[OFFICIAL] Why did Kobo change the Sleep/Power Off behaviour?

[anidel]

Originally Posted by RedRoverJ

That is what I was thinking. Maybe some process got stuck prior to shutting down which prevented it from powering off. As long as it doesn't happen again, I won't worry about it too much.

Indeed. I had a similar issue (battery drained too quickly) and it didn't happen again.

[dlyttle]

Something similar to what RedRoverJ reported happened to my Kobo this week. I charged it fully Sunday, then on Monday read a couple of chapters. The battery still showed almost full. I think I powered it down at that point, but I may have put it in sleep mode, don't remember. The Kobo then stayed in it's sleeve until Thursday evening, and when I pulled it out the screen said the battery was almost flat, please recharge now.

I put 1.4 on just a couple of weeks ago, and Kobo did a really fine job with it. A lot of improvements, generally much better user experience. I also applaud the update procedure - nice work.

However, I agree with the majority opinion here that the non-configurable auto-off is not a good thing. Auto sleep is good, but make it so auto-off can be disabled. An improvement in boot time would be welcome, but being able to pick the Kobo up and start reading where you left off immediately is how it should work. I'm very glad to see Kobo taking these opinions on board. (Related question - User-replaceable and replaceable are not the same thing. I assume that the battery is not impossible to replace it when it dies?).

I'd also like to add my vote for configurable margins - the white frame of the Kobo already acts like a margin, and I'd like to get more words on a page by using as much of the screen as possible.

Anyway, keep up the good work, Kobo.

[Duiker]

[QUOTE=Pookeysgirl;994552]

Originally Posted by the hatter

Looks like their customer support is not even bothering to read the requests, because the same thing happened to me.

Well, I guess it wasn't because they couldn't understand what I was getting at. Your letter was very well put, there's no way to misinterpret what you want. I replied to "George" earlier, hopefully I will get a proper response soon.

I've been looking through a lot of threads in our little Kobo forum and it seems like when someone is complaining about the customer service at Kobo the person they are complaining about is "George". I don't know how many people are working in the helpdesk over there but I think they could do better without George's help. He doesn't seem to actually read the e-mails.

[Pookeysgirl]

[QUOTE=Duiker;1022088]

Originally Posted by Pookeysgirl

I've been looking through a lot of threads in our little Kobo forum and it seems like when someone is complaining about the customer service at Kobo the person they are complaining about is "George". I don't know how many people are working in the helpdesk over there but I think they could do better without George's help. He doesn't seem to actually read the e-mails.

Maybe I'm just paranoid, but I don't think there really is a George

[Duiker]

[QUOTE=Pookeysgirl;1022099]

Originally Posted by Duiker

Maybe I'm just paranoid, but I don't think there really is a George

That is so funny. I was thinking the same thing. What's that saying?
"Just because you're paranoid doesn't mean that no one is watching"

[RedRoverJ]

Originally Posted by RedRoverJ

I had an interesting observation today.

I have developed the habit of tapping the power button to put my Kobo in sleep mode, knowing that it will power off in 15mins anyway. Today, around noon, I did just that. However, when I got home, around 4 hours later, my Kobo was STILL in sleep mode and had not powered down. At first I was thrilled until I realized my battery was almost dead. Previously, it was probably around 75% charged.

Anyway, I will see if it happens again but at first glance that certainly isn't encouraging.

Update: This has not happened to me again so it is likely not a major concern. Likely some process got stuck and prevented the Kobo from powering down.

[mwlcarter]

I want it to start from power-off much quicker, and to return to the page I was reading. I also want the ridiculously short sleep period extended.

Ideally, auto-off should be optional, and the sleep time before power off should be configurable.

[tpw]

The long startup time is really starting to irritate me. I tend to read the Kobo 4-5 times each day, and every time it takes longer than any of my computers to boot. I know the engineers are dealing with processor and memory constraints but 30 + sec boots are ruining the whole booklike experience.

