Database Users

X1 battery a design weakness

Although there are a few threads on the X1 battery, none have addressed the real issue, in my view.
The 3.7v, 1500mAH battery specified and supplied with the X1 is underpowered for the processor (Qualcomm MSM7200A 528Mhz)
The defining symptoms for this are overheating when:
a) using wifi for over 60 minutes whilst on charge
b) using GPS for over 60 minutes whilst on charge
This 60 minute limit is somewhat arbitrary - it may be as low as 30 minutes, but within 60 minutes the overheating will definitely manifest itself. At the very least, this causes the device to behave erratically and if left unchecked may eventually cause the battery to explode.
I've tried 3 completely new batteries now - all carefully charged overnight before turning on the device in accordance with SE instruction manual. All chargers (both wall and car) have Sony Ericsson stamped all over them, as do the batteries.
I've owned these devices previously, none of which showed this problem:
HP HW6515
HP HW6910
Eten X500
HTC P3600i
HTC Polaris (still used as a totally reliable backup)
Useless to say "don't use wifi, use AS". This comment tacitly admits that my comment is accurate - ie. don't use the wifi for more than say 15 minutes, else the battery overheats
Useless to say "don't use the GPS for more than an hour" - again a tacit admission that the battery/charge system is unfit for its purpose. It has no value when I'm field mapping for 8-10 hours at a time.
My best guess is that the battery is underpowered for the system, so that when a large, constant drain on the battery such as using wifi or GPS is executed whilst charging, the balance of power within the battery is erratic. It certainly charges, but at the expense of heating the battery to unacceptable levels.
It's of interest to note that the original wall charger supplied in the box has a stamped output of 700mAH at 5V, while an SE-stamped spare wall charger I purchased has an output of 300mAH at 5V. It takes longer for the overheating to show on the lower charge rate than the higher, but eventually it does show.
Of course, some will reply "My device doesn't do that, your phone must be faulty" ... to which I ask: "What happens when you leave the device on wall or car charging and use wifi or GPS for an hour or two ?" This is a very specific question and requires a very specific and accurate answer ... not an evasive piece of generalised rhubarb.
I'm looking at two ways to resolve this serious issue, because the X1 as currently constituted is unfit for its purpose:
1) eBaying this and replacing it with an Acer DX900/X960/F900 as my experience with Eten devices have been positive (again, slagging these devices does not address the battery issue with the X1)
2) waiting in the hope that within 6 months or so, MugenBatteries or some other reliable manufacturer will produce a more powerful replacement battery that will tend to overcome the problem
I welcome constructive comments, especially those that read the post before replying. The X1 has some good points of course (eg. abundant Storage/RAM, high WVGA resolution), but the battery issue is a serious, fundamental flaw that makes the device unfit to rely on when in the field.

Perhaps it's your X1 itself? I myself and a couple of friends have X1i's and X1a's and we do not have such a problem.

not necessarily a design fault
saying that its a design fault that your battery warms up is a bit of a sweeping statement. WiFi is notoriously power hungry and just because that device warms up a bit doesn't necessarily mean its going to get worse and worse and explode. if you work on that principle then may be none of us should use wireless routers as they often get pretty warm too - I know mine does!
Also, even if some devices manage to give the impression of being cool, it doesn't necessarily mean they are. they might just have double walling around the batt area, etc.
If you are worried though, go ahead and sell your phone - its only you that looses out!

I've also noticed that it gets remarkably hot when charging but that's when charging from the USB port on my laptop. Haven't really considered how hot it gets when charging from the mains or in my car. Will test it out on a long journey in my car and get back to you.

My X1 works very well and has no battary problem. The durability of the battery is excellent!

If you say excellent, whats been your experience? I have to recharge my phone every second night, at the very least.

No problems here
Can't say I've had any issue with hot batteries on my black X1, my mate who has a silver X1 often mentions that his battery gets very hot.

