PRS-505 Another Battery Question/Issue

AgentBEATS · 05-26-2010, 09:12 PM

Okay, I just received a PRS-505 that I won off of ebay. It came just as described, used with a few scratches, but overall I'm very happy with it. However what has come to my attention is the battery.

The auction said it worked great, not very descriptive but I thought nothing of it. And anyways, the unit does work great, so far. When I got it yesterday I turned it on to see if it had any battery and found it with 1 bar left. I figured it would be better to let it run dry before fully charging it, so I haven't done that yet.

The first thing I did with it was install PRS+, but after that was finished I got the warning low battery indicator, which I thought nothing of. I wanted to load a book on it just to finish it off once and for all so I connected it to my computer. It couldn't have been hooked up for any more than 5 minutes, but when I disconnected it the battery showed three bars. I don't know how fast this device is supposed to charge, but that struck me as wrong.

This was all around 11pm last night. Since then I've read and played with the unit for maybe a few hours, anywhere between 200-300 page turns and the battery indicator is back down to one bar.

Now maybe I'm being a little paranoid, but I thought the 505 was supposed to get around 7500 page turns on one charge. Now I know in real life situation a majority of devices do not get anywhere near the factory estimate, but I figured it would be a bit better than this. I've read that others can read a week or more on one charge, so 1 bar on the battery indicator should really last longer than a few hundred page turns.

Am I jumping the gun here, or could there be something wrong with the battery?

MerLock · 05-26-2010, 10:00 PM

I would charge it until the red light turns off. The indicator isn't always accurate. Since the 505 has been discontinued for sometime now, you probably can't expect the 7500 page turn since the battery isn't new. Even the 7500 page count is for continuous page turns I believe since even leaving the unit on drains the battery a little bit.

I wouldn't jump to the conclusion that the battery is defective until you give it a full charge and see how it behaves.

Stephanos · 05-26-2010, 10:18 PM

No need to discharge battery fully before recharging. Lithium batteries do not have the "memory effect". Just plug in the USB and give it a good several hours charging, as five minutes is not nearly enough. Another recommendation: Buy an inexpensive PlayStation wall charger on Ebay. They charge a lot faster than USB.

AgentBEATS · 05-26-2010, 10:48 PM

Thanks for the quick replies.

I didn't know that lithium batteries are not affected by the "memory effect" as you put it. I'll definitely charge it soon as I am nearing the end of my book and fully intended to load the rest of my library onto it.

I figured I was a little hasty in my assumption, but I assumed asking about it wouldn't hurt.

DoctorOhh · 05-27-2010, 12:56 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by AgentBEATS

The first thing I did with it was install PRS+, but after that was finished I got the warning low battery indicator, which I thought nothing of.

I guess the install instructions for PRS+ are just a guideline.

Quote:

To install PRS+:
make sure your reader is at least 75% charged

unpack PRS+ installer zip (available in download section) to your SD or MS card (using empty card is recommended) or to the Internal Memory of the reader.

Fully charge your device, understand that if your computer goes to sleep or hibernates it will not charge and may actually discharge your reader.

Mike_73 · 05-27-2010, 01:12 AM

Also the "battery meter" doesn't always show an accurate reading. This is even more true when the unit hasn't been used for a while and after that isn't fully charged.
Charging it to full will somewhat calibrate the meter.

I have the same thing going on my 505 and 600 when I connect to my pc to load new books. Every time after that, the battery meter almost always shows 3 to 4 bars, even if it was only hooked up for a couple of minutes.

AgentBEATS · 05-27-2010, 11:02 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dwanthny

I guess the install instructions for PRS+ are just a guideline.

Fully charge your device, understand that if your computer goes to sleep or hibernates it will not charge and may actually discharge your reader.

Haha, I never even looked at the install instructions

. If I had read that I certainly wouldn't have tried. But whatever it worked.

redhead231 · 05-27-2010, 11:04 AM

Like Stefanos, I bought a charger from E Bay, charges it so much quicker & no need for the computer, just a plug!!. Only £3!!!

AgentBEATS · 05-27-2010, 11:29 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by redhead231

Like Stefanos, I bought a charger from E Bay, charges it so much quicker & no need for the computer, just a plug!!. Only £3!!!

Luckily or oddly enough, the unit I got off of ebay came with a wall charger instead of a usb cable. I knew this before I won the auction, but didn't mind because mini-usb cables are easy to come by.

