Kindle 3 - Expected Battery Life?

Tropod · 06-23-2012, 12:28 AM

Recently replaced my PRS-T1 with a K3 3G after giving it away to a friend. With the PRS-T1 I could easily get through about one and a half novels (say about 350,000 words total) before the battery died, yet with the K3 I can barely make it to the end of say a 200,000 word novel without battery warnings coming up after a full charge. This is with wireless off, all books indexed, and the default font size/spacing settings. It's pretty sad to see the battery meter dropping visibly during one 2~ hour reading session, and the 3G just seems to slaughter it.

Is this about the average, or should I be asking for a replacement?

dilo_sec · 06-23-2012, 01:37 AM

Amazon claims 'A single charge lasts up to one month with wireless off based upon a half-hour of daily reading time.' - I've seen other readers express battery life in terms of the number of page turns ...

I turn the Kindle completely off when not in use - wii-fi is off - on a few hours of reading each day, one battery charge lasts around 10 days or so.

Mike L · 06-23-2012, 04:59 AM

Tropod,

It does sound like there's something wrong. You should take it up with Kindle support.

I've had two Kindles, and in both cases they easily live up to the claims. The battery lasts about a month with at least half an hour of reading per day (with both 3G and wi-fi turned off, of course).

By the way, I don't think turning the Kindle completely off when not in use would make much difference. In normal use, almost all the power consumption comes from page turns. If you simply let the Kindle go to sleep rather than turning it completely off, the consumption should be almost zero.

Mike

Tropod · 06-23-2012, 05:07 AM

Well it's on its third full charge cycle now, and at about 50% battery after going through half a medium-length novel in the last 5 days. Suppose the most likely explanation is the li-ion battery was manufactured some years ago and was just on a shelf the whole time, the price of not buying right at launch maybe.

Blue Tyson · 06-23-2012, 06:29 AM

Yeah. With no connectivity gets on I can get through a few books in a day before the battery needs charging.

Tropod · 06-23-2012, 06:40 AM

Just got off online chat with amazon, they advised a factory reset, (this will be my third), followed by a full charge. If the problem persits they promise a replacement, guess I'm in for some international RMA shipping fun after one more novel to drain the battery, better make it a good one since I won't have anything to read after.

soulfuldog · 06-23-2012, 07:00 AM

Definitely doesn't sound right, my Kindle 3 last for weeks and weeks between charges, and I generally read anything from 3 to 10 books on it during that time.

If it does need returned, Amazon are usually pretty good about sending you out a replacement Kindle and then you return the old one, so you won't necessarily be without a Kindle to read if you have to return it.

HarryT · 06-23-2012, 07:05 AM

There's definitely something wrong there - you should be able to go for weeks between charges. The normal cause for abnormal battery drain is a book that's got stuck indexing, but a factory reset rules that out as a cause. Sounds like a faulty battery.

Tropod · 06-23-2012, 07:19 AM

Now I'm wondering, is it possible for it to get 'stuck' indexing yet appear that all items are indexed? I dumped my whole collection of 1500 .mobi's on it after each reset, and it took a few days before they all got indexed, (tested by searching for a garbage phrase/etc), yet the searches themselves still took a good while, up to a few minutes to find a book on the device from the homescreen despite the fact they were supposedly indexed fine. Though the battery didn't drain in sleep mode which seems to be a symptom of the indexing issue.

HarryT · 06-23-2012, 07:23 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tropod

I dumped my whole collection of 1500 .mobi's on it after each reset, and it took a few days before they all got indexed, (tested by searching for a garbage phrase/etc), yet the searches themselves still took a good while, up to a few minutes to find a book on the device from the homescreen despite the fact they were supposedly indexed fine. Though the battery didn't drain in sleep mode which seems to be a symptom of the indexing issue.

Adding 1500 books at once is an extraordinarily bad idea. I'd suggest that you add them perhaps 50 at a time, and wait for each batch to finish indexing before you add the next batch.

soulfuldog · 06-23-2012, 09:10 AM

Agree with HarryT, I only have 30 or so books at most on mine at any one time, but even then I only add them in batches of 10. 1500 books all at once, no wonder the battery is struggling!

Tropod · 06-23-2012, 10:11 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by l_macd

Agree with HarryT, I only have 30 or so books at most on mine at any one time, but even then I only add them in batches of 10. 1500 books all at once, no wonder the battery is struggling!

I'll test it with only a few now, but like I said they all indexed after a few days, and the battery still only lasted for about 10 or so hours of reading after each full charge post-indexing. And from what I've heard the indexing bug should've also been draining it while it's asleep which wasn't the case.

