Finally. Make your palm to work _HOURS_ more.

JM,

Do you think it would be possible to get longer battery life by installing a 3.4V or 3.5V battery instead of the standard 3.6V? This was just a thought I had.

Also, I noticed there is a full version and a demo version. What is the difference?
 
OK - well - seems to work, and quite well indeed! I'm usually at 1/8th or 1/4 down on the "power bar" by end of day - still showing full and I was on it yesterday quite a bit. I use it (T3) around 15-20 times per day for periods of 1-6 minutes, usually entering data, etc. No extended periods unless I'm checking files with TealMover - no extended video watching or book reading - but there's a marked difference in that bar showing FULL this morning, rather than 3/4 or 7/8. Impressive! Also impressive is the fact the developer actually WROTE BACK and answered 2 questions. They seem like a great bunch.

The longer charging time is good to know but not critical; more on that below.

Dwinget: I had no idea there were two versions - I'm using the link from JM and only one zip shows up with a 79k file. You might email them and ask specifrically if there is a paid version - I'd be interested if there is - but this one seems to do everything. Mine shows 1.05, "OK" in the middle of the screen, and no registration details so I'm assuming it's "full."

I wrote the folks and they have not tested in Flash, but think it will work. Just moved it to flash, did cradle reset before and after, and - Wahoo!! - no smoke, and responds fine. I'm wondering how it reacts when "restored" by JackFlash after a hard reset or crash - I imagine you just have to reset the settings. Settings WILL DISAPPEAR (revert to normal) after a soft reset, so remember that just like "AlwaysOn," you have to reset it after a soft reset - perhaps an option to "survive soft reset" would be nice if that's possible, but that may not be possible due to safety precautions on behalf of the developer. People might "panic" and "just want it back the way it was;" I was like that after trying the first version last week.

JM: I'm completely in the dark about what you meant on the "disable warnings." Is it good or not?

The author explained to me that the reason they have a pulldown delete option is that you can't delete the app in the "usual way" if you have "enable warnings" checked. I imagine this is a saved preference or something - and that "most people" couldn't delete it properly" unless they use the pulldown. Us I don't worry about!! Anyway it's good to know, and I'm thankful to them for writing back so fast.

JM, what do you mean by "you'll get several resets?" - to recap -

1. Is checking "give no warnings good or not, and do you do it?

2. What do you mean by "several resets?" I never let power get that low, but assume I just leave it on and drain it - what's the "time lapse of events?" Do you get low battery warning at the 3.76 level, or the LEVEL YOU'VE SET?

I'm testing this thing further today but so far I'm really impressed. Thanks JM, for finding it. It's now in flash and will be a permanent addition unless I see "bad effects." I'm wondering for example if the longer charging time can hurt the battery - you've got longer to use it, but the battery dies prematurely from overcharging? Probably not.

Bottom line is I'd urge the "more adventurous" of you to at least try this thing for 3-5 days, especially if carrying a cigarette charger is a pain or you've always had a "problem" with the T3 battery life. If the developers can make this work for LifeDrive I think they'd make a lot of people smile . . . I certainly will enjoy the difference of 3x/week charging rather than daily. Come to think of it, that saves battery life right there, doesn't it? Cool!
 
OK, you're right dwinget -- there is a "full version" with some added features. You saw it first - I either didn't notice or it's "new." I just checked and it says "free trial - so does that mean this 1.05 will EXPIRE? I'm not having an "expiring program" having to do with battery life. Unfortunate. I think it's worth the $8.95 to almost double your battery, however. I thought since it said "ok," it was indeed "ok," and registered. Hmmm . . . . I think if you get this while in beta it's "registered," but as they refine it there'll be a charge and a nagscreen/registration screen. I'm guessing.

The author confirmed that they have reported data loss on t/T3's at around 3.30, so 3.55 will be safe for me. You could actually go lower to 3.45 - 3.40, but I'm not bothering (well, not yet!!).

An added feature of the "full version," and so I'm guessing this is a beta/non expire version, will be "survive reset" on some limited basis.

