How low do you go?


S

scoobydoo

Guest
I am terribly apologetic if this topic has been discussed before.


How low do Pandora users let their battery go before recharging?


Currently I wait until 20%.


Another question is do people find that certain AC adapters/chargers charge faster than others? Or is it the battery?


I own 2 Pandoras and I find this to be the case. About a 10% differential.


Both chargers came with the Pandoras but are different.


Cheers.
 
Last edited:
I don't intentionally wait for it to run to anything, I just plug it in every night regardless of what the percentage is.


Charging should not be faster regardless of the adapter used. The charge circuit is current limited to about 1amps. Provided the AC adapter can maintain that 1A then it should charge about the same as any other charger that can maintain that 1A.


That being said, there may be minor resistance differences between two boards that could result in different charge rates: the charge circuit might draw 1A, but by the time it gets to the battery it might be 0.99A on one board but maybe 0.92A on a different one.


That's just one explanation on why one might charge faster than the other. Could be others.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
I am terribly apologetic if this topic has been discussed before.


How low do Pandora users let their battery go before recharging?


Currently I wait until 20%.


Another question is do people find that certain AC adapters/chargers charge faster than others? Or is it the battery?


I own 2 Pandoras and I find this to be the case. About a 10% differential.


Both chargers came with the Pandoras but are different.


Cheers.
Unless I'm on the go I tend to leave my Pandora plugged in. If I do let it run down I tend to start charging at 30%.
 
I'm always verry careful with loding my Pandora.


If possible I go down untill I have 10% or below.


Of course I carge it when I go out and need a full battery -no matter how much power I have left.
 
Every (*checks battery level*) Most nights I plug it in for recharge and unplug it again in the morning.
 
I'd love to know from real owners how much battery life do you get out of a pandora in everyday use,I know people were talking about "all day" use and times like "ten hours" being mentioned but it'd be nice to know, also do you see a fall off in the battery performance after a few month's, and how easy is it to get hold of spare batteries, things are going places at the mo so it can't be long before I get mine.
 
I'm always verry careful with loding my Pandora.


If possible I go down untill I have 10% or below.


Of course I carge it when I go out and need a full battery -no matter how much power I have left.

That's actually a very bad idea, LiPo batteries are damaged more the more lower they get discharged. They are not like NiMh batteries which have "memory".


Charge as often as possible, but you don't have to do a full charge, the best way possible to use a Lipo is never charge beyond 80%, and never discharge below 20-30%, the shallower your discharge cycle, without charging all the way the better.


I typically charge at 50% and stop at 90%. Of course that does not always happen.


This is also why electric cars that use Lithium type batteries do not charge beyond 80% and don't discharge below 20%, it's because if you stay within those ranges, you get a HUGE increase in life of the battery. Also quick charging damages battery as per the notice in Nissan Leaf manuals.


The absolute worst thing you could do to a LiPo is to discharge to 0 - 5% and then have it self discharge, then the cell drops below 3v which might not ever get charged again.


All this "recharge when the battery is low" is all a myth, it all started when the media started talking about memory with NiCd and NiMh batteries.


Edit: It's actually the same for Nickel based batteries, even though they have a memory, you should not discharge to a low percentage EVERY time, but just charge often for 10+ times then *recondition* the battery, by dropping it down to 20% once, every once and a while to "break" the memory.

I don't intentionally wait for it to run to anything, I just plug it in every night regardless of what the percentage is.


Charging should not be faster regardless of the adapter used. The charge circuit is current limited to about 1amps. Provided the AC adapter can maintain that 1A then it should charge about the same as any other charger that can maintain that 1A.


That being said, there may be minor resistance differences between two boards that could result in different charge rates: the charge circuit might draw 1A, but by the time it gets to the battery it might be 0.99A on one board but maybe 0.92A on a different one.


That's just one explanation on why one might charge faster than the other. Could be others.

I thought the charge circuit will control the charge rate just like RC computerized chargers will, first the battery is "subjected" to constant current at whatever the pandora and source from (or will source from the power supply), then when it reaches 4.2 volts the syetm will switch to constant voltage mode to top up the battery, from then on the battery controls the current.


Also it does not matter what the power supply is capable of, it is not a current limited source as far as I know, if the Pandora wanted to puyll 5 amps, the power supply would allow it, then just blow up.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
I'd love to know from real owners how much battery life do you get out of a pandora in everyday use,I know people were talking about "all day" use and times like "ten hours" being mentioned but it'd be nice to know, also do you see a fall off in the battery performance after a few month's, and how easy is it to get hold of spare batteries, things are going places at the mo so it can't be long before I get mine.
I tend to get 10 hours if I'm just watching movies. If I'm gaming, depending on what system, I get anywhere from 6-8. I actually get about 11 hours on a full charge if I'm just wasting away on mp3s. The Pandora is excellent on power consumption.


It all really depends on what you're clocking at as well.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
I'd love to know from real owners how much battery life do you get out of a pandora in everyday use,I know people were talking about "all day" use and times like "ten hours" being mentioned but it'd be nice to know, also do you see a fall off in the battery performance after a few month's, and how easy is it to get hold of spare batteries, things are going places at the mo so it can't be long before I get mine.
About ten hours. Hasn't really changed since January.
 
I'd love to know from real owners how much battery life do you get out of a pandora in everyday use,I know people were talking about "all day" use and times like "ten hours" being mentioned but it'd be nice to know, also do you see a fall off in the battery performance after a few month's, and how easy is it to get hold of spare batteries, things are going places at the mo so it can't be long before I get mine.
On most days, it is taken off the charger by 06:30. I use it periodically throughout the day without shutting down, usually for gaming. I charge at night around 23:00 while the battery is typically between 20-50%.


