Classic Disappointing battery life?

[jen6060]

Just a little update, I charged my nook in the office to 100% and disconnected from AC maybe a couple of hours ago. Now i check, and its down to 85% doing nothing! since i'm not US-based, and it will cost me anyway US$40 to ship it back, I wonder if I should just buy a spare battery in case the battery itself is the culprit..

[Schmots]

if you leave the network on, then even in standby every so often the book is "waking up" and checking the network for updates, ads, and who knows what else, per B&N manual.

[jen6060]

Originally Posted by Schmots

if you leave the network on, then even in standby every so often the book is "waking up" and checking the network for updates, ads, and who knows what else, per B&N manual.

Hi - you mean with wifi on? But I have it wifi off, airplane mode on...

[Kypt]

Without touching the touchscreen today I've lost 12% power in about 3 hrs with only about 30 minutes to an hr of actual reading. This is WAY too much compared to my PRS 505. Is this normal or should I get B&N involved?

[Goshzilla]

Well there are some things to keep in mind.

A.) Batteries can't stay at 100% when they are topped off. In fact the life cycle of a rechargeable battery is that the older they get they less they can hold a charge. So even though the screen may report the battery being topped off at 100% before you unplug, the reality is that it is holding 2% less(maybe even as much as 6% less) than what is being reported. It's unrealistic for new batteries to hold 100% charge after being topped off. You might ask why that's not true for some devices that report a 100% charge for batteries that have only gone through a month use, that leads to the second issue.

B.) Battery charge indicators are not 100% accurate. They use a collection of mathematical formlas and statistical algorithms to produce an estimated charge. Reading the volts from a volt meter is not how battery charges are indicated with. Instead, a collection of volt readings across time is used to produce an estimated charge percentage for a particular point in time.

[tovbrog]

I reduced the brightness on the touch screen and seem to be getting much better battery life. Can't quantify the improvement as I've not really kept records, but the difference is noticeable. I had a similar problem with my iPod Touch and lowering the brightness really helped. Generating lots of photons takes lots of energy.

[Goshzilla]

Originally Posted by tovbrog

I reduced the brightness on the touch screen and seem to be getting much better battery life. Can't quantify the improvement as I've not really kept records, but the difference is noticeable. I had a similar problem with my iPod Touch and lowering the brightness really helped. Generating lots of photons takes lots of energy.

What you could also do is when you aren't using the nook for long periods of time, hold the power button down for a few seconds until the screen changes to white. Doing that before you go to bed each night, will extend the battery life to be equivalent to the 10 days they advertise.

[thekidsmom]

I've watched my battery life slowly die over the last few weeks. While on the road this week, my battery totally died. After charging all night, I hopped on a 3 hour flight and opened my nook to the 'too low to function, charge your nook' message. I was not a happy camper. I mean, how many times can you read the SkyMall magazine? Thank god for the nook and kindle apps on my iphone.

I had bought a backup battery several months ago b/c I found one on clearance...so, I guess this one will have a life span of 1.5 years as well.