Disappearing power

dwallbaum · 05-22-2009, 03:16 PM

Gentlefolk;

Newbie to the forum and to the K2, so if this has been beaten to death, please forgive this re-iteration and accept my ignorance as an excuse.

I have a K2 that shows fully charged. I will do a Whispernet transfer of some books, wait for the xfer to complete, and put the K2 back to sleep. When it wakes up, the power has disappeared.. it is now down to about 25%, after I xferred some books yesterday.

I have seen references to indexing that must be done by the K2 on all new downloads.. .I don't know to what that may be referring... but I was wondering if anyone knows where my power is going? The power status bar will still show fully-charged when I sleep the K2. But the power bar is greatly diminished then when it wakes up.

The K2 works correctly in all respects.. but if I do a Whispernet of any kind, my power poofs.

Thx!

Don

Elsi · 05-22-2009, 03:39 PM

Even though you've put the Kindle to sleep, it's not turned off. So, while you're letting it sit there on the shelf, it's busily indexing the book (or books) you just downloaded so that later on you can find any passage you want with a search. Now, this probably doesn't use 75% of the battery's total power, because it's quite a drain on the battery to use the Whispernet -- and the more you download, the faster the battery drops. Since power display isn't continuous, you see these abrupt drops to one of the pre-set levels. That can be disconcerting at times.

What I do is keep the Whispernet turned off -- unless I'm specifically wanting to download something. Most of the time I purchase from my browser and the book just stays queued up for a later download -- rather than purchasing directly from the Kindle. When I'm ready to download, I put the Kindle onto the mains power and turn on the Whispernet. After the download has completed, I turn off the Whispernet but leave the Kindle connected to the mains for at least an hour. If it's convenient, I'll read while the Kindle is connected -- if not, I come back later and unplug the Kindle. By now it has a fully topped-off battery and it's finished its indexing.

dwallbaum · 05-22-2009, 03:58 PM

Hi Elsie;

Thanks you for the lucid response... and I won't panic, I figure the K2 is smart enough to shut itself down when it is too low on power.

I just have the Whispernet on when its is doing _stuff_ - usually downloading. I have found surfing to be problematical at best...no fault of the K2, its not designed to be a webbook. Its controls and displays are just too crude for surfing. Fine. I didn't buy it to surf with. NP.

But, I do connect to the Whispernet network at work, since where I live at home I am on the fringe area of cell coverage. No cell phone coverage, amazingly, Whispernet works. But I assume at its 1X speed, not the G3 speed. Not sure, haven't noticed.

So, I will just carry the USB cord with me, or pick up a USB->microUSB to lug around and power off a puter when Im in the Big City.

Is the consensus here that the K2 is just not turned off.. you let it sleep even if you don't use it for a couple of days? This assumes Whispernet is OFF of course.

Thank you again for the gracious response to this newbie.

DonW

daffy4u · 05-22-2009, 04:01 PM

I only turn my Kindles off when on a plane (when they make me) and going though airposrt security (though I have forgotten a few times with no problems). Otherwise, it's sleep mode.

weatherman · 05-31-2009, 06:15 PM

dwalbaum: are you actually turning the Whispernet off, or are you just putting the Kindle to "sleep" - ? There's a big difference. If you turn the wireless off (hit the menu button, then choose "turn off wireless" from the selection list) then you will see a dramatic improvement in battery life - from 2 days to up to 2 weeks.

When the unit is "off" (aka asleep) the wireless is still on and periodically checking for new material. That drains a lot of battery, especially if you're in an area where the cell coverage isn't very good, because if it can't find the network it'll check 10 times as often and use up a lot more power.

Sorry if I'm stating the obvious here, but I just want to be clear that the wireless whispernet is always on unless you manually turn it off from the settings menu.

Even though I live in an area with great coverage, I've started turning my whispernet off most of the time except when I'm about to leave on the way to work, which is when I turn it on briefly to download the NY Times. I liked having the Times downloaded automatically, but I didn't like having to watch my battery life all the time and it downloads so quick it's really just as easy just to turn it on when I need something.

I wish the Kindle had a setting to keep the wireless turned off most of the time, but "wake" once a day to check for new material. I had a PSP for awhile that could be set to do that with podcasts and it was one of the best features of that device. It would save a lot of battery on the Kindle to have that third option instead of just "always on" or "always off."