Not sure if that answers your question or not, but I was surprised on the good life of the battery.
 
I'm always verry careful with loding my Pandora.


If possible I go down untill I have 10% or below.


Of course I carge it when I go out and need a full battery -no matter how much power I have left.

That's actually a very bad idea, LiPo batteries are damaged more the more lower they get discharged. They are not like NiMh batteries which have "memory".


Charge as often as possible, but you don't have to do a full charge, the best way possible to use a Lipo is never charge beyond 80%, and never discharge below 20-30%, the shallower your discharge cycle, without charging all the way the better.


I typically charge at 50% and stop at 90%. Of course that does not always happen.


This is also why electric cars that use Lithium type batteries do not charge beyond 80% and don't discharge below 20%, it's because if you stay within those ranges, you get a HUGE increase in life of the battery. Also quick charging damages battery as per the notice in Nissan Leaf manuals.


The absolute worst thing you could do to a LiPo is to discharge to 0 - 5% and then have it self discharge, then the cell drops below 3v which might not ever get charged again.


All this "recharge when the battery is low" is all a myth, it all started when the media started talking about memory with NiCd and NiMh batteries.


Edit: It's actually the same for Nickel based batteries, even though they have a memory, you should not discharge to a low percentage EVERY time, but just charge often for 10+ times then *recondition* the battery, by dropping it down to 20% once, every once and a while to "break" the memory.

Thanks. I didn't know this. In other threads I've read things like "you shouldn't drop below 10% but discharge as much as possible" else it'll damage the battery.


Now I'll definitly charge it when it's below 30%.

theshining said:
I'd love to know from real owners how much battery life do you get out of a pandora in everyday use,I know people were talking about "all day" use and times like "ten hours" being mentioned but it'd be nice to know, also do you see a fall off in the battery performance after a few month's, and how easy is it to get hold of spare batteries, things are going places at the mo so it can't be long before I get mine.

Getting a battery is no problem. You can simply order one from ED or Craig. I ordered mine when my Pandora was at ED for repairing. It's no problem.


I can't say that much about battery life but I didn't have any problems with a full battery. It will do it's duty the whole day long.

Kaepora Gaebora said:
On most days, it is taken off the charger by 06:30. I use it periodically throughout the day without shutting down, usually for gaming. I charge at night around 23:00 while the battery is typically between 20-50%.


Not sure if that answers your question or not, but I was surprised on the good life of the battery.

That's interesting. Is the standby mode really that good? In my oppinion it isn't. When I get my Pandora back I'll definitly test it out and won't shut it down one whole day.


An other question:


How much backlight brightness do you use? I avoid a higher level than the lowest one in order to save battery. Is this nececarry? How much does the backlicght affect battery life?
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Standby mode is abysmal, make no mistake - you'll get about 8 or ten hours out of it (that's what I get generally). Power-off mode leaves something to be desired also - the unit will turn itself on at the slightest jolt, and when you come to it a few hours later it's drained :(


I've got pieces of paper and whatnot in there to keep the battery still, but it's not had much effect.


D.
 
I charge my Pandora to max charge whenever it turns itself off, unless i'm going on a trip then it gets fully charged whatever level the battery has dropped to.
 
regardless of what WizardStan says, in practice, my pandora charges a lot faster off a psp charger then the charger i got with pandora. my pandora also cant stay on w/o a battery and official pandora charger in, but it works just fine with no battery and psp charger plugged in. either way. i get a good, healthy 12 hours out of a single charge with wifi on at all times, and brightness at lowest at all time, not constantly using for 12 hours at once though, but never go into low power, the most i do during those 12 hours is close lid to shut off screen
 
Standby mode is abysmal, make no mistake - you'll get about 8 or ten hours out of it (that's what I get generally). Power-off mode leaves something to be desired also - the unit will turn itself on at the slightest jolt, and when you come to it a few hours later it's drained :(
That's kind of disturbing. From a full charge, mine is still running after 30 hours in standby. It's not killer, but I'd hardly call it abysmal. I'm also fortunate enough to not suffer from the turn-itself-on things that a few people have reported, so unfortunately I can't help diagnose that. :(
 
I plug mine in every night despite the percentage. If I for some reason don't use it at all during the day (typically 7:00-23:00) it has 40-50% left at the end of the day. On the other hand I have used it on a full day trip with a few hours gameplay in both directions (I'd guess around six total) and didn't run out of battery. Basically, I've never run out of power during a day.
 
Standby mode is abysmal, make no mistake - you'll get about 8 or ten hours out of it (that's what I get generally). Power-off mode leaves something to be desired also - the unit will turn itself on at the slightest jolt, and when you come to it a few hours later it's drained :(

I think this will be fixable with the next kernel, won't it?
 
So looking good for the odd movie / mp3play and a prolonged bout of commuter gaming, plus you can tell everyone it's a real tiny pc that can do real world work, like note taking if the boss' is about awesome can't wait for mine now (I'm getting excited again), so do many of you overclock your's and if so how much difference do you see, (not battery performance I get that's going to go downhill), and thanks for the replies! :D
 
I get about 16 hours using the Pandora as an MP3 player, about 11 hours playing PS1 games at 1 Ghz, OPP4.


16 hours purely using the Pandora as an MP3 player is not unreasonable, I think it actually might be capable of 20 hours, but I have not tried it. I've never even gone below 60% under everyday use.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Back
Top