topic Re: High Frequency Whine in PCs & Accessories

VAIO BATTERY LIFE

Keef04 — Wed, 22 Dec 2004 00:20:51 GMT

Hey All

I've seen some comments on various threads about the battery life of the VAIO. Just wondering what are other people getting out of theirs. I've already sent my pocket back to Sony because I was getting shocks from the charger and the most the player could manage was about 8 hours max. They kindly fitted another battery and a new charger. Haven't had time to test it just wondering what all of you are getting battery wise just for comparison.

Re: VAIO BATTERY LIFE

recaro1 — Wed, 22 Dec 2004 00:54:02 GMT

Hey
Ye i'm having the same problem, i find that if i use mine for say 2hrs then switch it off and dont use it for 2 to 3 days the battery has gone dead and i have to reset the date and time and everything, This has happened 2 or 3 times now.

Re: VAIO BATTERY LIFE

VaioMAN — Wed, 22 Dec 2004 09:53:11 GMT

Yes, I've experimented the same problem. If I do not use the VAIO Pocket for a 2-3 day period, then the battery'got discharged and I have to set Date, Time and Language once again.
That's a REAL problem !!!!

Re: VAIO BATTERY LIFE

thwi — Wed, 22 Dec 2004 11:40:05 GMT

Does this problem apply to both models - the 20 GB and the 40 GB model?

Re: VAIO BATTERY LIFE

Kennivaio — Thu, 23 Dec 2004 02:07:11 GMT

I have the 40gb model and when i last used it, it was on its last power bar. When turned it on about a week of not using it, i had to enter the date, time....like it reset itself.

Plus it takes forever to charge from near flat....taking me 6 hours and still charging.......

Re: VAIO BATTERY LIFE

JoergK — Thu, 13 Jan 2005 15:23:31 GMT

I wrote this today in another thread and reported it to the technical support:

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

After starting to use the device after christmas, I experienced on 2 - 3 occasions that the battery charge dropped drastically overnight, i.e. from nearly full to half.

I thought that it was my fault, that I had not properly shut the device down, or that I just had misread the display or whatever, so I didn't care at that time. Also, in this week I was more occupied with transferring music than listening, and when the operating time did not reach the "20 hours" I thought it must have to do with the transferring and organizing process (HD operations etc.).

When I started to use it more regularly for listening after New Year, I did not really take the time to see how long the batteries worked, but they definitely did not reach 20, even 10 hours. OK, I thought that it had something to do with the player being optimized for Atrac 64kBit (I used 256), which I read somewhere, so that it just used more energy for replay.

Yesterday, after not using it for 2 - 3 Days, the battery was completely empty, although this time I was sure, that it had been half full and that I had shut it down properly.

I now searched in the net and found some people reviewing the player at amazon, and even in the sony forum, who had made the same experience: shut it down, let it alone, and after 3 - 4 days the battery will be empty.

These people reported a very high, whirring noise inside the player, which is audible even when it should be completely shut down, and which is audible only if you put the device close to your ear. I have this sound also in my player, even when it is off, when I put it to my ear.

I now have contacted the sony technical support and reported this. If I do not get a reaction/solution pretty quickly, I see no other choice than to turn the player in (*sob*), get my money back - and wait for the next model.

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

Do you have this whirring noise also, when the player is (or better: should be) shut down and you put it to your ear?

What is it?
(An nuclear clock? Well, that would at least account for the drained batteries.)

Best regards
Joerg
(Germany)

Re: VAIO BATTERY LIFE

Elkingti — Thu, 13 Jan 2005 18:01:25 GMT

20 hours of battery ?? LOL good joke. 10 hours max.

Re: VAIO BATTERY LIFE

thwi — Thu, 13 Jan 2005 18:10:05 GMT

The wirring sound can be heard on all Vaio Pockets (I have tried quite a few). It is a very, very quiet sound, though.
Basically this means - I believe - that the Vaio Pocket stays in some kind of standby mode (probably to reduce the startup time).
Therefore I basically put the device back into the docking station every once in a while. After a couple of weeks I managed to get a decent playing time and was able to prevent the battery from going completely down.
Further opinions would be appreciated, though - especially to figure out the exact reason WHY this sound appears.
Cheers,
Thomas

High Frequency Whine

Automan — Thu, 13 Jan 2005 19:22:49 GMT

Yes, the device does in deed make a very high frequency whine when switched off.

I don't think it is the hard drive but part of the regulated power supply system which is on all the time draining the battery - all but slowly.

When you turn the unit off it must be like when you turn your TV off by the remote. Some of the TV is still powered up so it can see the command from your remote.

The VP must be the same but with very poor power management when it looking for play to be pressed on the remote or the slider switch to be pushed to on.

The only solution is thus to put the device on charge all the time you are not using it.

Automan.

Re: High Frequency Whine

nemo66 — Fri, 14 Jan 2005 08:00:03 GMT

Automan.....WRONG!!!!

THE REAL SOLUTION IS TO:

-KICK ASS SONY FOR NOT FIXING THIS ISSUE!!!

We shall email hard times the SONY-SERVERS till they fix the battery drain!!!
We paid hard-earned money and get an unfinished product!!!
It´s not fair....the whole system is not fair!

