K2 Battery Life

4998 Views 34 Replies 21 Participants Last post by Anju , Mar 5, 2009

Jesslyn

Discussion Starter · Feb 27, 2009

I am all for the longer battery life, but I don't think that I'm even going to come close to '4 days with wireless on'. I fully charged it yesterday and today only have 1/2 of the indicator. I appreciate the better battery, but am wondering if they just turned it on without having to index anything new, no daily subscription, etc.

Is it just me?

1 - 20 of 35 Posts

Britt

· #2 · Feb 27, 2009

Not sure... I haven't had it long enough to tell, plus I don't have any subscriptions yet, so I keep the Whispernet off unless I need to use it.

Becks

· #3 · Feb 28, 2009

I charged mine Tuesday afternoon when I first got it and I just had to plug it back in because I got the low battery warning. So I got right at 3 days with Whispernet on.

ELDogStar

· #4 · Feb 28, 2009

I have been topping mine off every so often like each day and a half. I do have one subscription so I leave Whisper on.
I will charge and leave it for a few days with my normal use (which is likely a bit modest compared to many avid readers) and see what I get for a charge.

I'll be backkk!

Eric

kim

· #5 · Feb 28, 2009

I fully charged it Tuesday afternoon and whispernet has been ON the whole time.

that's a little over 3 days and I have 1/3 battery left.

I'll let you know if it makes it 4 days.

I've only accessed the internet and Amazon store a couple times each.

Gretchen Z

· #6 · Feb 28, 2009

Also, keep in mind the initial indexing issue, so it's possible that it was indexing your items while it was asleep the first night, which may have run your battery down faster than normal. Others have reported that the first charge only lasted a day or so, but that after it finishes indexing the battery usage was much more acceptable.

lexie22

· #7 · Feb 28, 2009

Some batteries take a few days to break in. My Blackberry Bold couldn't hold a charge for more than a few hours the first 2 weeks I got it, now it lasts for days.

kim

· #8 · Feb 28, 2009

I've had Whispernet ON the whole time and I got 3.75 days before it asked me to charge the low battery.

I haven't been able to spend a lot of time with my K during that time, so people who spend more time with their K will obviously need to charge more.

Leslie

· #9 · Feb 28, 2009

I charged it the first day I got it (Tuesday) and haven't plugged it in since. Lots of normal usage, putting sleep and waking up, turning whispernet on and off (I tend to leave it off) and as of now, Saturday, 5 pm, the battery indicator is at half. That seems pretty good to me.

L

artsandhistoryfan

· #10 · Mar 1, 2009

kim said:
I fully charged it Tuesday afternoon and whispernet has been ON the whole time.

that's a little over 3 days and I have 1/3 battery left.

I'll let you know if it makes it 4 days.

I've only accessed the internet and Amazon store a couple times each.

For your battery's good, don't do that. This kind of battery does best
if topped off and does worse when allowed to drain. This has been written
about a lot. Amazon advises charging it before it drops below the mid-point.

I think a lot is needed for whispernet sessions as well as indexing
and of course the text-to-speech or mp3s or audiobooks.

I plug mine in each night and haven't had the battery probs others have
had. There was a long explanation about this on the Amazon forums
the other day but I forgot to bookmark it.

libro

· #11 · Mar 1, 2009

Trekker said:
One thing to remember...these batteries have a certain amount of charge/discharge cycles before they degrade to the point of being unusable, so if you don't need whispernet, leave it off.

For example...let's say that the battery is good for 500 cycles (just throwing a number out there) - you can charge it once every 4 days, or you could charge it once every 14 days. Obviously it will last longer with a 14 day cycle.

Another thing is age...lithium polymer batteries degrade with age. I've read various things...some say after 2 years of sitting, they only retain 40% of their charging capacity.

Hopefully the batteries will last for the life of the Kindle....or at least until we all want the next model.