This is exactly the type of issue that arouses the partisans ...
but the only sensible reply so far was Ruudford, who states he will test his X1 on a long car trip.
That's sensible - I've tried on an 10 hour field mapping trip and in the end had to use the Polaris to maintain mapping data integrity
The exact question is: "What happens when you use wifi or GPS for an extended time (>1 hour at least) while the device is on charge ?"
I've given my results - from three (3) new batteries. These results show that the device is underpowered.
No other answer apart from Ruudford so far has actually addressed this exact issue I've pointed out.

Yes, i completely agree that the phone becomes a bit HOT when using WiFi/GPS while on charger, and really this scared me for a while.
it even get's hotter when using WiFi/GPS and charging through USB Port of a PC!
this is surly serious issue, regardless of the heat that might explode the battery (i think it's still far from that level) but this really might cause some problems internally!
we all know that using hTourch on high beam has melted the LED Base of some devices and dammaged the vibrator (not pointing to hTourch or something, with respect to the great application and the author) but heat is a really scary issue that Might (and i say MIGHT) dammage the X1 on the long run.
how to solve this?
i have no clue, maybe some electonics engineers here will give some explaination of what's going on. after all, i'm just a software developer after all :S
i agree that this must be addressed and attended by SE (replacing batteries/chargers/anything else) or "could it be a software problem?" like the software is utilizing the CPU much to decrypt the WiFi signal? or maybe wasting the CPU cycles?
possible! but not as a hardware hunger for power.
btw,
have you tried to upgrade to R2A version of the ROM?
after all i noticed that in the R2A my battery lasts longer, mybe fixed some high current consumption bugs! the heat is still there but i think (not sure) it's less that before.

if i dont open the keyboard..it relly gets hot on wifi...so much so that i can smell the heat

so what would the ideal battery specs be?
my phone used to get hot but since the rom update i havent noticed it at all.

when your reception is low, your phone get hot easily when surfing internet.. More battery consumption for grab the line.

I have also noted my X1i overheat whilst charging and the GPS/WiFi is on use but considering the power usage by those two functions I assume it is the norm, especially with the X1i having a metal casing which allows the heat to flow more freely from the inside to the outside casing.
Coming back to the first post on here...if you wanted only people who have the same opinion with you to reply you could have at least made it a plain and clear. So dismissing replies that you simply don't like as non constructive is very silly.
If you ask other users about their experience in similar situations, the replies you are going to receive are bound to be different because the variables that come in to play are countless.

ianl8888, my phone has the same problem, now that you have pointed it out! Once or twice when plugged into the wall or charging via USB, I have mistakenly left the WiFi on. The back of the phone gets extremely hot. I haven't used GPS yet.

I have the same problem, about 2 weeks i just travel to the beach and near to 1:30 hr of trip, my mobile stop to work, I do soft reset, and I catch that was really hot, because I'm charging and using GPS at the same time, my mobile is X1a and I have R2A ROM version. I imagine can be touchflow, so I uninstall and leave phone like originally came, but when I return from the beach I have exactly the same problem, I can't do a trip of 2 hours using GPS. I hope some one can find a solution.

so what exactly needs to be done - software problem or battery problem????

Has it ever occurred to anyone that it may be the cooling system in the phone and that it isn't ventilated right? Let's open a few holes in the case and see what happens!

Sfkn2 said:
Has it ever occurred to anyone that it may be the cooling system in the phone and that it isn't ventilated right? Let's open a few holes in the case and see what happens!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
afaik, no phone have ventelation nor cooling system!
Edit : Heat-sink? Maybe but i don't think so! these things are not supposed to generate much heat! too much heat = more wasted energy = lower battery life

Coming from a Nokia 95 that I used to have to charge every 2 days after using it for GPS and WiFi I am totally impressed with my X1i that lasts 4 to 5 days with similar useage.
I remember my first phone (A motorola tac in 1995) that had a battery lasting all of 6 hours...

Well, great times you got. My phone is empty with 3 hours of GPS on.
As to the heating of battery/phone, my phone gets quite HOT outside when I use anything for a period of time (1hour) while NOT on charge.
I am using media player a lot to listen to music and after half an hour the phone becomes hard to hold in the hand because it heats up outside/backside really strong. Again, while NOT on charge, just using the battery power. And frankly that is more of concern that when on outlet power.
I had this with 2 different X1i's and both Silver!

