DR800 Turning off 3G lengthen battery life or not?

bokjeid · 08-12-2010, 06:22 AM

I'm outside of US and don't need 3G function of the device.
When we turn on the 'airplane mode' at setup menu, we can't use 3G. Does it mean that it turned off 3G in the device totally? And it gives help battery life be longer? At E-book Reader Matrix, I've seen that the battery life is much longer without 3G than with 3G, in case of Kindle.
Is it the same to DR800SG? I wonder that..

HarryT · 08-12-2010, 07:58 AM

Yes. Turning off the 3G radio will certainly lengthen the battery life.

bokjeid · 08-12-2010, 08:46 PM

Ah, that means we can turn off 3G with 'airplane mode' on?

Franky · 08-13-2010, 02:10 AM

i've got 2 devices SG and both are turned into airplane mode. i had the same idea as bokjeid. to be honest, it doesn't matter for battery lifetime. i also know that on the matrix the lifetime of the battery is longer than both my devices. unfortunately.

bokjeid · 08-13-2010, 02:54 AM

In my case, I couldn't feel some difference for battery life by changing 'airplane mode' in DR800SG, either. Maybe it doesn't the function turning off 3G totally.. does it? Because there is no chage in battery life on the mode both on and off..
Then how do we turn off 3G in DR800SG? And can we do it? With script or so.. I guess it'd be so helpful.. But I don't know it.
Anybody knows it well?

nurse_horrible · 08-13-2010, 10:27 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bokjeid

Then how do we turn off 3G in DR800SG? And can we do it? With script or so.. I guess it'd be so helpful.. But I don't know it.
Anybody knows it well?

I had the understanding that 3G is off by default, and that it only turns on when one either clicks on the greyed-out "3G" in the bottom right corner to check 3G status, signs into B&N or newspaper direct, or in the settings attempts to activate an account (e.g., Irex, B&N, Adobe).

Shaggy · 08-13-2010, 12:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by HarryT

Yes. Turning off the 3G radio will certainly lengthen the battery life.

Have you tested it?

My understanding is that even with it "turned on" it doesn't actually use it unless you are trying to connect to the network. So whether it's turned off (airplane mode) or turned on but unused, shouldn't make any difference.

Actually using 3G to make a network connection will drain the battery, yes. But otherwise I don't think turning it off (airplane mode) is going to save anything.

Shaggy · 08-13-2010, 12:06 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by nurse_horrible

I had the understanding that 3G is off by default, and that it only turns on when one either clicks on the greyed-out "3G" in the bottom right corner to check 3G status, signs into B&N or newspaper direct, or in the settings attempts to activate an account (e.g., Irex, B&N, Adobe).

Exactly. That's why airplane mode doesn't effect battery life, 3G is off either way unless you are specifically using it to make a connection. It's that way on purpose so that it conserves battery life by default.

HarryT · 08-13-2010, 12:07 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Shaggy

Have you tested it?

No, but it would be logical to assume that turning off any radio transmitter would lengthen the battery life. Of course, if it wasn't actually turned on in the first place, that would not apply

.

Shaggy · 08-13-2010, 12:09 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by HarryT

No, but it would be logical to assume that turning off any radio transmitter would lengthen the battery life.

Only if it is transmitting. That seems to be the incorrect assumption that some are making. The 3G radio does not transmit, unless you tell it to.

HarryT · 08-13-2010, 12:11 PM

True. The original question was whether "airplane mode" disables 3G completely. The answer to that question is definitely a "yes".

bokjeid · 08-13-2010, 10:40 PM

Ah, it seems that I misunderstood something by the following phrase of Kindle's battery life on E-book Reader Matrix, which says : with 3G: "4 days", without: "up to two weeks". This confused me for a moment, making me assume if we turn off something of 3G, it makes difference. But it is turned on only if connecting to 3G network and actually I don't have to take care of it.
However, the 'airplane mode' helps me in another way. If I turn it on, it prevents the device from 3G connecting which takes long time invoked by mis-clicking the 3G icon next to battery icon on the taskbar.

Shaggy · 08-16-2010, 01:13 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bokjeid

Ah, it seems that I misunderstood something by the following phrase of Kindle's battery life on E-book Reader Matrix, which says : with 3G: "4 days", without: "up to two weeks".

