T3 and Daily Use

[hulbdo]

I've been reading a lot of posts on varying degrees in which the T3 battery can last. I'm looking at getting a T3 due to its small size and features and plain to use it for medical school. Do you guys think I'll last through a day of periodically check it to enter data or to look up stuff?? Or should I be looking for another PDA instead??

[lweisbrod]

I am an MD and I consult my T3 countless times a day, for scheduling, referring to notes, spreadsheets, etc, and battery life is fine for this. The only problem may be if you want to take a lot of notes (continuously) in lectures/rounds. I have even used it at conference lectures, but only to take occasional notes.

[Peppy]

hulbdo,
what you described should be fine. I use my T3 daily for a lot more then what it sounds you are looking to do and the battery lasts just fine. I just have to remember to charge it at night.

Also, if you do want to take notes in class or do more than what you described then you should get a Palm Power To Go charging sled. They are sleek, and can make your T3 last around 12 hours. Check out ebay for the best prices. I got a brand new one for $50 and I've seen them cheaper since.

Peppy

[xfile]

Peppy,

What kind of life do you get in actual use of the sled? Do you have the Palm sled, or a generic one? I have a T2 and a T3 and am taking a trip in March, so I'm thinking plane, and travel and stuff. Any help will be appreciated...

X

[madkins007]

And of course- the usual battery saving tips:

1. Turn OFF Bluetooth and Beam Recieve

2. Turn brightness down to the lowest you are comfortable with

3. Minimize card use. If there is a program you are running off a card, no big deal, but reading a book or finding photos on the card will eat computing cycles.

4. Minimize games and activities that require a lot of screen redraws and processing. Anytime you see a 'thinking' or 'wait' message, you are sucking juice.

5. If necessary, set all hardware buttons so they don't activate the screen.

6. Alarms are double trouble- lots of scan cycles checking to see if it is time yet, AND the alarm itself, especially if it vibrates also!

[jkevinwolfe]

I broke down and bought power to go. It holds a little more than a full charge (from dead) for a T2. There are many chargers out there that use 9V and 4 AAAs. Sadly I found that most of these can only charge my T2 to 20% - 40% power. Power to Go seem to be the best option at this point, despite it's price. But since it follows the Palm standard, hopefully it will be usable on future units.

[Peppy]

Originally posted by xfile
Peppy,

What kind of life do you get in actual use of the sled? Do you have the Palm sled, or a generic one? I have a T2 and a T3 and am taking a trip in March, so I'm thinking plane, and travel and stuff. Any help will be appreciated...

X

When it was brand new I tested it out and it could completely recharge my T3 (whose battery I let get down to about 30%) twice.

But honestly I never use it this way. I usually use my T3 all day at work and it will be at 40% or so. Then I get in my car to drive to class (about 35-40 min) and I have my T3 in the sled, attached to speaker, playing audibles.

By the time I get to class the T3 is fully charged.

Then I type away all through class and life is fine. If it is a double class night I put the T3 back into the sled before the second class starts and type as it charges. Each class is 2 hours and 15 minutes long. And I type with my wireless keyboard pretty much non stop.

Then I am able to use the T3 (without the sled if I wish) to listen to audibles during my 45 minute drive home.

Then I recharge them both, in seperate cradles, at home all night and start all over again the next day.

Oh, and I have the sled that is actually made by Palm. No generic.

jkevinwolfe (I think that was your name) I get a lot more then one full charge off of the sled with my T3.

Oops I say above you can get 12 hours with it? I think I goofed my math. If the T3 gets 3 hours, and you can fully charge it twice off the sled then that would be more like 9 hours wouldn't it? Sorry, I think I had it in my head you could charge it 3 times. What the heck was I thinking!

Of course, this all depends on what you are doing with your T3. Listening to MP3's while bluetooth surfing the web with your backlight on full would not lead you to the kind of numbers I am describing.

[klw]

Yesterday I had my T3 at an all day security symposium. It got heavy use: email downloading, IM conversatons, note taking with my UTK, and constant checks to the radar map at pda.accuweather.com (it was snowing in Green Bay and we were very worried about the drive back to Milwaukee). With lightspeed running Wordsmith and Verichat at 65mhz, I was able to make it through the entire day with only a single recharge from my power2go sled.

I cuncur with a previous poster who said the P2G sled can recharge a T3 twice btw.