06-23-2012, 12:28 AM	#1
Tropod Junior Member Posts: 9 Karma: 10 Join Date: Feb 2012 Location: Brisbane, Australia Device: K3 + 3G	Kindle 3 - Expected Battery Life? Recently replaced my PRS-T1 with a K3 3G after giving it away to a friend. With the PRS-T1 I could easily get through about one and a half novels (say about 350,000 words total) before the battery died, yet with the K3 I can barely make it to the end of say a 200,000 word novel without battery warnings coming up after a full charge. This is with wireless off, all books indexed, and the default font size/spacing settings. It's pretty sad to see the battery meter dropping visibly during one 2~ hour reading session, and the 3G just seems to slaughter it. Is this about the average, or should I be asking for a replacement?

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06-23-2012, 01:37 AM	#2
dilo_sec Member Posts: 21 Karma: 244219 Join Date: Jul 2011 Device: K3	Amazon claims 'A single charge lasts up to one month with wireless off based upon a half-hour of daily reading time.' - I've seen other readers express battery life in terms of the number of page turns ... I turn the Kindle completely off when not in use - wii-fi is off - on a few hours of reading each day, one battery charge lasts around 10 days or so.

06-23-2012, 04:59 AM	#3
Mike L Wizard Posts: 1,479 Karma: 3846231 Join Date: Apr 2009 Location: Edinburgh, Scotland Device: Kindle 3, Samsung Galaxy	Tropod, It does sound like there's something wrong. You should take it up with Kindle support. I've had two Kindles, and in both cases they easily live up to the claims. The battery lasts about a month with at least half an hour of reading per day (with both 3G and wi-fi turned off, of course). By the way, I don't think turning the Kindle completely off when not in use would make much difference. In normal use, almost all the power consumption comes from page turns. If you simply let the Kindle go to sleep rather than turning it completely off, the consumption should be almost zero. Mike

06-23-2012, 05:07 AM	#4
Tropod Junior Member Posts: 9 Karma: 10 Join Date: Feb 2012 Location: Brisbane, Australia Device: K3 + 3G	Well it's on its third full charge cycle now, and at about 50% battery after going through half a medium-length novel in the last 5 days. Suppose the most likely explanation is the li-ion battery was manufactured some years ago and was just on a shelf the whole time, the price of not buying right at launch maybe.

06-23-2012, 06:29 AM	#5
Blue Tyson Blue Captain Posts: 1,595 Karma: 5000236 Join Date: Feb 2007 Location: Australia Device: Kindle Keyboard 3G,Huawei Ideos X3,Kobo Mini	Yeah. With no connectivity gets on I can get through a few books in a day before the battery needs charging.

06-23-2012, 06:40 AM	#6
Tropod Junior Member Posts: 9 Karma: 10 Join Date: Feb 2012 Location: Brisbane, Australia Device: K3 + 3G	Just got off online chat with amazon, they advised a factory reset, (this will be my third), followed by a full charge. If the problem persits they promise a replacement, guess I'm in for some international RMA shipping fun after one more novel to drain the battery, better make it a good one since I won't have anything to read after.

06-23-2012, 07:00 AM	#7
soulfuldog I ♥ Calibre Posts: 2,073 Karma: 5678911 Join Date: Aug 2011 Location: UK Device: Kindle Oasis, Voyage, Sony PRS-350, Hudl2	Definitely doesn't sound right, my Kindle 3 last for weeks and weeks between charges, and I generally read anything from 3 to 10 books on it during that time. If it does need returned, Amazon are usually pretty good about sending you out a replacement Kindle and then you return the old one, so you won't necessarily be without a Kindle to read if you have to return it.

06-23-2012, 07:05 AM	#8
HarryT eBook Enthusiast Posts: 85,544 Karma: 93383043 Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: UK Device: Kindle Oasis 2, iPad Pro 10.5", iPhone 6	There's definitely something wrong there - you should be able to go for weeks between charges. The normal cause for abnormal battery drain is a book that's got stuck indexing, but a factory reset rules that out as a cause. Sounds like a faulty battery.

06-23-2012, 07:19 AM	#9
Tropod Junior Member Posts: 9 Karma: 10 Join Date: Feb 2012 Location: Brisbane, Australia Device: K3 + 3G	Now I'm wondering, is it possible for it to get 'stuck' indexing yet appear that all items are indexed? I dumped my whole collection of 1500 .mobi's on it after each reset, and it took a few days before they all got indexed, (tested by searching for a garbage phrase/etc), yet the searches themselves still took a good while, up to a few minutes to find a book on the device from the homescreen despite the fact they were supposedly indexed fine. Though the battery didn't drain in sleep mode which seems to be a symptom of the indexing issue.

06-23-2012, 09:10 AM	#11
soulfuldog I ♥ Calibre Posts: 2,073 Karma: 5678911 Join Date: Aug 2011 Location: UK Device: Kindle Oasis, Voyage, Sony PRS-350, Hudl2	Agree with HarryT, I only have 30 or so books at most on mine at any one time, but even then I only add them in batches of 10. 1500 books all at once, no wonder the battery is struggling!

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