- Sith_ApprenticeMod Team EmeritusBattery guru is quite a useful tool, and thank you very much to @peter9477 for providing excellent support.
My playbook has been on the stock charger for 2 days and battery guru shows the following:
Battery voltage: 4.21V
Battery health: 87%
Battery: 100%
Charge: 0.00W
Recharge count: 44
Charger type: USB Wall (though i have tried the cradle).
The device has been sitting like this the entire time. I have done hard resets, wiped and reloaded the OS, upgraded the OS/downgraded the OS etc. Funny thing is, it will stay powered on forever if its plugged into the wall, and will shut off completely as soon as i unplug it. Ah the joys of technology. Time to have RIM send me my replacement.Last edited by Sith_Apprentice; 11-04-11 at 07:05 AM.
peter9477 likes this.11-03-11 07:30 AMLike 1 - had the same issue in my second playbook. it will show the charging icon while plugged in but nothing actually happens.
got it replaced and now on my 3rd PB11-03-11 07:58 AMLike 0 -
- This discussion brings to mind a question I've had from the beginning - how long will the batteries on these things last and what happens when they begin to lose the ability to hold a charge? with iPods, for example, you're SUPPOSED to mail it to Apple for a high-priced replacement, but you can also buy a kit with tools and instructions and do it yourself (I did it once on an older model). But I don't see that as likely with something constructed like the Playbook is. So, what's the expected life of these things before they go into landfills as hazardous waste??11-03-11 08:05 AMLike 0
- Sith_ApprenticeMod Team EmeritusI would imagine its likely 1-2 years. As the specs on these devices will change dramatically during that time its very likely you would upgrade/replace the device prior to the battery wearing out.11-03-11 08:22 AMLike 0
- my first one refused to auto-rotate
got that replaced.
after a month, the second one refused to charge
and now all's well on Playbook 16GB The III11-03-11 08:22 AMLike 0 - Sith_ApprenticeMod Team EmeritusYou have quite the luck with these lol.
My first one the camera lense cracked because of my 1 year old (she loves using it) so i had it replaced under insurance via Best Buy. This is the second and i will be getting it RMA'ed so ill be on my 3rd 64GB as well. Meanwhile my wife is plugging away on her first 16GB one with no issues whatsoever lol11-03-11 08:37 AMLike 0 -
I think most people will easily get to 3 years, probably a bit longer, before they'll be at that point. I also think you'll be more likely to want to upgrade to the latest model than to pay even a moderate fee to replace the battery.
If the PlayBook succeeds in the market, however, you may well find third-party replacement batteries available, and the PlayBook's mechanical design likely makes it easy enough that many people could do this at home.11-03-11 10:09 AMLike 0 - I wonder if the reason Research In Motion is no longer producing new BlackBerry PlayBooks at the original manufacturing plant is attributable to defective hardware and/or shoddy manufacturing processes and poor quality control? And yeah the thought of having to send my tablet away for a battery replacement at some time in the future leaves me unimpressed. Would a small removable panel, the size of a matchstick box for instance, on the back of the tablet with spring-loaded releases on either edge been so difficult to incorporate?11-03-11 10:19 AMLike 0
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The current design is just fine, really, given that space is at a premium. The whole back comes off fairly easily, but not so easily that you can do it accidentally. Doors are mechanical failure points, extra cost for something that's almost never needed in most cases, another place for water to leak in when the tablet is placed on a wet surface, and they'd take up some of the space inside that's currently used for other stuff.
As I recall from the teardown pictures, replacing the batteries could probably be done by most people, possibly aided by a small plastic tool that could be shipped with the replacement batteries, in less than 10 minutes.11-03-11 10:39 AMLike 0 - I wonder if the reason Research In Motion is no longer producing new BlackBerry PlayBooks at the original manufacturing plant is attributable to defective hardware and/or shoddy manufacturing processes and poor quality control? And yeah the thought of having to send my tablet away for a battery replacement at some time in the future leaves me unimpressed. Would a small removable panel, the size of a matchstick box for instance, on the back of the tablet with spring-loaded releases on either edge been so difficult to incorporate?11-03-11 10:39 AMLike 0
- 11-03-11 10:58 AMLike 2
- Sith_ApprenticeMod Team Emeritus
But yes, you are correct. Generally battery issue are considered normal wear and tear and not covered.11-03-11 12:55 PMLike 0 - Have you missed all the posts blaming hardware faults for various problems with the BlackBerry PlayBook for some users? While I have not experienced any hardware issues with either of my tablets it does not mean they do not exist; Research In Motion has RMA'd tablets to fix hardware issues. This is one of the motivations for purchasing the third-party insurance for my first BlackBerry PlayBook. I must look into whether I can purchase the same coverage for my newest BlackBerry PlayBook. However, BlackBerry PlayBooks with dirt under the screen or dead pixels should never leave the manufacturing facility. Thankfully, hardware problems are almost negligible though not non-existent. Overall, I am very pleased with the BlackBerry PlayBook hardware. And now that I have a means to remotely access my servers via SSH from the BlackBerry PlayBook using WebShell the utility of this little tablet increases once again. Enjoy!11-03-11 01:44 PMLike 0
- I said QC problems were rare not nonexistent. Really, there aren't that many reports of hardware problems but if one does have one it will more than likely be reported on sites such as CB. Nominal function isn't "news". Cool re your discovering yet more PB utility.11-03-11 01:50 PMLike 0
- I don't know about the battery issue but there are some definite defects including the "pimple on the **** of the pb" aka the swelling or bump on the back. I still don't know what causes it but it canNOT be considered normal. Although I guess rim has told some folks it is normal. Yeah, get a picture of a bottle and display it and the pb can be used as a high tech way to play SpinTheBottle.11-03-11 04:10 PMLike 0
- I have battery guru now on my PlayBook but I cannot get nice graphs. I just get a few dots.
Is it related to the Allow Sleep/Keep Awake choice? Mine is on Allow Sleep.Last edited by jamesbondOO7; 02-27-12 at 05:52 AM.
02-27-12 05:29 AMLike 0 - Battery life of only 1 or 2 years? It damn well better last at least 5 years and this nonsense of a non-replaceable battery does not sit well with me.02-27-12 06:56 AMLike 0
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The PlayBook unfortunately has no mechanisms that would allow us to do better than this for now. "Background services" are not supported, so if the app is not running it cannot record any of the data.
Chaddface's suggestion would be good for other apps perhaps, but Battery Guru's designed to operate identically regardless of your Application Behaviour setting, so it is not necessary to put it into Showcase. Any of the three modes will work fine for it, as it does its thing even in Paused mode and when other apps are fullscreen.
Edit: and no, it's not related to Keep Awake. That feature isn't directly related to anything Battery Guru does, and is provided merely as a convenience or for the rare case it's helpful to use for some battery monitoring task. It overrides the system standby timeout provided the app is visible and active. That's the only thing that does require that you be in Showcase mode most of the time, or at least Default mode but with some part of the window still visible (even if in the thumbnail view).Last edited by peter9477; 02-27-12 at 08:01 AM. Reason: add note re keep awake
02-27-12 07:58 AMLike 0 - Battery Guru's designed to operate identically regardless of your Application Behaviour setting, so it is not necessary to put it into Showcase. Any of the three modes will work fine for it, as it does its thing even in Paused mode and when other apps are fullscreen.peter9477 likes this.02-27-12 08:27 AMLike 1
- The app has to stay running all the time for it to actually log the data. It looks to me as though you are starting it, peeking at the graph, then exiting again. If you do that, you'll see only single dots at each of the times you ran it.
The PlayBook unfortunately has no mechanisms that would allow us to do better than this for now. "Background services" are not supported, so if the app is not running it cannot record any of the data.
Chaddface's suggestion would be good for other apps perhaps, but Battery Guru's designed to operate identically regardless of your Application Behaviour setting, so it is not necessary to put it into Showcase. Any of the three modes will work fine for it, as it does its thing even in Paused mode and when other apps are fullscreen.
Edit: and no, it's not related to Keep Awake. That feature isn't directly related to anything Battery Guru does, and is provided merely as a convenience or for the rare case it's helpful to use for some battery monitoring task. It overrides the system standby timeout provided the app is visible and active. That's the only thing that does require that you be in Showcase mode most of the time, or at least Default mode but with some part of the window still visible (even if in the thumbnail view).peter9477 likes this.02-27-12 01:47 PMLike 1
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Battery Guru identifying bad Playbook battery
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