Psion Teklogix 7535 User Manual page 76

Chapter 3: Getting To Know Your 7535
Monitoring The Battery And Maximizing Run Time
To maximize the run time of your batteries, consider the following:
• The display backlight is the largest drain on the battery. Try to keep its
brightness as low as possible.
• The hand-held is 'event' driven – that is, when the unit is not in use, it
reverts to sleep mode (even when it appears to be running), saving battery
power. Events include a key press, touchscreen taps and scan triggers.
Power consumption is reduced if you avoid unnecessary events, and allow
the unit to sleep as much as possible.
• The 7535 battery is a 'smart battery' with built-in intelligence. The taskbar
battery icon is a linear gauge used to estimate the remaining run time of the
battery. It is important to note that the battery capacity icon displays quarter
percentages of nominal capacity (the capacity of a new battery). An aged
battery, even when fully charged, shows somewhat less capacity than
nominal.
Double-tapping on the battery icon displays a dialogue box that provides
detailed information about the battery status and performance. If the
remaining capacity indication seems inaccurate, the battery may need recal-
ibration. Recalibration requires that the battery be fully charged, discharged
and then charged again before use. If the battery is fully discharged and
charged on a regular basis, recalibration should not be necessary.
• When the hand-held is switched off, it goes into a low-power, suspend state
but continues to draw a small amount of power from the battery. This
should not be an issue unless the unit is left in suspend state for more than a
week – in this case, the battery should be removed.
• Batteries left for durations of more than one or two months should be fully
charged, discharged and then charged again before use. This recalibrates
the gas gauge and allows the internal electronics to determine the actual
capacity of the battery.
• The hand-held can determine when the useful life of the battery has expired
and will notify the user. Chargers may reject batteries that have exceeded
their lifespan.
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Teklogix 7535 Hand-Held Computer User Manual