[mdlug-discuss] Cell Handset Recommendations

[Michael Mol]

On Wed, Aug 29, 2012 at 5:40 PM, Peter Bart <petertheplumber at att.net> wrote:
> On Wed, 29 Aug 2012 16:05:58 -0400
> Michael Mol <mikemol at gmail.com> wrote:

[snip]

>>Otherwise, I have the phone charging whenever I'm in
>> the car or on my computer. Not because the phone strictly needs it,
>> but because I see no good reason not to top off. My wife disagrees,
>> but still leaves hers plugged in while at home or while we're sleeping
>> (she just doesn't top off in the car).
>
>         That's actually the recommended charging  method and I top off
>         my batteries as well. I got my info from
> <http://batteryuniversity.com/learn/article/how_to_prolong_lithium_based_batteries>
> <http://batteryuniversity.com/learn/article/charging_lithium_ion_batteries>
> I finally got my dearly beloved to unplug her notebook when it's
> charged; after several batteries prematurely died and I refused to buy
> more; I'll leave it at that.

Depends on the battery tech and charging hardware, I suppose. The
LG-509 asks the user to unplug the phone once charged to save energy,
but we've never once had a battery die on us or go flat, including the
one that we've actively been using for a couple years, now. I imagine
the protection circuitry in the charger unit of the LG-509 has
something to do with that.

Conversely, the Li-ion workshop batteries I have _must_ be fully
drained after use, or they become effectively useless. I had to pick
up a lantern using the same battery as my drill, so I wouldn't have to
discard a battery after every use of the drill.

>>
>> And, yeah, Li-ion energy density isn't going to get much better for
>> the foreseeable future. They're walking the fine line between powering
>> hungry devices for a decent length of time, and having you walk around
>> with a bomb in your pocket. The trick is finding a device which can
>> charge (or discharge very slowly) while still doing useful things.
>
>         True, at least Panasonic Toughbooks got it further. I get 6-8
>         hours of run time off one charge in a standard battery. Then
>         there's the seeming race to build the thinnest device. Me, I'd
>         rather carry a brick.
>
>> The
>> 500mA limit USB places on that means that the LG-509 sits right on the
>> edge there; if you turn down the screen brightness, you can get away
>> with having Google Navigate running
>> ((GPS+(wifi-for-location))+celldata+screen=juice) while plugged in. I
>> like "Battery Monitor Widget Pro" for monitoring battery
>> charge/discharge rate.
>>
>         I don't actually use a battery monitor. I dim the screens like
>         you do, limit open apps to what I need, turn off wifi/bluetooth
>         when not being used, no screensavers, no animations, no vibrate
>         alerts and so on.

Something to understand about Android: Unless an app specifically has
a background service configured, the app won't consume any CPU cycles
if it's not being displayed. Android is pretty aggressive about
garbage collection, and if an app isn't on display, it's eligible for
no-warning collection. (Apps get notified when they're being
suspended...they're expected to do their serialization work then and
there, in case they get collected.)

So if it's not on the screen (and it's not something designed to watch
for events in the background), it won't be consuming CPU cycles.

-- 
:wq