Dick · 05-28-2010, 11:47 PM

My 505 is about 11 months old. I've not been using it at all for the last month or two and when I started it up a couple of days ago, I found the battery is now going flat (to where the system stalls and gives a low battery warning) in just a couple of hours. I have the Sony 110v charger and it will recharge the battery in the two hours or so it says it takes (red light goes out, full 4 bars) but it then goes back to flat in just a few hours. That is whether I am using it or it's just sitting or even when it is turned off.

I checked the Sony site and it says to send it through the charge/discharge cycle a few times and it might improve. I'm doing that now, but I also ordered a new battery a few minutes ago from BatteryShip.com. Being a holiday weekend, that probably won't get here until late next week. If the charge/discharge works I'll just hold onto the new battery but if it is still acting up, I guess I'll switch it out for the new one. It is disappointing to find that the battery didn't last longer than 11 months.

AgentBEATS · 05-29-2010, 12:28 AM

You guys keep mentioning this red light, am I missing something here or what, because I see no red light.

DoctorOhh · 05-29-2010, 12:38 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by AgentBEATS

You guys keep mentioning this red light, am I missing something here or what, because I see no red light.

Unless your light is broken when you hook your reader up to charge whether its the USB cable or a wall charger there is a red light on top of the reader that comes on to let you know it's charging.

GraceKrispy · 05-29-2010, 12:41 AM

when you plug it into the wall, a red light shows up to let you know it's charging. it disappears when it is fully charged.

I've had my 505 for around 19 months, and I do have the original wall charger as well as a usb. I generally charge it via usb when I download new books, but I have used the wall charger several times when the battery has gotten much lower, or when I wanted to charge it quickly and wasn't using the computer at all. I only remember seeing the red light when it's plugged into the wall.

AgentBEATS · 05-29-2010, 01:32 AM

Either the light is really weak or mine is broken, because I've had it plugged into my computer for awhile now. Of course it is fully charged by now so maybe I just missed it. Or maybe it only shows up when plugged in with the wall charger, either way I'll find out eventually.

Thanks for the heads up.

05-26-2010, 09:12 PM	#1
AgentBEATS Connoisseur Posts: 72 Karma: 10 Join Date: Oct 2009 Location: Canada Device: Sony PRS-505, Nintendo DS, HTC Desire	Another Battery Question/Issue Okay, I just received a PRS-505 that I won off of ebay. It came just as described, used with a few scratches, but overall I'm very happy with it. However what has come to my attention is the battery. The auction said it worked great, not very descriptive but I thought nothing of it. And anyways, the unit does work great, so far. When I got it yesterday I turned it on to see if it had any battery and found it with 1 bar left. I figured it would be better to let it run dry before fully charging it, so I haven't done that yet. The first thing I did with it was install PRS+, but after that was finished I got the warning low battery indicator, which I thought nothing of. I wanted to load a book on it just to finish it off once and for all so I connected it to my computer. It couldn't have been hooked up for any more than 5 minutes, but when I disconnected it the battery showed three bars. I don't know how fast this device is supposed to charge, but that struck me as wrong. This was all around 11pm last night. Since then I've read and played with the unit for maybe a few hours, anywhere between 200-300 page turns and the battery indicator is back down to one bar. Now maybe I'm being a little paranoid, but I thought the 505 was supposed to get around 7500 page turns on one charge. Now I know in real life situation a majority of devices do not get anywhere near the factory estimate, but I figured it would be a bit better than this. I've read that others can read a week or more on one charge, so 1 bar on the battery indicator should really last longer than a few hundred page turns. Am I jumping the gun here, or could there be something wrong with the battery?

05-26-2010, 10:18 PM	#3
Stephanos Connoisseur Posts: 62 Karma: 133 Join Date: Oct 2007 Location: Minnesota, USA Device: Kobo Aura Edition 2	No need to discharge battery fully before recharging. Lithium batteries do not have the "memory effect". Just plug in the USB and give it a good several hours charging, as five minutes is not nearly enough. Another recommendation: Buy an inexpensive PlayStation wall charger on Ebay. They charge a lot faster than USB. Last edited by Stephanos; 05-26-2010 at 10:21 PM.

