Nothing beats a MonPaq...

[Blatty]

...when it comes to battery life. I took my 3135 with me on vacation. I was gone a total of 10 days. Used it for reading, games, music. Never charged it while I was gone. The battery meter never fell below 40%. Truly amazing.

Are there any PPC's out there that can come close to this battery life out of the box? What are the best ones, either current or older models that are still be sold?

[LambdaFox]

I wish someone would do a battery life torture test comparing some of the latest color models against the monPaq. I'd really like to know how close the new batteries, cpu's etc. have brought them to the life of our trusty devices.

[palm4x]

Dell's Axim X5 will start at $199 and offer dual slots, backlit transflective screen, 64mb RAM/48mb ROM, and offer the choice of a removeable 3400mAH battery.

Maybe I'm just bitter that I lost my chance to get a $150 3135, but I'm glad the torch will be passed on to Dell.

[LambdaFox]

Originally posted by dom
Dell's Axim X5 ...

I have to admit that even I have been looking seriously at the Axim. It meets every spec of "my next pda", except one. I wish that the built in SD slot were SDIO compliant. I'd really like to be able to add a bluetooth SD card to connect it with a wireless phone in the future, w/o having to use the CF slot. For this reason I may wait until the wireless enhanced models come out next year.

I'm also wanting to see what it looks like with the extended battery connector, before I jump in.

I really wish they'd make one with the same specs, but add SDIO compliance and a greyscale screen... but, I know that isn't likely to happen.

[psych1]

I guess I'm going to have to take a look at the Dell. But, I certainly agree with Blatty. I still haven't seen any reason to give up my 3135 and have lots of reasons to keep it.

It is like my old Dodge Dart was with 250k miles running like a swiss watch. I finally gave it away & got a Saab that was sleek but trouble.

I do love super hi-tech latest first-on-the block stuff but there sure is something to be said for reliable and dependable.

[JuryDuty]

Battery life is sure the major advantage of a 3100 unit. A 3600 unit will conk out after less than a day's use. The 3100 can last many days--amazing!

[imported_heov]

I'm curious to, how long does it last when compared to an iPaq 3900 or HP Jornada 568?

[0212353]

I just ordered the new Dell....only bad thing - won't get the thing until December 13th!! Time to retire the 3150. It made a great first PPC.

[The Big Jay]

Originally posted by LambdaFox
I wish someone would do a battery life torture test comparing some of the latest color models against the monPaq. I'd really like to know how close the new batteries, cpu's etc. have brought them to the life of our trusty devices.

www.pocket-gizmos.com

HP 1000cx beats it by twice the battery life

[LambdaFox]

Originally posted by The Big Jay


www.pocket-gizmos.com

HP 1000cx beats it by twice the battery life

LOL, yes, and it's running DOS 5.5 on an 80x25 text screen!

If you look at the tests that are there, you'll see (I think) that the iPaq 3100 is the best bang for the buck. It has a nearly identical battery life to the Palm V, but has much greater screen resolution, just to name one example.

Unfortunately, the site has not evaluated any of the second generation PPC's with xscale processors and "improved" batteries. I'd like to see how close they come to the 3100. The HP's they show are only about half the battery life with no backlight and one quarter the battery life with the backlight on. Reality is probably somewhere in between as, I think most color users operate with their backlight on "often", while most greyscale users operate with their backlight on "seldom". This was the difference when I chose my iPaq 3100 and had a lot to do with that choice.

The newer PPC's are promoting better battery life, and I'd like to see how close they have gotten. Having used a Handspring, I still think the 3100's battery life is just tolerable. Although I have been jealously eyeing the new Dell's built in slots (i.e., no sleeves), I'd be sorely disappointed if their battery life was similar to that of the HP's originally tested there.