Are you talking about a Kindle or a DR800? I have no idea if it effects the battery life of a Kindle, that's a completely different question.

HarryT · 08-16-2010, 01:45 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Shaggy

Are you talking about a Kindle or a DR800? I have no idea if it effects the battery life of a Kindle, that's a completely different question.

On a Kindle it makes a big difference. When 3G is on, it's on all the time, periodically checking for updates from Amazon's servers.

Shaggy · 08-16-2010, 02:39 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by HarryT

On a Kindle it makes a big difference. When 3G is on, it's on all the time, periodically checking for updates from Amazon's servers.

I'm sure there are differences, just trying to figure out what the OP is actually asking. I think what they did was read the description of the Kindle's battery life and assumed it also applied to the DR800, which is an incorrect assumption. They are two different devices with two very different designs.

The battery life impact on the Kindle would make sense because it is using the network to "phone home" and connect back to Amazon, which implies it is frequently transmitting/receiving data. On the DR800, the network is only used for purchasing/downloading eBooks. Other than that it's not used (no "phone home" back to iRex).

Although, these days the 3G impact on DR800 battery life is even less, since the 3G has been disabled due to the Bankruptcy.

08-12-2010, 06:22 AM	#1
bokjeid Addict Posts: 217 Karma: 10 Join Date: May 2010 Device: DR1000S	Turning off 3G lengthen battery life or not? I'm outside of US and don't need 3G function of the device. When we turn on the 'airplane mode' at setup menu, we can't use 3G. Does it mean that it turned off 3G in the device totally? And it gives help battery life be longer? At E-book Reader Matrix, I've seen that the battery life is much longer without 3G than with 3G, in case of Kindle. Is it the same to DR800SG? I wonder that..

08-13-2010, 02:54 AM	#5
bokjeid Addict Posts: 217 Karma: 10 Join Date: May 2010 Device: DR1000S	In my case, I couldn't feel some difference for battery life by changing 'airplane mode' in DR800SG, either. Maybe it doesn't the function turning off 3G totally.. does it? Because there is no chage in battery life on the mode both on and off.. Then how do we turn off 3G in DR800SG? And can we do it? With script or so.. I guess it'd be so helpful.. But I don't know it. Anybody knows it well? Last edited by bokjeid; 08-13-2010 at 03:21 AM.

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08-12-2010, 07:58 AM	#2
HarryT eBook Enthusiast Posts: 85,544 Karma: 93383099 Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: UK Device: Kindle Oasis 2, iPad Pro 10.5", iPhone 6	Yes. Turning off the 3G radio will certainly lengthen the battery life.

08-12-2010, 08:46 PM	#3
bokjeid Addict Posts: 217 Karma: 10 Join Date: May 2010 Device: DR1000S	Ah, that means we can turn off 3G with 'airplane mode' on?

08-13-2010, 02:10 AM	#4
Franky Nameless Being	i've got 2 devices SG and both are turned into airplane mode. i had the same idea as bokjeid. to be honest, it doesn't matter for battery lifetime. i also know that on the matrix the lifetime of the battery is longer than both my devices. unfortunately.

08-13-2010, 12:11 PM	#11
HarryT eBook Enthusiast Posts: 85,544 Karma: 93383099 Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: UK Device: Kindle Oasis 2, iPad Pro 10.5", iPhone 6	True. The original question was whether "airplane mode" disables 3G completely. The answer to that question is definitely a "yes".

08-13-2010, 10:40 PM	#12
bokjeid Addict Posts: 217 Karma: 10 Join Date: May 2010 Device: DR1000S	Ah, it seems that I misunderstood something by the following phrase of Kindle's battery life on E-book Reader Matrix, which says : with 3G: "4 days", without: "up to two weeks". This confused me for a moment, making me assume if we turn off something of 3G, it makes difference. But it is turned on only if connecting to 3G network and actually I don't have to take care of it. However, the 'airplane mode' helps me in another way. If I turn it on, it prevents the device from 3G connecting which takes long time invoked by mis-clicking the 3G icon next to battery icon on the taskbar.

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