Battery issues anyone?

[cjp]

Oh no - my new DR1000S is completely dead. If you see my above posts regarding the battery, I let it run down today, which only took 3 hours after charging all night.

I then plugged it in and restarted it about 1pm this afternoon. For quite some time, the battery box icon was empty, but it had a ligtening bolt over it. The blinking green light was gone and was orange as it should be to recharge. It looked promising!

I then shut it down and waited for more than 4 1/2 hours to check on the charge.

A little while ago, I press on the Menu/Open Sensor. Nothing! It does not start at all. NOT AT ALL. Now when it is plugged into my computer, nothing shows that the DR1000S exists. (That is the first time it hasn't shown up.)

I switched computers, twice, once to my husbands desktop, and then to my Toshiba laptop. Nothing. And I notice now too that when I plugged it in to the different computers, normally the green light above the Menu sensor would come on - but now it doesn't.

I unplugged it. Since it has been fully charging since 1pm this afternoon (it is now 5:20pm), it should easily turn on. But it doesn't. It is completely dead.

I am so very discouraged.
CJP

UPDATE!
Ok - it is 40" later, I unplugged it again. Pressed the Reset button, and it came on! Moreover, all 4 bars are finally there in the battery icon. I am going to let it stay on until the battery is gone again, (but it will probably not be used because I've gotten a bit behind on my work). I am hoping that it will hold a charge for more than 3 or 4 hours this time.

[allovertheglobe]

As far as I understand, the reader MUST STAY ON for charging. If you shut it down as you wrote in your post, it wasn't charged at all. (P.13 of the user manual, in the table: Turned Off | Not Charging | No LED) (as must the computer you hook it up to, and if it goes into sleep mode, I'm not sure it would provide power to the USB port for the reader to charge - one reason I use a wall charger)

I had a scare like that yesterday, as I wrote earlier, and it turned out that the reader wasn't receiving power through my own fault.

Hook it up again, wait for a while (maybe 10 min.) and if nothing happens, try a reset (keep pushing the pen in for a little longer, count to ten...) then wait a few more minutes and if necessary, try another reset. If it doesn't come back on after that, you may indeed have a problem.

Worst comes to worst, I wouldn't hesitate to contact Jeff from eReader Outfitters. He seems to be pretty responsive, and though I don't know if he will arrange for your repair, I'm sure he can at least explain to you the best course of action since he should be in direct contact with iRex.

[cjp]

You make good sense here. The odd thing though and as you point out, the manual states that if the Reader is turned off, and there is no LED, it is not charging. So, it is especially puzzling that mine finally did charge - while it was off.

As you suggested, I reconnected it for awhile, then hit the Reset button. That seemed to do it. Also, like you the 4th bar was gone after 15". I'll be up late working to see how long it stays charged but I know that I read somewhere that the DR1000S holds a charge for ? days, especially if just viewing PDFs. Let's see how long it holds a charge this time. I am hoping...
Thanks again -

[cjp]

Originally Posted by flyingtablet

Dont just change computer. Try a standalone charger.
Good luck.

Yes, that seems to be the concensus. I ordered one today that allovertheGlobe recommended, (Garmin; A/C to mini-USB) and one for the office, TEKKEON MP1600 for $13 from Newegg.com with free shipping that plugs in but the cord from the DR1000S goes from the reader to it.

Thanks for the good advice, all of you!
CJP

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by cjp

As you suggested, I reconnected it for awhile, then hit the Reset button. That seemed to do it. Also, like you the 4th bar was gone after 15". I'll be up late working to see how long it stays charged but I know that I read somewhere that the DR1000S holds a charge for ? days, especially if just viewing PDFs. Let's see how long it holds a charge this time. I am hoping...
Thanks again -

If it's losing a bar of charge after 15 seconds, that would suggest to me that there is something wrong .

[pthwaite]

After my second charge discharge cycle I got 5hrs+ (though not using it) which is up from 3hrs. Interestingly mine has never yet shown the green fully charged light whether from a wall or computer charge. Anyway we shall see. it is obviously improving in my case. I have found in general though that most battery charge indications, are a guide at best and can be somewhat misleading, like some fuel gauges in cars. They move quickly off full & then take a while to go from half to empty.

[cjp]

Originally Posted by pthwaite

After my second charge discharge cycle I got 5hrs+ (though not using it) which is up from 3hrs. Interestingly mine has never yet shown the green fully charged light whether from a wall or computer charge. Anyway we shall see. it is obviously improving in my case. I have found in general though that most battery charge indications, are a guide at best and can be somewhat misleading, like some fuel gauges in cars. They move quickly off full & then take a while to go from half to empty.