I was "topping off" my battery the other night when the indicator showed it was only one-quarter or less down, and DH told me it would probably wear the battery out early by charging it unnecessarily, i.e. every night when it doesn't need it yet. Is this true?

artsandhistoryfan

· #12 · Mar 1, 2009

libro said:
I was "topping off" my battery the other night when the indicator showed it was only one-quarter or less down, and DH told me it would probably wear the battery out early by charging it unnecessarily, i.e. every night when it doesn't need it yet. Is this true?

That was VERY true of the older batteries but not at all true about the type of battery used in the Kindle.

The older batteries (nickel cadmium in particular) always carried warnings not to charge it without first draining it completely.

These are the opposite.

Amazon itself has said to keep the battery charge high. Tends to help prevent freezes due to processes started but with not enough power for htem.

libro

· #13 · Mar 2, 2009

artsandhistoryfan said:
That was VERY true of the older batteries but not at all true about the type of battery used in the Kindle.

The older batteries (nickel cadmium in particular) always carried warnings not to charge it without first draining it completely.

These are the opposite.

Amazon itself has said to keep the battery charge high. Tends to help prevent freezes due to processes started but with not enough power for htem.

ArtsandHistoryFan: Thanks so much for the battery info. It's not only good to know for myself, but I wouldn't want to disseminate inaccurate information to others.

nelamvr6

· #14 · Mar 2, 2009

I can't give an exact figure, but I do know I'm getting a LOT more time between charges than I got with my K1...

Britt

· #15 · Mar 3, 2009

Ok, I've been using it for almost a week, mostly without Whispernet, and still have 2/3 battery left (the only time I charged it was when I first took it out of the box).

jeremy81

· #16 · Mar 3, 2009

I've charged mine twice since Wednesday. It just popped up and said the battery is depleted. I've been using it heavily with Whispernet on. Honestly, I expected it to last a little longer.

luvmy4brats

· #17 · Mar 3, 2009

jeremy81 said:
I've charged mine twice since Wednesday. It just popped up and said the battery is depleted. I've been using it heavily with Whispernet on. Honestly, I expected it to last a little longer.

It's going to depend on how much you're using the browser, how many items you've downloaded (and need to be indexed), how many times you turn the page..all of that contributes to how quickly you go through the battery. Since you say you've been using it heavily with Whispernet, your battery usage doesn't seem too out of line.

Ruby296

· #18 · Mar 3, 2009

artsandhistoryfan said:
That was VERY true of the older batteries but not at all true about the type of battery used in the Kindle.

The older batteries (nickel cadmium in particular) always carried warnings not to charge it without first draining it completely.

These are the opposite.

Amazon itself has said to keep the battery charge high. Tends to help prevent freezes due to processes started but with not enough power for htem.

Is this the case for the K1 Battery as well? Thanks for any info!
Ruby

Gary Edward

· #19 · Mar 3, 2009

The Kindle battery indicator may also acquire "digital memory" from not completely recycling the battery.

For Li-Ion/ Li-Poly it is recommended that every 30 partial recharges, you let the battery discharge completely - that is, until the Kindle indicates the battery power is "too low for Whispernet" (see page 25 of user guide).

This should prevent the battery indicator from giving you false readings of the "various states of the battery".

KasperKindler

· #20 · Mar 3, 2009

I got mine last Tuesday; charged it up; downloaded my waiting books and turned off wispernet. I used it periodically for the remainder of the work week (I probably used it about 10hrs??). Over the weekend I used it a lot - about 12 hours over the two days. I put Kindle to sleep late Sunday afternoon with just under half a battery charge remaining. When I turned it on yesterday afternoon, the battery had drained completely...got the "you need to charge" message....I have no idea what caused the sudden drain in the battery. So - to summarize, i'd say I got about 20 hours of use from the first charge, wispernet off for 90% of the time. No way near the advertised 2 weeks...maybe it was indexing or something over Sunday night....

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