Disappointments

[tamaranth]

Went to see Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, but twenty minutes before the end they broke the cinema. Now have to find another film-viewing slot: have they no idea how difficult this is?!

Would've headed straight to bed but I had to switch on the computer.

Why? To charge my Palm Tungsten T3.

(The T3, as regular viewers will recall, was a gift from the insurers after my last-but-one Visor was nicked. I bought a second-hand Visor on eBay shortly after the Incident, and have been using that ever since: previous attempts to switch to the T3 have been hampered by (a) a keyboard that said it'd work with the T3, but didn't; (b) inertia)

I got the T3 working last night. When I left for work this morning it was fully charged.

One day's moderate use (mainly reading e-books, checking diary / to-do, etc) -- with the contrast set low to conserve battery life -- and, after way-too-frequent 'battery low' messages (every five minutes, in batches of three, once the battery got down to 30%) it's out of power.

The first person who creates a PDA-charger driven by annoyance will do well here.

A quick Google indicates that I can expect as little as 3 hours' use per battery charge, depending on what I'm doing. However, comparison of battery life with -- for example -- 'journey to Plymouth' (~5.5 hours) or 'a sunny day writing in the park' (~6 hours) or 'reading Slocum's Sailing Alone Around the World whilst afloat' (~10 hours) shows that this is Not Good. Especially as I don't especially want the features -- colour display, quick-quick processor -- that take up so much juice. (If only a monochrome option was available!)

I can buy (and indeed have ordered) an ugly external battery pack on a string. This isn't really the point, though, is it?

Was going to ask for help in setting up Bluetooth stuff, but I think I'd better stick to internet cafes when I'm away from home. Or pen and paper. Or telepathy.

Dear darling (monochrome, AAA-powered, 8MB) Visor, you are probably coming back. All is forgiven. Although you are not nearly as good at storing multiple Stephenson e-books.

Edit: Gosh, it jumped back up to 82% suspiciously quickly ...

Comments

[ramtops.livejournal.com]

I'm not hugely impressed with my T3 battery life either, and I really miss being able to stuff a couple of AAs in when it gets low. But I'm very limited to what I can use as a PDA, given that I use a Mac ...

[tamaranth.livejournal.com]

Hadn't taken the Mac factor into account, I confess ...

[major-clanger.livejournal.com]

I think that the usefulness of a PDA for me goes as about the square of the battery life: if my T3 lasted twice as long per charge, I'd use it about four times as much. I think it's a lovely bit of kit, but I too wish mine would go a bit longer.

I use mine occasionally to access the web via Bluetooth and GPRS on my mobile, but tend to be put off more by terrifying GPRS data charges than T3 battery life. Having said that, using Bluetooth really chews up the battery life. But it does come in useful when I Really Have To Access The Web Right Here And Now.

MC

[tamaranth.livejournal.com]

I suspect that if I was stuck with the T3 I'd start carrying around Real Books again! But I don't just use it as an e-book reader (though it's much smaller and lighter than, say, Quicksilver) and it's the high-drain apps -- Wordsmith etc -- which are going to be most in demand on longer trips.

May yet ask you about Bluetoothing, but suspect I'll be back to something more retro very soon for day-to-day use.

[flickgc.livejournal.com]

Can you turn off the backlight? It's not ideal everywhere but if you're - say - reading on the tube or train, it's fine.

[tamaranth.livejournal.com]

only way of setting backlight seems to be setting contrast -- which is now low-as-it-gets. I don't really mind the dimness, am used to 16-bit greyscale!

[andrewducker]

Turn down the light a little.

My T2 happily lasts for a 6 hour trip - so long as I'm not using bluetooth a lot. It's only when I spend lots of time checking email that it falls apart.

[tamaranth.livejournal.com]

the only way I can reduce backlight seems to be by reducing the contrast and picking a monnochrome colour scheme. Contrast is as low as it can go, colours are all in grey, and it's still complaining after a few hours. Six hours isn't enough, anyway (especially when the battery %age reduces by 10% after reading for 40 minutes!)

[lproven.livejournal.com]

You may find you can get some kind of add-on app. I can for my Zaurus. It's also worth checking for OS updates, it's the kind of thing that can get added...

[drpete.livejournal.com]

You broke the cinema? It's your subconscious. Mine broke Brixton Ritzy, and the in-flight video system on an American 777 to avoid brain damage caused by the truly laughable freeway chase in the "Matrix reloaded".

Listen to your head...

[tamaranth.livejournal.com]

Well, with Matrix Rethingied it was External Forces trying to protect your Brane.

My head is making creaking noises. But I think this is Migraleved migraine.