[SageTracey]

I would not like my Kobo to automatically open to the book and page I was last reading when I next turn it on. I typically have 5 or 6 books on the go at any single time and do not always want to continue reading the same book.

[Solicitous]

I get the feeling that the auto power-off is an interim fix until the next firmware release. There is no logical reason why the Kobo should experience the power consumption it does, especially when compared to other readers, and the auto power-off is not a viable long term solution.

In the early days the Nook has power drain issues, as did the Astak Pocket Pro. Couple of firmware updates later and all is fixed.

[Random Royalty]

Add me to the clamor that says the new power off after sleep is annoying.

I do like sleep after 15 minutes, but powering down after 30 means a slow startup and several button presses just to get back to where I left off.

I mean with a real book, it takes only a few seconds if you use a bookmark.

The point of this technology is that it should NOT get in the way of the reading experience. Now the technology is in your face every time you turn on the device.

[dlyttle]

I had another unexpected "Please charge, battery low" message last night, so it wasn't a one-time thing. I'd read maybe 1/3 of a book since charging about 5 days ago, and the battery meter still showed maybe 3/4 full when I happened to check it yesterday morning. I put back in in sleep mode, and it stayed off until I went to read my book yesterday evening and it had the low battery warning on the screen. I decided to risk losing my place (which can happen if the battery dies completely) and started it up. The battery meter showed empty. I then read a couple of chapters (70 or 80 pages) before connecting it for a charge. I guess it's also possible that the battery still had a good charge, but the meter is reading wrong.

[Solicitous]

Originally Posted by dlyttle

I had another unexpected "Please charge, battery low" message last night, so it wasn't a one-time thing. I'd read maybe 1/3 of a book since charging about 5 days ago, and the battery meter still showed maybe 3/4 full when I happened to check it yesterday morning. I put back in in sleep mode, and it stayed off until I went to read my book yesterday evening and it had the low battery warning on the screen. I decided to risk losing my place (which can happen if the battery dies completely) and started it up. The battery meter showed empty. I then read a couple of chapters (70 or 80 pages) before connecting it for a charge. I guess it's also possible that the battery still had a good charge, but the meter is reading wrong.

So with the Kobo your current page is not written to file? ie: cached? So if you are reading multiple books and the battery goes dead flat you lose the current page on all books being read?

[RonH]

Originally Posted by Solicitous

I get the feeling that the auto power-off is an interim fix until the next firmware release. There is no logical reason why the Kobo should experience the power consumption it does, especially when compared to other readers, and the auto power-off is not a viable long term solution.

I suspect the heavy power consumption is caused by the fact they're running a countdown timer (or maybe two of them) to time the sleep mode and the power-off function. Not exactly consistent with minimal CPU usage.

[dlyttle]

Originally Posted by Solicitous

So with the Kobo your current page is not written to file? ie: cached? So if you are reading multiple books and the battery goes dead flat you lose the current page on all books being read?

When I think about it, that may have been in the original firmware only. I wasn't in full debug mode, so I may not be remembering this exactly right, but a couple of times I had read a bunch over several days and hadn't paid attention to the battery level (expecting it to be somewhere close to the claimed value), then when I came back the next day the Kobo wouldn't turn on. I don't remember if I had powered off each time or just let it sit (no auto-power-off in those days!). I charged up and all was well except my book was back to an earlier chapter, probably where I had last powered down. If I am remembering right, that would mean that the initial firmware didn't keep track of the current page at page turns. But I think it only affected the book I was actively reading at that point - once you return to a menu to choose another book, your place should be kept safely. Probably. Unless the current positions are in volatile memory and die with the battery...surely not.

I don't know if the current firmware behaves this way. The auto-sleep function should pretty much prevent this problem if the battery dies between reading sessions, assuming it caches the current position, but you might be at risk if it dies while you're reading.

I imagine if a Kobo engineer reads this he's likely to go "idiot user, that stuff can't happen that way!" And he might be right, but I'm pretty sure that's the way most of it went.