[Michael R. Hicks]

My Kindle (1) has had problems for quite a while holding its charge in sleep mode. I guess it's not supposed to draw power in that mode, but mine would go dry in a matter of hours! It seemed fine when I just read and then turned it off, but jeez!

Anyway, I finally got annoyed enough that I bought another battery - I got one of the Lenmar ones. Didn't much care for the reviews of the standard Amazon replacement batteries, so I figured I'd give that one a shot.

So far, so good! It seems to be holding its charge in sleep mode, although I'll have to wait until I get home to see just how well it did overnight (I'm slipping in a quick post on my lunch break!)...

 

[Betsy the Quilter]

Mike,

How's the battery doing?

Couple questions:
1) when did you get your Kindle
2) were you using the original charger to charge it or an aftermarket charger of some type?

You shoulda stayed in AZ a bit longer!

Betsy

 

[Michael R. Hicks]

Betsy -

We got our Kindles around February or so of last year, and it's the original charger.

The new battery is doing a lot better, but the thing still seems to draw a significant amount of power when in sleep mode (and the Whispernet is off). Hmph...

 

[Betsy the Quilter]

SD card?  Lots of books?

Betsy

 

[KimmyA]

I had to call customer support about that myself about a month ago. I was told that was normal. I rarely have whispernet on (only to download a book I've purchased) and in sleep mode, it was killing my battery. I was told that the kindle still uses power when in sleep mode. Plus he said the screensavers change so that uses power too.

I don't use an SD card and have about seven pages of books.

You can call CS if you like and see if you get the same answer.

 

[Michael R. Hicks]

No, I've never used an SD card, and I don't keep a ton of stuff on it, only a half dozen books and maybe a dozen samples...

KimmyA - I'm probably not going to worry about calling CS at this stage. It's not a killer of a problem, just sort of bizarre, since so many folks seem to be able to leave their K1 in sleep mode for extended periods without it sucking the battery dry. But as I've said before, when my K1 finally croaks, I'll get a new one (K2, K3, or whatever's out)...

 

[KimmyA]

That's why I called CS when I did. Everyone else leaves their kindles in sleep mode and I couldn't. I figured something was wrong with mine. Now I just turn it off.

 

[Betsy the Quilter]

Actually, I don't believe the K1 screensavers change....and mine has never gone down very much when in sleep mode unless I added a whole bunch of new books.

Frankly, I don't think it's NORMAL, but it might be tolerable.  I bought my Kindle in late October (an Oprah baby) and the battery is still behaving pretty well.  When I first got it, and wasn't reading as much (too much KindleBoards, LOL!) it would last for a week without needing recharging.  Now I'm reading more and I recharge it every 2-3 days if I remember.  Sometimes more often, sometimes less.

Betsy

 

[intinst]

Actually, I don't believe the K1 screensavers change....and mine has never gone down very much when in sleep mode unless I added a whole bunch of new books.

Frankly, I don't think it's NORMAL, but it might be tolerable. I bought my Kindle in late October (an Oprah baby) and the battery is still behaving pretty well. When I first got it, and wasn't reading as much (too much KindleBoards, LOL!) it would last for a week without needing recharging. Now I'm reading more and I recharge it every 2-3 days if I remember. Sometimes more often, sometimes less.

Betsy

My Klassic Kindle has 16 pages of books and samples, with a SD card and 50 custom screensavers and it is turned off maybe every two weeks. The rest of the time it is left in sleep mode when I am not reading. The battery lasts 3 to 6 days, depending on the amount of KindleBoard time vs. reading time. The screensaver image is the same when I pick it up as when I laid it down. I recently purchased a backup battery and am using it for a while to check it out. I see no difference in use available time between the original and the new one.

 

[KimmyA]

I honestly don't pay any attention to which screensaver is on when I put it into sleep and when I go to read again. I don't know if they changed or not. I'm just repeating what the CS guy told me. 

An example of what mine did: I would fully charge the kindle say on a Monday, read for an hour, then put it to sleep. On Tuesday, I would read for an hour and put it to sleep. Wednesday the thing wouldn't turn on at all because the battery was dead. Whispernet wouldn't have been on at all during that time.

If I turn it off after each use, the battery will last about a week. So I just do that. I don't know why some people have battery drain during sleep and others don't. Seems kinda odd.

 

[bkworm8it]

I don't think that is normal. I know they draw a bit of power in sleep mode but shouldn't be dead that soon without using wispernet. Nor does the screensaver change once you put in in sleep mode. Mine has the same one when I wake it up. I can read for several hours then put it in sleep mode and read for several hours the next day and then put it in sleep mode again. It doesn't go down very far.

Even the refurb one is the same. I had to exchange my other one because it would freeze at 75% of the battery left and I would have to do a complete reset then it would work fine until the battery would run out (I'd use it till the battery was empty) then recharge and yip at 75% it would freeze again. But other than that it could be in sleep mode for several nights/days and not drain the battery.

Maybe see if you can talk to a supervisor at Amazon or email them this board where other are not having this issue.

theresam

 

[Betsy the Quilter]

It's bothersome to me that CS would tell someone that the battery is going down because the screensavers change when they don't.  (Technically, it's not a screensaver as it doesn't change to prevent burn in.  A: it doesn't change and B: there is no burn in, or the "screensaver" itself would burn in as it stays on for hours or days.)  Speaking of burn, it really burns me when help desk people make stuff up.  (As a former help desk person...who worked with people who would make stuff up.  Hated it then, hate it now.)

Betsy

 

[KimmyA]

I had never paid any attention to the screensavers so I couldn't argue with the guy. Maybe I'll email them and see what they say.

 

[CegAbq]

An example of what mine did: I would fully charge the kindle say on a Monday, read for an hour, then put it to sleep. On Tuesday, I would read for an hour and put it to sleep. Wednesday the thing wouldn't turn on at all because the battery was dead. Whispernet wouldn't have been on at all during that time.

I got a K1 from a wonderful woman through ebay mid-March. I use mine much as you have described; whispernet is off except when I am downloading and I have a 1 Gb SD card that I leave in. My battery would still be fine on Wednesday, probably it would be fine much longer; I just go ahead and recharge when it gets to about the half-way spot.

So I don't think you have a normal situation.

And, as others have said, screensavers do not change. CS is not providing you with "service"