Is it 'OK' to leave a PDA on all night?

[Cerebrious Genius]

More specifically: Will it hurt my battery if I leave my TX on through the night with power coming to it? (while its running some kind of 'clock' screensaver)

Probably more efficient to just use an alarm, but I still wanna know.

Thanks

[Hook]

Should be fine. I think many people use their PDAs as bedside clocks. Was easier when they came with cradles.

[Cerebrious Genius]

Okay. Thanks! I now have a new matrix clock!


Nine: don't worry. Because of my grunginess, I'll just use my natural source of methane to power it.
Just kidding! Just kidding!



Oh yeah: The matrix clock works fine on my PDA for some reason. Seems to have a bad reputation for the TX. Should I be running it while I am 'on the quest for a stable pda'?

[Hook]

Ummm.... probably not.

[jigwashere]

When running your PDA for long periods of time, whether plugged in or running from battery, take its temperature now and again. If it's getting hot, that's not ideal for the battery.

[holvoetn]

There would not be a problem as such for the battery, but the screen will wear out more.

[rblanco10]

More specifically: Will it hurt my battery if I leave my TX on through the night with power coming to it? (while its running some kind of 'clock' screensaver) Probably more efficient to just use an alarm, but I still wanna know.

Couldn't you set the screen of the Palm TX to turn off after a certain period of time of inactivity. For example you leave your Palm TX in your screen saver mode, then after a certain amount of time the Palm TX eventually shuts off the screen as you are already asleep. That way the screen is not on all of the time and doesn't wear out.

Nightly I dock my Palm TX in a Palm Cradle and use it as an alarm clock. I am using an application called "LookAtMe" to launch "pTunes" to play music to wake me up at a certain set time in the morning. There are other software apps that do the same and more.

I just dock my Palm TX, the screen turns off after a certain amount of time and the Palm TX continues to recharge throughout the night. In the morning the Palm TX wakes up upon the software settings in the LookAtMe program and I awake to my favorite music.

You could do the same with applicable automation/macro software for the Palm TX, you could set a wake up time to reactivate your screen saver (and/or alarm) as you wake up.

[SGosnell]

Heat kills batteries. If it stays very warm to the touch for a long time, its capacity is being decreased. The charge circuit should prevent this, but it doesn't always.

[palmgeek5394]

Okay. Thanks! I now have a new matrix clock!


Nine: don't worry. Because of my grunginess, I'll just use my natural source of methane to power it.
Just kidding! Just kidding!



Oh yeah: The matrix clock works fine on my PDA for some reason. Seems to have a bad reputation for the TX. Should I be running it while I am 'on the quest for a stable pda'?

The screensaver itself works fine, but apparently the majority of alarms/events (especially a DB Cache flush) will cause it to crap out, because it's pre-NVFS.

[Gregte]

One thing the TX (and most PDAs) are intended to be used for is reading, which can mean the unit is on for hours at a time. Movie watching also can have it on and working hard for hours at a time.

My belief is that you can leave your TX ON 24/7 and it will still last longer than you will likely want to continue using it. I think the the hardest thing on PDAs is the carrying and handling of them, including pushing buttons, writing on the screen, plugging and unplugging stuff etc. Simply being turned ON is 'easy street' by comparison.

I would also think that a clock program would be such a small load on the CPU that the heat generated in the TX would be less than the heat it gets living in your pocket all day long.

Also, LCDs will last about as long in the ON mode as the OFF mode. Take the case of your wristwatch's LCD and all the clocks, micowave ovens etc., that have LCDs on 24/7. The LEDs that light the LCD of the TX should also last indefinitely. LEDs are not the same technology as the limited life span CCFL backlight of most laptop computers. LEDs don't wear away with use as do incandescent lamps and florescent lamps.