Battery Experience Please

[HilltopStudios]

I have had this VTAB for a couple of weeks now and am thinking of returning it but figured I ought to ask some users before doing so.

For the most part I like the unit. Smooth scrolling, fairly fast response and a nice display. The thing I don't like about it is the battery. To attempt better results I turned off GPS, Bluetooth, turned on Wi-Fi only when I needed it, dropped screen brightness to 42% and turned off the unit when not in use instead of letting it go to sleep. From a full charge this netted me a mere 3 hrs 40 min before the 20% recharge nag popped up. I've read here where some get much better results so I'd like to hear from users and their best actual use cycle times (the use timer continues to run while the device is in sleep mode).

Vizio support told me this was normal but I'd rather hear from a collection of users so I can determine if I have a defective battery or not. This will influence my decision as to whether I return or exchange this unit.

Thanks for any help.

 

[jhaynes1230]

This is not normal from my perspective. Mine has been active since 530 this morning with almost constant usage and wifi. After 8 hrs I'm at approximately 50% battery power remaining.

Sent from my VTAB1008 using Android Tablet Forum

 

[SEMIJim]

To attempt better results I turned off GPS, Bluetooth, turned on Wi-Fi only when I needed it, dropped screen brightness to 42% and turned off the unit when not in use instead of letting it go to sleep. From a full charge this netted me a mere 3 hrs 40 min before the 20% recharge nag popped up.

That's not normal... I think. What were you doing with it in that 3-2/3 hours?

I've read books with the Nook app for the entire day (eight hours or better) before hitting the 20% warning. I've run it for two or three hours, browsing and FBing and so-on, then watched an hour or hour-and-a-half of Netflix and had plenty of battery left.

I never turn off the WiFi, and often forget to turn off the GPS. I don't run the Bluetooth, but that's because I don't have anything with which I've successfully paired it.

Jim

 

[HilltopStudios]

That's not normal... I think. What were you doing with it in that 3-2/3 hours?

That is above normal for me. The only things I did was to do a little web surfing, read thru a couple of PDF magazines and maybe a half hour of Angry Birds. No matter what I do I usually average from 3 to 3½ hours of run time. The tech support guy at Vizio said that was probably normal but I also thought they might be told to say that to prevent returns.

 

[marvin02]

I know that I read a book cover to cover in Kindle (about 4 hours) and never got the low battery warning. You might want to try a lower screen brightness setting.

 

[skruid]

If you are read a book or something like that, then you should get eight hours, but if you are surfing the net, playing games or streaming videos, you will only get four or five hours

Sent from my DROID using Android Tablet Forum

 

[rjsteven]

Have you checked to see what's using the battery (Settings, About Device, Battery Usage). Last night was the first I did not recharge and when I checked this morning it showed google maps as consuming 92% of the battery. I don't usually recommend killing tasks, but this is one I would.

 

[Tcsviz77]

Also check how often your email is being checked, if you have weatherbug or something of that nature that connects to the web for updated info change how often it checks that info. I also use a task killer. Some say dont use them with an android device some say do. I have an evo and the vtab1008 and use a task killer on both. I have had both devices since they hit the market and found that the task killer does help with battery life. I get about 4 maybe 5 hours of use before any low battery warning. But I am on the web constantly doin everything music, vids, games, forums, etc.
Games, music, videos these are the top battery hogs that I have found out of every thing that I use my vtab1008 for.

Sent from my VTAB1008 using Android Tablet Forum

 

[HilltopStudios]

Update:

Seems some of these batteries need a bit of conditioning. When I first got this unit I was dropping my first bar of the battery indicator within 10 minutes of full charge use but since then there has been a steady improvement. On my latest charge I didn't lose the first bar until 50 minutes and had 5½ hours of heavy use when the 20% charge nag came on.

True, it does take a good 9 hours to get the charge light to turn green but I know from personal experience that quick charging can help kill a battery faster than anything so I can accept the slow charge method of the Vizio. I still have 9 days before I have to decide but things are looking up.

Thanks to all who chimed in about their battery experience.

Time to head to the Vizio site to prod them about the SD card issue.

 

[droid_dude]

HilltopStudios: am glad to hear that your battery performance has improved over time because my early experience has given me about 3-4 hours of use. Perhaps after a few more discharge/charge cycles my performance will improve.

Thanks for keeping the pressure up on Vizio about the SDcard issue. This is a real "deal killer" for me so I hope that it gets addressed soon..

 

[FanNo301]

Getting 6.5 to over 7 hrs battery. I record the usage data, then do comparitive-analysis to see where the power is going. Launcher, for multi-tasking seems to burn alot. GPS is hungry too. This 20o/o warning is too soon, as is the 8ish o/o kill. Re-charge takes 10-12 hrs to green. That's a deal killer. Vizio is sending me a new transformer/charger. They said it should only take 3hrs to green. If that does't work and I can not close running aps, the back to Sam's it goes! I like the thing, but don't want to tethered to an extension cord. Like this forum!!!

Sent from my VTAB1008 using Android Tablet Forum