How does the tablet's battery work? Please help !

[mlegs]

Hello, androidtablets forum !

I just bought a Nook Color e-reader (rooted) and decided to join this forum board because I have a question about tablets. So there goes my first post:
I can see most of the tablet producers all around the world refuse to offer the people who buy these devices, the option to change the battery, if needed. I just missed this aspect when I bought my tablet, but I guess all the tablets are the same at this point of view. Actually, it is possible to change the battery, but it isn't a user-friendly job there, like as changing the battery to a phone / photo camera / mp3 player / laptop etc

So I really am worried because I don't want to throw my tablet to garbage if the battery dies after a few years, like any battery in frequently use. Let's say that, now, there are some places where to buy a battery for my Nook, but what after several years from now? Will I find a battery then, if the one I got now will finally die someday? I am afraid that in some years from now, I will not be able to find this battery model on the market.

In any case, I would like to know a technical thing about the battery: Why are there 5 wires connecting the battery to the tablet? I thought that a battery only has a "+" and a "-" .... Can someone explain me if he knows?

Thank you

 

[J515OP]

Welcome to the forum and congrats on your Nook Color

It is an unfortunate fact that you are going to have to face but these devices aren't designed for the long term. You can fight it all you want but it is going to be just that, a fight. You have noted several of the major issues. The battery life on most of these tablets should be several years though they will eventually wear out. When they do it is very unlikely that you will find a replacement battery for sale for any given tablet model. Because the batteries are not made to be replaceable that means that you can't just buy replacements for swapping in and out. The batteries will either go directly to the manufacturer or to a very limited number of repair facilities instead of for general purchase.

If you do manage to buy a replacement battery now while they are still in production it brings up several other considerations. Will it be worth the cost of the battery compared to the price of a new tablet 3 years down the line? Odds are that the new tablets will have gained significant performance increases by then and apps may not even run on the older hardware. Batteries themselves will also improve. They may be cheaper, lighter longer lasting and faster charging. Is it worth buying one today under those circumstances?

Regarding the connector for the Nook Color. It is more than a charging port, it is a micro USB port and the wires convey data as well as charge. You can find detailed info here: Universal Serial Bus - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

[mlegs]

Hello, thanks for the answer..
I am really dissapointed because I thought the tablet is like a smaller laptop with replaceable battery... but now i find that the tablets are made to run just a few years ... it's kind of weird because, no matter how careful you work with your tablet, someday it will become useless it really doesn't worth spending money on a very expensive tablet at all.. why couldn't they put some AA batteries in these devices instead ?
However, I hope that the tablet will still be usable plugged in to a electrical source, if the battery is dead.
May I ask you what rooted android version you think my nook color device could give me the best performance?
Thank you

Welcome to the forum and congrats on your Nook Color

It is an unfortunate fact that you are going to have to face but these devices aren't designed for the long term. You can fight it all you want but it is going to be just that, a fight. You have noted several of the major issues. The battery life on most of these tablets should be several year though they will eventually wear out. When they do it is very unlikely that you will find a replacement battery for sale for any given tablet model. Because the batteries are not made to be replaceable that means that you can't just buy replacements for swapping in and out. The batteries will either go directly to the manufacturer or to a very limited number of repair facilities instead of for general purchase.

If you do manage to buy a replacement battery now while they are still in production it brings up several other considerations. Will it be worth the cost of the battery compared to the price of a new tablet 3 years down the line? Odd are that the new tablets will have gained significant performance increases by then and apps may not even run on the older hardware. Batteries themselves will also improve. They may be cheaper, lighter longer lasting and faster charging. Is it worth buying one today under those circumstances?

Regarding the connector for the Nook Color. It is more than a charging port, it is a micro USB port and the wires convey data as well as charge. You can find detailed info here: Universal Serial Bus - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

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[J515OP]

It is just the way they make things now days. A disposable society. I suggest using the latest Jelly Bean Nightly ROM (CM10) from CyanogenMod. They seem to run very well. CyanogenMod Downloads. There are several threads in the section Nook Color Technical to help you flash a custom ROM.