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05-26-2010, 10:00 PM	#2
MerLock Evangelist Posts: 411 Karma: 1034889 Join Date: Nov 2007 Device: none	I would charge it until the red light turns off. The indicator isn't always accurate. Since the 505 has been discontinued for sometime now, you probably can't expect the 7500 page turn since the battery isn't new. Even the 7500 page count is for continuous page turns I believe since even leaving the unit on drains the battery a little bit. I wouldn't jump to the conclusion that the battery is defective until you give it a full charge and see how it behaves.

05-26-2010, 10:48 PM	#4
AgentBEATS Connoisseur Posts: 72 Karma: 10 Join Date: Oct 2009 Location: Canada Device: Sony PRS-505, Nintendo DS, HTC Desire	Thanks for the quick replies. I didn't know that lithium batteries are not affected by the "memory effect" as you put it. I'll definitely charge it soon as I am nearing the end of my book and fully intended to load the rest of my library onto it. I figured I was a little hasty in my assumption, but I assumed asking about it wouldn't hurt.

05-27-2010, 01:12 AM	#6
Mike_73 Guru Posts: 750 Karma: 1323 Join Date: Dec 2009 Device: PRS-505, PRS-600, iPad 16GB Wifi, Kindle Voyage, Nexus 6, Razr HD	Also the "battery meter" doesn't always show an accurate reading. This is even more true when the unit hasn't been used for a while and after that isn't fully charged. Charging it to full will somewhat calibrate the meter. I have the same thing going on my 505 and 600 when I connect to my pc to load new books. Every time after that, the battery meter almost always shows 3 to 4 bars, even if it was only hooked up for a couple of minutes.

05-27-2010, 11:04 AM	#8
redhead231 Enthusiast Posts: 42 Karma: 102 Join Date: Apr 2010 Location: Cambridgeshire UK Device: PRS 505	Like Stefanos, I bought a charger from E Bay, charges it so much quicker & no need for the computer, just a plug!!. Only £3!!!

05-28-2010, 11:47 PM	#10
Dick Junior Member Posts: 6 Karma: 18 Join Date: Jun 2009 Location: Mount Vernon, Washington Device: Sony PRS-505/LC (Blue); Sony PRS-600 (Black)	My 505 is about 11 months old. I've not been using it at all for the last month or two and when I started it up a couple of days ago, I found the battery is now going flat (to where the system stalls and gives a low battery warning) in just a couple of hours. I have the Sony 110v charger and it will recharge the battery in the two hours or so it says it takes (red light goes out, full 4 bars) but it then goes back to flat in just a few hours. That is whether I am using it or it's just sitting or even when it is turned off. I checked the Sony site and it says to send it through the charge/discharge cycle a few times and it might improve. I'm doing that now, but I also ordered a new battery a few minutes ago from BatteryShip.com. Being a holiday weekend, that probably won't get here until late next week. If the charge/discharge works I'll just hold onto the new battery but if it is still acting up, I guess I'll switch it out for the new one. It is disappointing to find that the battery didn't last longer than 11 months.

05-29-2010, 12:28 AM	#11
AgentBEATS Connoisseur Posts: 72 Karma: 10 Join Date: Oct 2009 Location: Canada Device: Sony PRS-505, Nintendo DS, HTC Desire	You guys keep mentioning this red light, am I missing something here or what, because I see no red light.

05-29-2010, 12:41 AM	#13
GraceKrispy It's Dr. Penguin now! Posts: 3,909 Karma: 4705733 Join Date: Jan 2009 Location: (USA) Device: iPad mini, Samsung Note 3, Sony PRS-650 (rarely used now)	when you plug it into the wall, a red light shows up to let you know it's charging. it disappears when it is fully charged. I've had my 505 for around 19 months, and I do have the original wall charger as well as a usb. I generally charge it via usb when I download new books, but I have used the wall charger several times when the battery has gotten much lower, or when I wanted to charge it quickly and wasn't using the computer at all. I only remember seeing the red light when it's plugged into the wall.

05-29-2010, 01:32 AM	#14
AgentBEATS Connoisseur Posts: 72 Karma: 10 Join Date: Oct 2009 Location: Canada Device: Sony PRS-505, Nintendo DS, HTC Desire	Either the light is really weak or mine is broken, because I've had it plugged into my computer for awhile now. Of course it is fully charged by now so maybe I just missed it. Or maybe it only shows up when plugged in with the wall charger, either way I'll find out eventually. Thanks for the heads up.

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