Larger Battery (without larger back plate)

Hi Guys
My friend has a touch HD and recently bought a larger battery from ebay (an 1800mah) but its not one of the larger ones which requires a new expanded back plate for the phone. I was wondering if anything like this was available for the Jade, probably around the 15-1600 mah mark?
Any info would be greatly appreciated.
Jakai

DX have it:
http://dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.27004

Sorry buddy that looks like the same ones off ebay to me, with the larger back plate (making the phone fat!)
I can't imagine the one I'm looking for being over 1800mah or so, due to size. What I'm really after is a more powerful battery but at the same dimensions as the current one.
Anyone else shed any light? To make it more difficult, ideally located in the UK

That is impossible. To get more power the battery needs to be bigger.

nicodbgh said:
DX have it:
http://dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.27004
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Click to collapse
This same shop has a 1300Ma version, looks to be same form-factor
http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.23977

That looks exactly the kind of thing I'm looking for. Now just need to find a dealer in UK or something on ebay. Thanks for your help!

Larger Battery
Let us know when you find a source closer to Europe. I am interested too for a Touch Cruise!

I've bought one off of ebay for about £7 with free delivery from hong kong, with free delivery! not too shabby I'll let u know how it performs once its arrived.

Says in the review on that link that it doesnt last as well as the standard one

It was only cheap so I guess we'll see. The sheer fact that its higher capacity would suggest it will last longer.
I'm expecting delivery hopefully this week but probably mid next week.

I bough some 2500 mAh NiMh batteries off ebay, my charger measured the best ones at 500 mAh, some where only 350 mAh. With batteries, stick to known brands if you want the best performance.
As nicodbgh said, its impossible. The chemistry in a Li-Ion battery requires a certain amount of volume per Ah, this is not going to be improved on, not significantly anyway. New chemistry may come along that is better, but it won't be Li-Ion.

Battery arrived on saturday and I've put it in the phone. The battery looks identical to the standard HTC one (even has the same "HTC Innovation" text on the front) except that its 1300mah (opposed to the original 1100mah)
It took longer to charge (abut 6 hours) but its only the first cycle. I'll use it this week and see if I notice any jump in battery life.

Update
And the verdict is:
Absolutely rubbish! It takes much longer to charge than the standard battery and so far I haven't had more than 1.5 days of use out of it, thats maybe 10 minutes of calls and 5-10 texts, few mins of internet. I have push mail and data connection constantly turned on and usually get around 3 days out of the standard 1100mah.
Bit of a dissapointment as I would have liked extra life (an extra day) but it was only cheap and at least now we all know. I speak on behalf of the larger batteries with the extended back plate but my advice is stick with the original battery over the 1300mah one.
Hope this is helpful to others.

JaKai said:
And the verdict is:
Absolutely rubbish! It takes much longer to charge than the standard battery and so far I haven't had more than 1.5 days of use out of it, thats maybe 10 minutes of calls and 5-10 texts, few mins of internet. I have push mail and data connection constantly turned on and usually get around 3 days out of the standard 1100mah.
Bit of a dissapointment as I would have liked extra life (an extra day) but it was only cheap and at least now we all know. I speak on behalf of the larger batteries with the extended back plate but my advice is stick with the original battery over the 1300mah one.
Hope this is helpful to others.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This is the problem with "no name" batteries. Perhaps it gets better after a few charging cycles.