05-22-2009, 03:16 PM	#1
dwallbaum Zealot Posts: 100 Karma: 77 Join Date: May 2009 Device: Kindle2	Disappearing power Gentlefolk; Newbie to the forum and to the K2, so if this has been beaten to death, please forgive this re-iteration and accept my ignorance as an excuse. I have a K2 that shows fully charged. I will do a Whispernet transfer of some books, wait for the xfer to complete, and put the K2 back to sleep. When it wakes up, the power has disappeared.. it is now down to about 25%, after I xferred some books yesterday. I have seen references to indexing that must be done by the K2 on all new downloads.. .I don't know to what that may be referring... but I was wondering if anyone knows where my power is going? The power status bar will still show fully-charged when I sleep the K2. But the power bar is greatly diminished then when it wakes up. The K2 works correctly in all respects.. but if I do a Whispernet of any kind, my power poofs. Thx! Don

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05-22-2009, 03:39 PM	#2
Elsi Wizard Posts: 2,366 Karma: 12000 Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: Texas, USA Device: Kindle; Sony PRS 505; Blackberry 8700C	Even though you've put the Kindle to sleep, it's not turned off. So, while you're letting it sit there on the shelf, it's busily indexing the book (or books) you just downloaded so that later on you can find any passage you want with a search. Now, this probably doesn't use 75% of the battery's total power, because it's quite a drain on the battery to use the Whispernet -- and the more you download, the faster the battery drops. Since power display isn't continuous, you see these abrupt drops to one of the pre-set levels. That can be disconcerting at times. What I do is keep the Whispernet turned off -- unless I'm specifically wanting to download something. Most of the time I purchase from my browser and the book just stays queued up for a later download -- rather than purchasing directly from the Kindle. When I'm ready to download, I put the Kindle onto the mains power and turn on the Whispernet. After the download has completed, I turn off the Whispernet but leave the Kindle connected to the mains for at least an hour. If it's convenient, I'll read while the Kindle is connected -- if not, I come back later and unplug the Kindle. By now it has a fully topped-off battery and it's finished its indexing.

05-22-2009, 03:58 PM	#3
dwallbaum Zealot Posts: 100 Karma: 77 Join Date: May 2009 Device: Kindle2	Hi Elsie; Thanks you for the lucid response... and I won't panic, I figure the K2 is smart enough to shut itself down when it is too low on power. I just have the Whispernet on when its is doing _stuff_ - usually downloading. I have found surfing to be problematical at best...no fault of the K2, its not designed to be a webbook. Its controls and displays are just too crude for surfing. Fine. I didn't buy it to surf with. NP. But, I do connect to the Whispernet network at work, since where I live at home I am on the fringe area of cell coverage. No cell phone coverage, amazingly, Whispernet works. But I assume at its 1X speed, not the G3 speed. Not sure, haven't noticed. So, I will just carry the USB cord with me, or pick up a USB->microUSB to lug around and power off a puter when Im in the Big City. Is the consensus here that the K2 is just not turned off.. you let it sleep even if you don't use it for a couple of days? This assumes Whispernet is OFF of course. Thank you again for the gracious response to this newbie. DonW

05-22-2009, 04:01 PM	#4
daffy4u I'm Super Kindle-icious Posts: 6,734 Karma: 2434103 Join Date: Apr 2008 Location: Long Drive, Calinadia Candafornia Device: KDXG, KT, Oasis	I only turn my Kindles off when on a plane (when they make me) and going though airposrt security (though I have forgotten a few times with no problems). Otherwise, it's sleep mode.

05-31-2009, 06:15 PM	#5
weatherman Addict Posts: 385 Karma: 1010052 Join Date: Apr 2008 Device: (previous: Kindle 2, Kindle Fire) Kindle 4 WiFi, K3K, KPW	dwalbaum: are you actually turning the Whispernet off, or are you just putting the Kindle to "sleep" - ? There's a big difference. If you turn the wireless off (hit the menu button, then choose "turn off wireless" from the selection list) then you will see a dramatic improvement in battery life - from 2 days to up to 2 weeks. When the unit is "off" (aka asleep) the wireless is still on and periodically checking for new material. That drains a lot of battery, especially if you're in an area where the cell coverage isn't very good, because if it can't find the network it'll check 10 times as often and use up a lot more power. Sorry if I'm stating the obvious here, but I just want to be clear that the wireless whispernet is always on unless you manually turn it off from the settings menu. Even though I live in an area with great coverage, I've started turning my whispernet off most of the time except when I'm about to leave on the way to work, which is when I turn it on briefly to download the NY Times. I liked having the Times downloaded automatically, but I didn't like having to watch my battery life all the time and it downloads so quick it's really just as easy just to turn it on when I need something. I wish the Kindle had a setting to keep the wireless turned off most of the time, but "wake" once a day to check for new material. I had a PSP for awhile that could be set to do that with podcasts and it was one of the best features of that device. It would save a lot of battery on the Kindle to have that third option instead of just "always on" or "always off."

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