I recently bought an 8GB Sansa Fuze for my sister, but it seemed the battery was draining too fast (we’d only get about 10-12 hours from it). So we returned it and the new one works better but still doesn’t come close to the 24 hour mark specified. We get about 15-17 hours with this one.
All the tracks on the player are MP3 at 256 kbps with the volume at about 55-60%. We did a drain test where we just let the player run through the library on shuffle (all files MP3 at 256), only checking the screen maybe 4-5 times total, with brightness at 40% and 10 second backlight.
I read on the “Anything But iPod” forums that people get around 20+ with a similar setup. Could this battery also be defective or is this pretty normal life?
Message Edited by UssjTrunks on 07-31-2009 08:21 PM
People over at ABI are quite accurate, so I would trust what they say. I have not did a time check myself as I am not too concerned with it unless it seems very low.
Make sure your Music EQ is set to Normal for max battery life. Any other setting will use the DSP (digital sound processor) and drop your playback time due to the processor running constant.
My guess is that 18 hours is quite good with minimal screen use, mid volume level, no EQ, short screen timeout and 256k MP3 or VBR around 200 MP3.
People over at ABI are quite accurate, so I would trust what they say. I have not did a time check myself as I am not too concerned with it unless it seems very low.
Make sure your Music EQ is set to Normal for max battery life. Any other setting will use the DSP (digital sound processor) and drop your playback time due to the processor running constant.
My guess is that 18 hours is quite good with minimal screen use, mid volume level, no EQ, short screen timeout and 256k MP3 or VBR around 200 MP3.
These were my findings over there…easier to find than the ones I posted here.
Do you think that 256 kbps could account for the fewer 3-5 hours I’m getting on mine? I’ll do a drain test with your exact settings (or as close as I can get) today and see what I get. 15-17 is fine for me (I’ve never done a drain test on my iPod Classic, it just feels like it lasts long enough), but my sister wants the maximum life out of this.
Message Edited by UssjTrunks on 08-01-2009 12:33 PM
Do you think that 256 kbps could account for the fewer 3-5 hours I’m getting on mine?
It could. Remember, SanDisk’s ‘specs’ estimate the playback time using 128 kbps .mp3’s with the EQ at 0 and no button-pushing or back-light on for the duration of the ‘test’.
It took my 4G about a dozen or so charge cycles to get the capacity up to the advertized time. First few times it was discharging pretty fast. This is typical for rechargable batteries. Let it charge completely, then let it discharge completely (just don’t turn it off). Deep cycle it a few times and it should be fine. Try not to recharge it until it’s almost totally discharged.
The screen is the largest power consumer on the player. If you set the backlight to its lowest setting the power off to its lowest setting, and the equalizer to flat, then using moderate volume you might get 20 hours or more with minimal pressing of buttons. The 24 hour figure is for 128 kbps and just letting the player play through withought pressing any buttons. Also when a player is new the battery won’t achieve its full capability until after a few charge cycles.