Solution to Desire HD battery problem

Having tried just about everything to prolong the life of the battery on my Desire HD, I think that I have, at last, found a real solution.
I did not like the idea of buying a spare battery mainly due to the flimsy battery compartment on the phone and the thought of constantly swapping batteries. Swapping batteries would also involve switching off the phone and losing data (for example, if you are using GPS to track your movements).
I have tried lots of software solutions, most of which help to give me an hour or two of extra life. My favourite software solution is Juice Defender, which works well within the limits of HTC's awful battery.
Someone on another thread recommended the TechNet external charger, which packs a 5,000ma charge - enough for four full recharges of the HD phone. It plugs into the micro USB port on the phone and charges the phone as though it is connected to the power supply. It hot-charges, which means you don't need to swap batteries or switch off the phone. The device comes with lots of adaptors to charge lots of different devices. There is also an 11,000ma version... enough for 10 recharges.
Available on Amazon:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B000NDQ92W/ref=oss_product
It also looks good and comes with a travel pouch and is smaller than the HD phone itself so slips into a bag without a problem.

Looks promising. Thanks for the info bobby!

I purchased this before I went back to nz for Xmas. Well worth the purchase, has saved me several times. One thing to be mindful of is that if you accidentally turn it on without realising, the battery will drain, even if its not charging anything.
Sent from my Desire HD using XDA App

Is the battery really that awful? I can use the phone for 24hrs (including stand-by time, 14-16hrshrs of usage time) with wifi, 3g constantly on until I need a charge.
Which is really more then enough time for me in between charges, unless you go on trip for days without access to a computer or an wall socket.
Its nice to have a phone which last for days like the old days, but it really has no inconvenience charging it once a day, right?

+1 , left my phone in work the other day after reasonable useage in the time I was in work 0900-2000, came in the following morning , to find 13% charge remaining and that was in-spite of my alarm going off

I find that if you put your phone in power saving mode, even the remaining 10% can last you for almost a day.
Its quite useful if you know you gonna leave ur phone for a period of time.
Actually it would be quite useful to have a toggle widget to do that on ur home screen instead letting it activating itself below a set percentage. Is there any?

Howdy,
I was so frustrated with the battery usage I nearly ditched the phone. I decided to apply a different rom after reading and considering many posted here I went with Coredroid, which I downloaded from this site. (had the original vodafone rom) Great support and documentation and tons of help if it goes south.
I can say as of now my phone is 5 times at least faster and the battery life has extended 300%.
When you check battery usage the I found the number one battery killer is Display. With Coredroid its about the 5th item on the list. Wireless and bluetooth and the biggest now (if you can call them real big) but they are easy to turn on/off.
I was very nervous about a custom rom but I needed something. I can only recommend you look at other roms apart from you stock one -Im assuming. (Im not sure what warranty etc rules are gone, personally I don't care)
Cheers
Gamma

Yes, that was me, with the external battery pack/charger
Well, it's a heavy phone already, a huge screen to light up and render -it's pretty clear where the power is needed. But would the bulk associated with another 400mah really have tipped the DHD over the edge?
Anyway, it's designed now, and nothing can be done about that. I'm quite happy with it lasting until the night for normal/heavy usage (about 16 hours) - with it's out-of-the-box form factor.
And for those occasions when I'm using GPS tracking apps out in the open for 5-6 hours, broadcasting my location to a website, hooking it up to the external pack (mine is in fact a New Trent one, 5000mah) means it won't drain unexpectedly. That is, with 5000+1260mah combined!
The battery pack provides a "full" charge in about 2 hours, that is just like a mains charger (it is rated up to 1amp output, providing of course whatever amperage the device pulls).

That pack might be a solution for the battery problem, but I still don't think it's enough. I don't think that you should have to buy a portable power pack just for your phone battery to last. The whole point of mobile phones is that you have access to a medium of communication in a remote location. By not making the battery life long on a phone, I reckon HTC are actually limiting its main use. But that's just my 2 cents, and it does depend on how people like to use their phones.

5000 mah is not enough, why not make it larger

Thanks for the info.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/New-Trent-I...rry/dp/B004CHMP50/ref=acc_glance_ce_ai_ps_t_2
New Trent Extreme Pack IMP1000 11000mAh External Battery
larger still

looceci said:
5000 mah is not enough, why not make it larger
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You must love the 1240Ma battery that comes with the phone.

