been happy with the battery until tonight. I had not read anything on the reader in about 2 weeks and tonight the Reader was dead. It won't charge from the USB and I don't have my adapter with me. I won't have my adapter until Monday night. I'm really annoyed. Before this, I was happy with the battery. Now, I realize I can't rely on it to be there unless I am reading/charging every few days. I was willing to put up with a lot of negatives such as the bad screen contrast, terrible Connect website, etc. , but if it can't even hold a charge when you don't read it for a week or so, that's the last straw.... I can understand that Sony wanted to intro the product before everything was perfect, but this is ridiculous.

01-15-2007, 04:29 AM	#25
HarryT eBook Enthusiast Posts: 85,547 Karma: 93383099 Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: UK Device: Kindle Oasis 2, iPad Pro 10.5", iPhone 6	I've stopped using a memory card at all. I've got over 50 books in main memory, and used less than a third of the available space. Unless you're storing MP3s, or very large "graphical" PDFs (comics, etc), or unless you're a non-Windows user who needs to load content directly onto the memory card, there seems to be little reason to use one. Reader compresses books in main memory, so you can store lots there!

01-15-2007, 06:07 AM	#26
JimCuk Enthusiast Posts: 28 Karma: 18 Join Date: Dec 2006 Device: Prs-500	Harry my PDFs are around 10 Mb a file...so that doesn't leave much room. They are text based. Maybe just the way im converting or something. I bought a seriously cheap SD card off play.com and its not drained the Battery yet. Will post back if I have any problems.

01-15-2007, 07:47 AM	#27
HarryT eBook Enthusiast Posts: 85,547 Karma: 93383099 Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: UK Device: Kindle Oasis 2, iPad Pro 10.5", iPhone 6	Is there any particular reason you're using PDFs, Jim? The only real benefit of them seems to be they support pictures, which RTF doesn't. For straight text (fiction books, etc) RTF seems to be far more efficient - even the longest book (something like "The Count of Monte Cristo) is only a MB or so, and typically compresses to a few hundred kb in Reader.

01-15-2007, 11:11 AM	#28
RWood Technogeezer Posts: 7,233 Karma: 1601464 Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Virginia, USA Device: Sony PRS-500	I have even converted some PDFs to RTF for the Reader. Sure I lose the pictures but the text remains. The size is much smaller than the original PDF and as Harry pointed out, the Reader performs some compression when storing on internal memory.