 

[mlegs]

well, I don't know about others, but I definitely won't buy the same product again if it dies after 2 years of use :| What a stupid marketing technique is this? Faking the customers ?
I hope someone will start producing some batteries for these devices, even chinesse batteries are better than nothing :|
I have the CyanogenMod 10 for my Nook color, too, but the battery consumes kind of fast, with wifi turned on.. Any tweaks for the battery consumption you know ? For example, is it possible to resize the resolution of the device to 800 x 480 if 1024 x 600 is not necesairry .. I just saw that the display use the most energy of the battery, even with the brightness set to low.

 

[J515OP]

Display will almost always be the #1 consumer of the battery. The resolution doesn't matter, it's all about the back light. The best thing you can do is keep the brightness as low as you can stand. There are several threads about battery saving tips so try a forum search.

Aside from that ROMs can make a big difference in battery use. Particularly when they are still being worked on and haven't been optimized yet or don't have deep sleep enabled. You may also need to reset the battery statistics to recalibrate it so the Nook can see the full battery charge. Even flashing a ROM with less than full battery can throw this off. You may want to fully charge then reflash the CM10 ROM to make sure. The Nook is capable of 8+ hours of use and several days of standby under the proper circumstances. Keep with it and perhaps try a couple of different CM10 ROMs to see if one gives better battery life. I have had my Nooks since launch a couple of years ago and haven't seen a noticeable difference in the battery life due to the degradation of the battery itself.

 

[mlegs]

happy to hear that your battery lasts the same as when you've purchased it.
So you say that the CM10 aren't all the same? How can I see if the CM10 i am about to install is different from my CM10 ?
And what are you doing on your tablet that the battery is capable of 8+ hours ? reading? browsing web? playing?

 

[J515OP]

Jelly Bean ROMs are available on XDA or you can try the CM10 nightlies (CyanogenMod Downloads). Nightlies some times work and sometimes break things so there can be a difference. You might find this helpful for the battery stats (can also be done in recovery) Wipe battery on CM7 SD Card installation - Nook Color Stable Mod - CyanogenMod Forum.

As far as use, generally mixed use consisting of reading, web browsing, youtube, email and texting. Right now on my Nook Tablet, which has been sleeping almost all day I have lost 2% (at 98%) in 6 hours 46 minutes with wifi on.

 

[mlegs]

Great ! My nook color won't resist so much if i do all those (reading, web browsing, youtube ...) actually the battery consumes in 2-3 hours if I browse the net (with wifi turned on of course).
Is there a problem if the battery is at 0 % and I keep the tablet turned off too much? I mean is there anything bad that could happen to the battery if it's left uncharged for a long time ? I've read something here pointing at this subject

http://gnexussolution.blogspot.ro/2013/01/how-long-can-tablet-sit-uncharged-after_19.html

one more thing about this tablet: how do I know if my tablet is sleeping? I have spotted a 9% battery consumption in 2 hours of stand-by mode (black screen) (wifi turned on before it was in stand by) Do I have to turn the tablet off when Im not using it?
Thanks

 

[J515OP]

It is never good to leave lithium ion batteries discharged for extended periods of time. Ideally you should store them at 50%-80% of charge if you are gong to leave it stored for an extended period of time (and powered off). Frequent recharging is also better for these batteries than deep cycling (running them all the way down). You Don't need to turn it off unless you plan on letting it sit for a long time (a couple of days or more) where it won't be charged.


There are plenty of apps in the Play store that will track battery usage. I like GSam (https://play.google.com/store/apps/...?t=W251bGwsMSwxLDEsImNvbS5nc2FtbGFicy5iYm0iXQ..) and Better Battery Stats is supposed to be a good one too.

 

[Greasy]

Beats me why anyone worries about battery life of a couple of years for a tablet! OK, that might be 'cos I use mine as only an accessory rather than a main computing device .. I have desktops and laptops for 'real' computing, the tablet is for 'keeping up' with stuff when away and for simply playing/browsing/entertainment. I guess that I'll want to change it long before the battery fries ..

 

[mlegs]

haha ) that's my problem. I am curious if I am gonna use it so rare that I could totally forget about it and leave the battery uncharged for days / weeks. btw how long does your battery lasts in Stand-by mode?

 

[Greasy]

Honestly don't know, never timed it longer than about 4 hours. I mostly turn it off!

Mind, runtime is only about 2 hours, maybe 1 1/2 if using WiFi ...