Preserve the Treo Battery


An important aspect of using any mobile device is learning how to manage battery power carefully. Treo devices are efficient, but their battery life depends a great deal on how you use them. In other words, the amount of device usage you get out of each battery charge has as much, if not more, to do with you as it does the device itself. So it's worth examining some strategies to help maximize battery life on your Treo.

First, the Treo battery is designed to provide about 6 hours of talk time when using the device as a mobile phone or about 300 hours of standby time if the phone is doing nothing more than waiting for calls. Using the device for other things can add to or take away from this usage range. For example, Bluetooth puts a significant drain on the battery, so it's worth considering whether you want to leave features such as Bluetooth turned on all the time.

The first step you can take toward maximizing the Treo battery is to charge it regularly. Unlike some older battery technologies, the lithium ion battery in your Treo performs better when topped off regularly, as opposed to letting it run down entirely before each charge. So charging your device every night is generally a good idea. You can also get into the habit of connecting it and allowing it to charge when you're at your desk. Because the Multi-connector used to synchronize your device includes a plug for the AC charger, you can combine charging the device and synchronizing it into a single step.

Although charging the battery regularly ensures that your battery has a good charge, it doesn't address the issue of making the charge last as long as possible. Following are some suggestions for squeezing the most out of each battery charge:

  • Use wireless features only when necessary. All the device features that require turning on the wireless radio put a significant drain on the battery. This includes the Phone, Messaging, Blazer Web browser, and VersaMail applications. Keep in mind that you can work in some of these applications offline to preserve the battery.

    Note

    Obviously, I'm not suggesting that you don't use the phone feature on your Treo. It's just important to understand that the wireless radio puts a big hit on the battery charge, so if you're in a situation where you can live without the phone, by all means turn the wireless radio off and save the battery. Remember, to turn the wireless radio on and off, just hold down the red Power/End button.


  • Bluetooth is another wireless feature that takes a toll on the battery. If you use Bluetooth, consider turning it on and off as needed, as opposed to leaving it turned on all the time. As an example, if you use Bluetooth with a headset, you could leave Bluetooth on during business hours and then turn it off after work when you receive fewer calls. Chapter 11, "Communicating Wirelessly with Bluetooth," explores the Bluetooth feature of your Treo in detail.

  • The screen is another fairly big power hog, and its capability to drain the battery depends largely on how bright it is. So you can save some battery consumption by adjusting the screen brightness down to a dimmer level. This is particularly useful if you're using your Treo in a dimly lit area that doesn't require as much backlighting to see the screen. Chapter 3, "Customizing and Personalizing Your Treo," shows you how to adjust the screen brightness in the "Adjust the Brightness and Screen Settings" section.

  • Another screen-related power-saving feature is the Auto-off setting, which controls how long your device must sit dormant before turning off the screen. You can decrease this setting down to as low as 30 seconds, although I tend to find it annoying if my device turns off after such a short time. On the other hand, if you're trying to squeeze every bit of power out of your battery, it's not a bad idea. You learn how to alter this setting in Chapter 3 in the "Tweak the Power Preferences" section.

  • Although not on par with the wireless radio or Bluetooth radio in terms of battery consumption, the infrared port on your device requires power to be constantly available for receiving beamed data. If you don't receive beamed data via the infrared port often, you might consider turning it off. This topic is also covered in the "Tweak the Power Preferences" section of Chapter 3.

  • You might not think about it, but the sound volume on the Treo has an impact on the battery, albeit somewhat small because most sounds play only briefly. However, music played in the RealPlayer application can certainly put a drain on the battery, especially if you listen to it with the device's speaker, as opposed to headphones. Consider turning the speaker volume down lower in general, and use headphones when listening to music to help conserve the battery. The RealPlayer application is covered in Chapter 13, "Listening to Digital Music."

Even if you follow all these tips to help prolong each charge of your battery, you might be in a situation, such as traveling, where you have absolutely no access to an AC charger to recharge your Treo. Don't despair because some interesting options that don't involve a fixed power source are available. I'm referring to Treo chargers that use traditional batteries to charge your Treo battery. For example, a company called Seido makes an Emergency Charger for the Treo 650 that allows you to use a 9-volt battery to charge your device. A single 9-volt battery can charge your Treo battery to 40% to 50% of its full capacity, which isn't bad. This affordable charger is available from the TreoCentral Store at http://store.treocentral.com/just search for "seido emergency charger."

If you prefer using AA batteries instead of 9-volt batteries to charge your Treo, you might want to look into BoxWave's Battery Adapter, which uses four AA batteries to charge your device. This adaptor also requires BoxWave's miniSync cable, which is a dual charger/synchronization cable. BoxWave also makes an interesting product called VersaCharger that serves as both an AC charger and a car charger in one compact unit. To learn more about BoxWave's charging products for the Treo 650, visit the Treo 650 section of its website at http://www.boxwave.com/products/easyfinder/products-for-palmone-treo-650_442.htm.

Note

Palm also makes a car charger for charging your Treo device using the cigarette lighter plug found in most automobiles. This charger is available online at Palm's Palm Store at http://store.palmone.com/.




    TREO essentials
    Treo Essentials
    ISBN: 0789733285
    EAN: 2147483647
    Year: 2005
    Pages: 189

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