[Delirious D]

My BF has a Toshiba Thrive tablet (Android), that he NEVER has turned on. Sometimes I ask to play with it (Yes I said play because it seems that all we really use it for, games) and I always have to wait for it to boot up. I ask why doesn't he just leave it on. He explains how its a battery kill, then tells me how its good to recycle the device battery by turning it off every day. (Not sure if that's true or not. But it got me wondering how many of you actually turn off your Playbook everyday? Or only turn it on when needed?

I never turn off my Playbook unless its an update or battery dies. I have had my Playbook going on 11 months and it still runs like a champ. It just seems way too inconvenient to wait for it to boot up (especially how long it take Blackberry Devices to boot up) I don't use my PB everyday but when I do need it its on and battery is still green even after a few days of collecting dust on my night stand. Quick swipe of the screen and I'm ready to go. I rarely turn off the wi-fi and its always on bluetooth bridged to my BB.

So my question is...
1. Who actually turns off their PB when not in use?
2. And who actually turns it off everyday?

Sent from my BlackBerry 9930 using Tapatalk

[peter9477]

Your BF is likely basing his claims about the battery on obsolete information, from other battery technologies that used to be all we had. With most forms of lithium batteries, which I'm pretty sure his Thrive would use and which the PlayBook does use, there is no longer any form of "memory", and aside from never discharging it below a certain lower voltage limit, there's next to nothing you can do to it that would kill the battery. And even that excessive discharge is almost impossible to do: the voltage involved is well below the "0%" level at which the device turns itself off, and unless you left it off for months after discharging it that far, you're unlikely to be able to get it anywhere near that level.

Rest assured that you can leave your PlayBook on all the time, and that's what I'm pretty sure the majority of us do. Just be sure to recharge it whenever it gets too low, and you're fine.

[Delirious D]

Your BF is likely basing his claims about the battery on obsolete information, from other battery technologies that used to be all we had. With most forms of lithium batteries, which I'm pretty sure his Thrive would use and which the PlayBook does use, there is no longer any form of "memory", and aside from never discharging it below a certain lower voltage limit, there's next to nothing you can do to it that would kill the battery. And even that excessive discharge is almost impossible to do: the voltage involved is well below the "0%" level at which the device turns itself off, and unless you left it off for months after discharging it that far, you're unlikely to be able to get it anywhere near that level.

Rest assured that you can leave your PlayBook on all the time, and that's what I'm pretty sure the majority of us do. Just be sure to recharge it whenever it gets too low, and you're fine.

Thank you for the info.

Sent from my BlackBerry 9930 using Tapatalk

[tarektoverso]

It's like turning off our phones to save the battery...

[zorecati]

Your boyfriend is basing his information on sound internetz resourzes. I don't turn any of tablets off. I really don't think they were designed for that with the exception of knowing that I wont be using it for some time.

Thinking about it some more, the exception is my Thinkpad Tablet. I'm simply afraid it will explode while I sleep so I turn it off for safety sake.

[Delirious D]

It's like turning off our phones to save the battery...

Hahah. Love it..

Sent from my BlackBerry 9930 using Tapatalk

[tarektoverso]

IBM /LENOVO have such an ugly design... Designed for the 60's.

[Delirious D]

Would you guys be shocked if I told you he was a Network Admin for one of the Military bases. I guess just because you know PCs doesn't mean you know portable technology.

Sent from my BlackBerry 9930 using Tapatalk

[NoraMelua]

I turn it off before going to bed, just to be able to clean the screen as perfectly as possible. I turn it on again in the morning while making coffee. But then again I'm German and German people do strange things like eating Wiener Schnitzel and Sauerkraut all day while invading other countries.

[tarektoverso]

Would you guys be shocked if I told you he was a Network Admin for one of the Military bases. I guess just because you know PCs doesn't mean you know portable technology.
..

I hear ya. I used to fix computers problems ( OS issues) for Software developers.

[Edge of Night]

I toss mine into Airplane Mode when not using it which turns bluetooth and wifi off. It'll go a full day with maybe 2% battery loss.

[Chrysalis1156]

I turn it off before going to bed, just to be able to clean the screen as perfectly as possible. I turn it on again in the morning while making coffee. But then again I'm German and German people do strange things like eating Wiener Schnitzel and Sauerkraut all day while invading other countries.

Me too. I know it's not necessary but I turn it off at night, usually after it falls forward and smacks me in the face cuz I fall asleep reading. My pb has always run flawlessly and I figure if it's worked for over a year, I'm not changing my routine. It boots up while I'm making my coffee and stays by my side all day long. I'm part German and Hungarian - am I sensing a pattern here?

[NoraMelua]

Me too. I know it's not necessary but I turn it off at night, usually after it falls forward and smacks me in the face cuz I fall asleep reading. My pb has always run flawlessly and I figure if it's worked for over a year, I'm not changing my routine. It boots up while I'm making my coffee and stays by my side all day long. I'm part German and Hungarian - am I sensing a pattern here?

Hahaha, quite possibly so!

[Malicab]

I only turn mine off when the battery is low and I want a quicker charge. (I assume this will be quicker than leaving it on) I am 100% Scottish and like to save money.

[pacoman03]

I generally turn my PB off every night. Frankly, Peter's answer above makes no sense to me, especially if you are the Battery Guru guy. Why does Battery Guru show your battery recharge count, and are you telling me that a year old battery showing a recharge count of 200 should hold the same charge and have the same health and remaining life of a similar year old battery showing a recharge count of 40? By leaving one's PB on all of the time, especially on battery power as the OP seems to do, it would seem to me that this can only result in bumping up the recharge count versus a PB that was powered off when not in use.

[anon5129477]

Some network admins are all software guys and hate the thought of actually working on Hardware or getting into hardware function. They think its beneath them. So im not surprised.

[PyroJames]

I actually leave my PB on all the time but I guess I should turn it off at night when I'm sleeping. Turning it off would definitely help my PB's battery charge last longer when I'm using it during the day.

[Delirious D]

Some network admins are all software guys and hate the thought of actually working on Hardware or getting into hardware function. They think its beneath them. So im not surprised.

Sounds about right. So I enjoy schooling Mr Smarty Pants in the arts of cell phones and tablets. LOL


Watching nerdy BF's jaw drop as I speak cellphone gibberish = PRICELESS


Sent from my BlackBerry 9930 using Tapatalk

[taz323]

I have 2 PB, my 16g I only use occasionally so I don't power on till needed, my 64gis on all the time and use it every day, and don't have any issues with the battery.

[Sir_Loin]

I leave mine on pretty much all the time. It has also become my default alarm clock (Antair Nightstand) and white noise generator (Silent Noise), so it stays on all night in the quick charge holder. Even if that kills the battery faster, I don't care. The point of the device is to use it. If it wears out faster, I'll just get another.

[joshua_sx1]

I am a Filipino... and in Philippines, electricity is costly... I grew up in a culture where electric conservation is a way of life... and even I'm currently working in Middle East, where electricity is damned cheap, I had that "way of life" with me... so I'm turning "off" everything, when not in use, or in case of my PB, when I will not use it for a longer time... and I believe, it prolong the life of PB battery since you'll have lesser charging needed compare with those PB's that is always "on" due to power drop-out... and less charging means less power (electric) consumption... and less power (electric) consumption means less requirement of burning fuel, and so on... until it tell us that we are also saving and conserving our environments... it may look insignificant on individual point of view but by volume i.e. considering the number of people using electronic devices, it will have a great impact...

To summarize, I guess there is more benefits if we are turning off, not only our PlayBook when we will not use it for a longer period of time, but as well as our other electrical and electronic devices...

[peter9477]

I only turn mine off when the battery is low and I want a quicker charge. (I assume this will be quicker than leaving it on) I am 100% Scottish and like to save money.

The assumption is mostly wrong, I'm afraid. The device actually turns itself on when you plug it in to charge it, so if you're comparing your approach (turn off, plug in, let it charge, later turn it "on" again) versus what most of us do (put it in standby, then plug it in), you'll find there's basically no difference in charging time.

[peter9477]

I generally turn my PB off every night. Frankly, Peter's answer above makes no sense to me, especially if you are the Battery Guru guy. Why does Battery Guru show your battery recharge count, and are you telling me that a year old battery showing a recharge count of 200 should hold the same charge and have the same health and remaining life of a similar year old battery showing a recharge count of 40? By leaving one's PB on all of the time, especially on battery power as the OP seems to do, it would seem to me that this can only result in bumping up the recharge count versus a PB that was powered off when not in use.

Battery Guru shows the recharge count because the OS supplies that information, and I felt many people might find it useful or interesting, of course.

As for your comparison, a year-old battery with 40 recharges would show very similar health as a year-old battery with 200 recharges. The degradation in these batteries is not solely because of recharges... time plays a factor as well, and not a small one. You know that manufacturers ship the batteries with only about 40% charge, right? That's a fact, and it's because the life of lithium batteries is generally longer if they are stored with a lower charge. Think of it as the average charge playing a key role here.. So now take your PlayBook, which you perhaps store overnight each night almost fully charged, and compare it with the one which is left on all the time, gradually draining to maybe 10% over the course of a few days or a week, at which point it's recharged. Which one has a higher average charge and, therefore, a shortened life compared to the other?

If your PlayBook drains massively each night even when left in Standby, then I wouldn't necessarily recommend you leave it turned on, since it is probably "using up" the battery's life too quickly. For most of us, where a night on standby drains only a few percent, it's certainly not going to have a huge impact on the battery life compared to the usage the thing gets during the day, and when you start to factor in things like what I described above, you quickly realize there's little point in babying the thing... just use it, charge it when you need, and don't worry about it.

Recharge count is not everything and focusing on it as the sole thing to optimize is likely a mistake...

[k_a_s_m_i_t_h]

I turn mine off every night when heading to bed. That is also the only time I charge it (unless it gets an abnormal amount of use throughout the day).

I power down, wipe the screen with the little screen cleaning cloth and plug it in for the night.

[Chaddface]

I generally turn my PB off every night. Frankly, Peter's answer above makes no sense to me, especially if you are the Battery Guru guy. Why does Battery Guru show your battery recharge count, and are you telling me that a year old battery showing a recharge count of 200 should hold the same charge and have the same health and remaining life of a similar year old battery showing a recharge count of 40? By leaving one's PB on all of the time, especially on battery power as the OP seems to do, it would seem to me that this can only result in bumping up the recharge count versus a PB that was powered off when not in use.

I'm sure it would raise the recharge count if you would leave it on battery power ever night but the question is by how much. Certainly not by a 200-40 difference. If you lose a few percent each night then you may have 1 extra recharge per month. So a 12 recharge difference over the year. Over the life of the device I don't see why it would make a difference. I guess we would need to know how much power is lost on power down and reboot then compare the two. The PB must use more power during the reboot process then it does sitting idle.

I usually charge mine overnight and never shut it off unless I'm rebooting because of a problem. I use mine everyday. If I was only using it once a week I would power down between uses.