Illuminatus!!!

Re: High Frequency Whine

diverse — Sun, 16 Jan 2005 20:05:55 GMT

Any update on this?

whenever i leave my unit alone, ie don't use it the battery drains completly!

I tried an Archos video unit with 80gb drive, left it alone for several weeks and the battery was 100% full!

This draining issue occurs on the Ipods so no VP bashing from Ipodders, plus we can play gapless music without the need to convert an album to a single track!

Re: High Frequency Whine

blackup — Sat, 22 Jan 2005 19:22:51 GMT

I have the same problem. After 2-3 days without using it. I have to set the time, date and calibrate the g-sensor system again!!!

I am an electrical engineer, I can explain what is happening, but I won't. I don't really care.

This matter shows the inability of the designers of this model. It's quite idiot for a system to consume so much power when it is off or on any type of standby mode!!!

Apart from the fact that it is anti-ecological! We paid for the pocket, we pay the bill for the current and we consume the energy sources of the planet, and all these for something we don't use! All this happen when we don't use it!!!!

Re: High Frequency Whine

JoergK — Mon, 24 Jan 2005 10:53:19 GMT

So, now I tested it:

Wednesday, January 12 I charged my VGF-AP1 over night, and took it from the station Thursday morning.

In the following days each morning I checked the battery status, i.e. I turned it on for a few seconds, just long enough that the battery indicator appeard on the display, and then turned it "off" again. I did not use it otherwise in all that week.

Friday: Battery 100%
Saturday: Battery 100%
Sunday: Battery 100%
Monday: Battery 95%
Tuesday: Battery 50 %
Wednesday: Battery 25 %
Thursday: Battery 25 %
Friday: Battery 25 %
Saturday: (DEAD)

So, charged full and turned "off", my device discharges itself in about 8 days, that is about 200 hours.

So, even turned "off", in about 10 hours the device consumes as much energy as in playing 1 hour of music. If I would listen 2 hours of music a day, in the remaining 22 hours it would consume about another 2 hours, so even if the battery would be true to the "20 hrs" promise, this would amount to about 10 hrs of music in 5 days (+ another another 10 hours consumed while being turned "off" 100 hours) , after which the battery would be empty.

Now, it would be very important to me to know, if this is correct, or if I do have a somehow defective device. (I contacted Sony Support on this issue, but they obviously do not deem me worthy an answer. Got my money in your pocket, eh?)

In other words: Is there somebody, who turned his/her VGF-AP1 off, put it away, and 2, 3, 4 weeks after when he turned it on again, it worked?

I really tried to inform myself before I bought it, among various internet sites in stereoplay 1/2005, and nobody mentioned this flaw. I can hardly believe, that a construction flaw like this escaped the attention of the testers.

By the way: Somebody mentioned that the Ipod discharges itself as well?

Re: High Frequency Whine

diverse — Mon, 24 Jan 2005 13:08:33 GMT

The ipod does discharge itself, the main reason for getting rid of it (& no gapless p!ayback, poor sound and apalling battery usage time!)

Problem here is Vaio support or lack of! In the UK they want £'s to just talk to them when the item has a basic design flaw which is plain wrong and goes against the consumer laws that protect us here in the EU!!

Re: High Frequency Whine

diverse — Wed, 26 Jan 2005 17:01:26 GMT

UPDATE

Spoke to SONY, PV should last for 10+ days before it fully discharges, which still means it uses 10% of usual power for doing nothing which is just WRONG in my opinion!

I don't care about timing or prior usage!

The HD1 & 3's allow you to switch off battery to preserve it!

I want to be able to fully shut down and preserve unit otherwise i am having to do full charge cycles of my battery when i am not getting the benefit!

Have been advised to press reset button and do overnight charge, otherwise it's going in for a new battery but from what i gather from other users this is not a battery issue, it's a power discharge issue which is not related, they need to reduce the battery load when off to 0!

Battery Life

kamtung — Fri, 28 Jan 2005 18:58:27 GMT

The Sony Vaio Pocket discharges slowly - and it varies player to player. Mine discharges over a period of 3 weeks (approximately 20 days), and the battery lasts from 18 hours - 23 (continuous with occasionaly fiddle with the screen turned off). Note that when the message shows "Battery Low" - the unit can actually last for another 45 mins with the backlight turned on.

Because the Sony Vaio Pocket uses an inbuilt Li-On battery, you have to drain it once a month - and yes, it takes 6 hours to charge by the mains (with it turned off). But note that other mp3 players, such as Samsung-Napster's take 8 hours to charge and only lasts 12 hours! The Apple iPod takes 4 hours to charge by FireWire and 8 by USB. Creative Zen Xtra takes 5 hours, Zen Touch 4 hours by DC, 8 hours by USB - and it must have 25% battery remaining to charge by USB.

I'm quite satisfied with the Vaio Pocket's battery life - and believe it or not, it does last more than 16 hours - the minimum!

Creative mp3 players have complete shut off (eg the whole unit is turned off) when the player is left idle for 2 days. Hence after 24 hours of being turned off, the whole player goes to shut down instead of sleep mode. Therefore instead of a quick startup (3 seconds), it takes about 12 seconds for the mp3 player to start, warm up, load all the data, etc.. :smileygrin: