Battery Life


jlong posted on Aug 13 2006 at 02:05 AM said:
This is how I got many hours of use on the GP2X.
For this charger:
CHCFC-WOB.jpg
and these batteries:
525200620632.jpg

I am getting 10 hours per 2 batteries, with movies, and neogeo at 280 oc.
Just got some of those Durecells, now I need a charger.
 
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Dimacus:

I knew about that ;-), my current stuff is encoded in 640x480, the trouble is that it seems to drain the battery rather quickly since it use the scaler which seem to be power hungry 8-(. So I was just wondering how much better battery life I am going to get by spending time to reencode all the stuff I want to watch on the go.
 
Well if it only increase by half that means I would get 2h instead of 1h30, hmmm snif snif was hoping maybe could double battery life time ;-) and get 3h.

Anyone made some benchmark on how long is it possible to just run videos? Will it be possible to get about 4h on batteries (like now I am using Energizer 2500mah) by playing video in 320x240? (maybe need to adjust bitrate, etc...).

Id just would like to optimise my usage of the batteries ;-), I have several set, but it will be more fun to watch several stuff without the need to swap batteries in the middle of watching heehe!

Thanks.
 
Since the scaler isn't made for portable use and therefore does fuck-all to conserve power, it probably uses more than all the rest of the hardware combined does. :p I just don't want to give you any false hopes ..
 
Hmm they should have an optmise one that is good for portable use ;-), so we dont need to reencode everything. Atleast the scaler can be put to good use when outputting to TV and have the AC adapter plugin! It seems ill have to keep both version of my file, the 320x240 when I am on the go and the full resolution for when it is going to be watch at home (or some friends) on the big TV ;-).

Ill have to get another HD to keep all those files around ;-).
 
Hi, new to the board. Got my gp2x a couple of months ago, and to tell you the truth, I'm not getting much battery life out of it either. I think it's about an hour, an hour and a half. I'm using 2700mAH batteries from Sanyo, model HR-3U. I charge them with a Memorex PRO 8000 NiCd/NiMH battery charger, using the discharge function before each charge (although I guess it's not necessary with NiMH since they have no memory effect).

Now, interresting as this discussion may be, it's not like we can really compare our battery run times since everybody does different things with his unit. Some people here watch movies on it, some listen to music, others are more gaming inclined. Some overclock, some don't. Also, I assume not every game/emulator is equally demanding of the unit, so power consumption accross various games/emulators may vary, just like it will vary for different bitrates/resolutions for your media.

Before we standardise on a certain test application, at stock speed, this discussion is merely guesswork.

Anyway, this being said... How well would replacing the batteries with a single 3.3V Li-Ion battery work? How much charge can they hold? Will the fact that they yield a 10% higher voltage than the device is rated for have any impact on the health/lifespan of the unit? Has anyone tried it, and what were your experiences?
 
If you're getting that poor performance (less than 3 hours) out of some good sanyo batteries, it's likely either the voltage regulator in your unit is bad, or the batteries are bad. Are you sure your charger charges them fully? It wouldn't hurt to try charging them twice once and see if it makes a difference.
 
Doubt it will make a difference. The charger has 3 modes indicated by its leds (well, 4 if you count the discharge cycle which you have to initiate manually). It first charges, with the led lit up all red. Then, after a while it turns to green. After some more time, it remains green, but starts blinking.

Now, I lost the manual, but given some common sense, and knowing how battery chargers operate, it's pretty obvious that red means charging, green means trickle charging and blinking means "I'm done, get these batteries out already".

However, I just put in the batteries I charged today, and the led came up red. It's been about five minutes ago (acting on your suggestion to double charge them), but it appears your idea might work after all. Damn charger ain't as automated as I assumed.

I'll report on battery life later, once the double charge has run its course, and after some sleep (it's a quarter to 6 in the morning over here :D)

Edit: that might explain their piss-poor performance in my digital camera as well. Granted, I mainly use it indoors, meaning it needs to use the flash a lot, and I use the LCD as a viewfinder (default setting is off, and manual suggests leaving it that way), but they drain unreasonably fast.

ps: something else I noticed is that when I leave those batteries, after a normal one cycle full charge, and try to use them after a month, the gp2x already marks them as "medium" or "empty" (don't remember which one it was), and playtime was drastically shortened. Now I don't have much experience with NiMH, and I know all batteries drain by themselves if not used after a while, but I don't think it's normal if your batteries drain themselves to near depletion just sitting on a shelf for a month. So either the batteries are at fault here (hard to believe; all 8 are new, bought them especially for the gp2x, and now use them in the camera as well) or the charger charges my battery to only a fraction of their full capacity.
 
There was a batch of sanyo 2500's that had abysmal self-discharge (significant losses even within a couple weeks), but I'm not aware of any problems with the 2700's. If you're storing the batteries somewhere really warm, that could make it worse though.
 
Ed has already done some serious testing and Ansmann batteries are the best all round, i get at least 3+ hours watching hires movies with them (and that seems to be the ultimate battery test).

They are about to widescale launch 3000mah too :eek:
 
Well, so far for my illusion of owning one of them smart chargers that determine when a battery is fully charged. The second charge cycle has run its course, I removed and immediately replaced the batteries, and it started charging them again...

Anyway, since NiMH batteries hold about 4x the energy of a NiCd, I guess it's OK to tripple charge them and see what gives. If worse comes to worse, the charger has a cover, so no battery parts will be lauched accross the room anyway. :D

BTW, 3000 mAH? *drool* gimme gimme!

Edit: well, I tried after the tripple charge now, and battery life is definitely improved. Thanks for the advice, I wrongly assumed I had one of those intelligent chargers. Looks like it's time to buy a new one.
 
If you're in the market for a new charger, I'd recommend getting one that has a numeric capacity readout... it's nice to know how well your batteries are performing as they age, and it lets you pair batteries that have close capacities (you'll get slightly more runtime overall, and it's easier on the batteries when they get charged/discharged evenly).

A side note... if you're using a 'fast' charger that has a cover, it can be better to leave the cover open so the batteries have better cooling, but it's not a big deal on slow charge modes. I doubt you'll have NiMH batteries launch across the room, but be careful if you ever mess around with li-ion's; those things scare me.
 
BradN posted on Sep 19 2006 at 06:22 PM said:
If you're in the market for a new charger, I'd recommend getting one that has a numeric capacity readout... it's nice to know how well your batteries are performing as they age, and it lets you pair batteries that have close capacities (you'll get slightly more runtime overall, and it's easier on the batteries when they get charged/discharged evenly).

Well, the first thing I did when I bought them was mark them. My batteries are labeled "pair 1" through "pair 4" and I rotate them in that order so that they'll wear more or less at the same rate. But yeah, I actually am in the market for a new charger, so got any specific models you'd recommend?

BradN posted on Sep 19 2006 at 06:22 PM said:
A side note... if you're using a 'fast' charger that has a cover, it can be better to leave the cover open so the batteries have better cooling, but it's not a big deal on slow charge modes. I doubt you'll have NiMH batteries launch across the room, but be careful if you ever mess around with li-ion's; those things scare me.

My current charger is a "fast" (2 hour) charger with a cover, but my batteries never run hot when I charge them; slightly warmer than room temperature with the cover closed. And I hear ya on the Li-Ion batteries; I own a dell... ;)
 
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Here's a good thread on candlepowerforums about chargers (it's a flashlight enthusiast site... yeah, for every bizarre corner of geekdom, there's a web forum):
http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb/showthread.php?t=70935
There's tons of battery/charger/etc info on that forum, so if you're bored...

I'd probably recommend the la crosse bc-900 for AA and AAA batteries, since it has a capacity readout and lots of operational modes and charge/discharge rates. It doesn't charge other battery sizes though. (edit: forgot to mention this comes with 4 each medium capacity AA and AAA NiMH cells) Here's a link:
http://thomas-distributing.com/la_crosse_b...ery_charger.php (~$44)

The AccuPower AccuManager 20 looks like it's very accurate (hmm, fits the name I guess) at determining end of charge (some chargers need to trickle charge a while after they say they're done to hit full capacity), and it can charge AAA, AA, C, D, and 9V batteries. It doesn't do conditioning (discharge) or capacity readout.
http://www.thomas-distributing.com/ap-accupower20.htm (~$49)

I linked to thomas distributing because they tend to have reasonable prices and seem reputable, and I couldn't find better prices on froogle. If you buy batteries from them, check their ebay sales, since it might work out to be cheaper with shipping.
 
I'm getting some funny business with the batteries I have as well...

Using the video player, on a GP2X model 2 firmware 2.0,

Energizer Rechargable, 2300mAh, fully charged, seems to last about 10 minutes before the video whitescreens.
Uniross 2000mAh, fully charged, has no problems at all and runs for a couple of hours.

(I have four of each type of battery, so I know its not the particular batteries)

Strange that the lower power battery seems to be acceptable, but the higher one fails after a short while!

Does anyone know if there anything I can do apart from buy another set of batteries? and if I do, could I possibly get the same problems?
 
I've never heard of the brand, Assia. I'd be a little wary of buying these until someone tests them and confirms the capacity/performance, preferably with a charger that can measure it.

Someone should send some samples to the candlepower forum guys.
 
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