They stressed that other proggies will NOT show correct changes in battery values.
 
Syno:

all I can offer is that if you suppress warnings, you MUST use the drop down installer to "uninstall," and it asks for a soft reset. My hunch is you'd also be more likely to lose data if your settings were too low. Apparently manual deletion doesn't get all the "hooks" if you opt for battery warning supression. I did not check that box "disallowing" them.

On the 2nd day of testing, I still saw battery gauge on Launcher drop about the same as it had before . . . but this time it was "fluctuating." I uninstalled, soft reset, soft reset AGAIN while on charger stand (to reset battery charge parameters) and charged 3 hours. I'm not tracking if it has "gone back to normal" as it was before the installation of FullPower.

As I've said before (and kindly confirmed by Mooseman in an email to me this morning) . . . extending the length of a charge and its useability probably extends battery life because you need fewer charges. I'm still up in the air, however, as to whether there is definite advantage to this application for "short term and often" usage. Junglemike may see a HUGE diffrence in 3-4 solid hours of watching a movie or reading e-books - but "power=up, add afew Agendus entries and an address, and power down" may not see the benefits of this app quite as much.

I know on my first day I saw improvement - 2nd (following a charge) day I did not; bottom line is 2 days obviously isn't enough time for an accurate assessment. I just want to be sure I'm causing NO DAMAGE to the battery, which is why I went through the "cradle soft reset" to see if things go back to "scratch" if you uninstall the app! Last thing you want is frying something over a long term so that it doesn't hold a charge at all or remember what that charge is.

My hunch is that I should NOT check the "suppress warnings box," as the warnings (according to the developer) go by percentage and will occur at a lower threshold if you've tweaked the settings. In other words, they won't occur at 3.76 - they'll occur closer to the parameters you've set -- which is exactly what you'd want.
 
I have invited the developer to post here to answer any questions (and NOT as any "sales pitch"); this appliction is in constant rapid development and I think the developer's contribution would be valuable.
 
That would be great ........ would love to see from input from them here on this forum ..........I don't want to "fry" my (new to me) Tungsten T3, but on the other hand, this program looks pretty useful.

Cheers,

Syno
 
This is true, but for PDAs built by PalmOne there is a protection circuit that keeps one from discharging battery too far or charging with too much current.

So it's impossible to hurt battery with software loaded onto the PDA (as long as PDA circuitry is working).

IOW - FullPower, and other "hacks", can do no harm.

If you want info on this, then I can point to various threads over at rabroad.

------------------------------------------

OTOH - Li-Ion batteries sold for R/C uses are sold WITHOUT any protection, and CAN be easily damaged. Which is why people that have upgraded Tungsten series with R/C batteries have had to also add a protection circuit (either purchased or scavanged from old Tungsten battery).
 
1. People on rabroad are complaining that the 1.05 IS INDEED A TRIAL. No problem there, right? "Shareware" means "pay the developer if you like it." Well, not exactly. Problem is it CRASHES the PDA when the trial expires.

This is not nice and I'm not waiting for mine to "check out."

2. I've noticed that it takes forever for the battery bar to "drop," but when it does - it's a good chunk. And another chunk isn't far behind. In other words any benefit, at least in my case, seems to be "front loaded." I've dumped a battery app, this app, and AutoExec (to automatically go to FullPower after my hack managers load, since it needs resetting after each soft reset.

Like my old saying about "a drive through gun store," this is "almost a good idea." For now at least, it's outta here and I've got my ciggie charger with me. I've noticed it drops faster (obviously) when on "stock setting;" it also CHARGES faster too, however.

For a trial to suddenly drop dead (I believe I mentioned my concerns about this earlier) - is not good. Sure, developers should get paid, but there should also be a disclosure of how long the trial is, and it shouldn't "kill" your PDA by crashing - especially when dealing with internals such as battery voltages.

Bad choice . . . and so was the developer not responding here as I asked. Just send in your $8.95 or else?

Not this year, I'm afraid. Too bad, too.
 
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