I've submitted a ticket to iRex to ask if indeed 3 to 5 hours is "normal" to simply read PDFs. Hopefully, I will hear from them soon.

As a note, I recharged it again over night, then this morning before I left home, I unplugged it at 6:15 am. I called my husband, he reports it has one bar. He'll try to see when it shuts down, but it seems that my short battery life remains at ~ 5+ hours justing sitting there.

[pilotbob]

Originally Posted by cjp

He'll try to see when it shuts down, but it seems that my short battery life remains at ~ 5+ hours justing sitting there.

While that is not awesome I am wondering... do you plan to use it more than 5 hours straight through alot?

BOb

[nekokami]

I've used my iLiad for more than 5 hours straight fairly often. Since classes in my doctoral program only meet once a week, they last 2.5 hours each, and some nights I have two classes back-to-back. I use my iLiad to take notes. If the battery only lasted 5 or 5.5. hours, I'd have trouble. I also use it at all-day conferences, though less often. I can take notes on it for 8-9 hours before it's out of juice. (This is the original model, before the battery expansion.)

[cjp]

Yes, probably so. On a day "off", I normally work 10-12 hours. Seriously. Not all reading mind you, but as a struggling PhD student, this was supposed to be a sound investment. But hey - it still might be. I just might have a defective unit, which can be remedied. I'll let you know what iRex says.

[zerospinboson]

Originally Posted by pilotbob

While that is not awesome I am wondering... do you plan to use it more than 5 hours straight through alot?

I do so almost on a daily basis (iLiad v2, at the Uni Library and during class)
Sees about 6-7hrs a day of continuous use

Originally Posted by dhill

You do not have to remove the stylus from the DR in order to use another stylus. The Wacom pad is always active unless you disable it.

When i read this in the other thread, I'd sort of assumed they'd managed to improve on the power use of the Wacom, but I guess the 5.5hrs worth of battery life are a good indication that they haven't.
Odd (read: idiotic) choice though, to enable it continuously.. wonder what rationale behind that is.
"Ease of use" for business users? (who are incapable of realising they need to remove the other pen from the bay when they're using their Pro/advanced pens?)

[cjp]

Originally Posted by allovertheglobe

Re: the TEKKEON MP1600 I got for $13 from Newegg.com.

This charger came yesterday, and indeed, it charges the Reader faster. (I'm still at ~ 5 1/2 - 6 hours of time before it shuts down, which is better, but using it, it is still closer to 3 1/2 hours.)

Now that I think nothing is seriously wrong with my Reader, it is just the battery life that (hopefully) will be improved over time with some updates. I shut it off now when I am not going to be using it for awhile.
So that is good, I think this Reader is really great.

For now, I was wondering if, using the Tekkeon charger, is there is another (much) longer cord that you know of? This one is great for the office, especially the retractable portion, but at home I could really use one longer so that it reaches from a chair to an outlet.

[allovertheglobe]

Originally Posted by cjp

For now, I was wondering if, using the Tekkeon charger, is there is another (much) longer cord that you know of? This one is great for the office, especially the retractable portion, but at home I could really use one longer so that it reaches from a chair to an outlet.

It's standard USB (A male to mini B male)
10 feet long enough?:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16812189162
How about 15 feet?:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16812189163
Or simply an extension cable to your existing one for some 17 feet total:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16812119226
I'd probably expect some signal strength issues at that length, but since it's only for charging, it doesn't really matter.

You can also just stop by your local Office Supply or Electronics store and ask them for the above type (or show them the one you have) They may not have these extreme lengths, but certainly longer than the included one.

[cjp]

Originally Posted by allovertheglobe

It's standard USB (A male to mini B male)
10 feet long enough?:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16812189162
How about 15 feet?:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16812189163
Or simply an extension cable to your existing one for some 17 feet total:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16812119226
I'd probably expect some signal strength issues at that length, but since it's only for charging, it doesn't really matter.

You can also just stop by your local Office Supply or Electronics store and ask them for the above type (or show them the one you have) They may not have these extreme lengths, but certainly longer than the included one.

Sweeeet! I thought 10 ft. was great, buy my eyes are just watering to think of 15-17 ft. Thanks! I'm just determined to try to be able to use this Reader on a regular basis - which was why I bought it.

[Gogolo]

With this you even can walk in the garden:

http://www.usbfirewire.com/Parts/rr-lan-0101.html

200ft !!!!

Gogolo