You've enabled USB Debugging, yeah? I get 2 days, and I work in the middle of nowhere. The phone polls for a new cell constantly while I'm in my office.
If signal is good in your area, tell the phone to use GSM or WCDMA exclusively. Otherwise it will switch to whichever has the better signal, which can be problematic is you're in an area with good / poor coverage of both technologies.

I think the polling thing might be a big battery killer. I shall try that.
I friend of mine in the office, use to have a Sony smart phone that barely lasted a day and thats on standby. He ditched that for a DHD. His battery now lasts 4 days plus, with minmal use! Mine on ther other hand with minimal use can give 2days at most.
The difference is that he is on ORANGE and I am on T-Mobile. It must be down to signal strength because he use to be on THREE and the signal strength was very poor at his home location.
BTW, I find that Juice Defender does help and switiching off Flash in the browser.

This charger and the USB-Batteries are the best inventions ever

It would be great if this phone got accessory support like the fruit phone does. An extended battery case would be the most optimal solution to this problem but I haven't heard of any out there yet
P.S send me a PM if anyone finds an external battery case

how is it compare to eneloop 5000mah?

Ah! I need that one for when i go camping

Gutted, but I think this phone is going back...

I'm truly upset about this, because I think this phone is almost marvellous. But in the two weeks I've had it a few horrible problems have emerged, and I can't find solutions.
If anyone can help (REALLY help), I'd be very grateful.
So. Here I go:
1) The antennae (or whatever). I'm sitting here, in my study, which is in my garden, about 60 feet from the house. In the house (right on the kitchen window) I have a wi-fi AP, to boost the signal. In my study I have : a PS3; a desktop PC; a (Samsung) netbook; an iPhone 3gs; an HTC TP2, and the SGS2. Every single device has a good-to-excellent connection. Except the SGS2. Which says "poor", except that most of the time it can't get a signal at all - so that's not even as good as "poor";
2) I took a friend to hospital today. There were three of us in the waiting room. The SGS2 had no (phone) reception. The others did;
3) On the way to the hospital I needed to use Google Nav. I plugged the SGS2 into my car charger. It didn't charge. I've since tried three different chargers (and no, they weren't from Poundland). Same thing. The SGS2 just won't charge in my car if it needs plenty of juice. I've been trawling the webs and this seems to be a common issue - but nobody has a definite answer. I was about to spring for an official Sammy charger, but nobody seems to know for sure if it'll do the trick.
4) The sound isn't great, either in fidelity (and I'm using Shure SE530s, just so you know I care about good sound) or volume. It's tolerable, but only that. No comparison to my little Sansa clip, or even (I hate to say) the 3GS;
5) (though not as much as some, it would seem) the battery life is a bit meh. And I'm not a heavy user.
I read many people complaining about silly little things. A lot of them are down to software or simple ignorance. But a super-smartphone that has poor connectivity and can't be used as a satnav (whilst simultaneously charging). Well, I'm sorry, but...
As I said at the top, I'm genuinely miserable about this. I really, really thought that this was the Smartphone to Rule Them All.
And, again, if anyone can offer me hope that things will get better, please do. Sadly, I think I'll be going back to separate gadgets to fulfill my needs. A phone that works as a phone (and maybe a diary); a satnav that charges in the car; a music player that sounds good. Etc, etc.

ive got a crappy 8-in-1 car charger works fine.

I have none of the problems you said in your post so maybe you just got a **** phone, maybe return it for another.

rojdag said:
ive got a crappy 8-in-1 car charger works fine.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Do you mean it works fine when you're also using satnav? Because there seem to be many, many people whose SGS2 won't charge when running satnav.

That's what I was thinking maybe one problem is tolerable but all those things you mentioned I would've been took that boy back for a swap out. Unless you brought it online.
Sent from my LG-P999 using XDA Premium App

Mitty1990 said:
I have none of the problems you said in your post so maybe you just got a **** phone, maybe return it for another.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, maybe I have a "**** phone". Then again, lots of people seem to be having similar issues. Do you think there was a bad batch? Can you charge the phone in-car whilst using satnav? Is your wifi strength as good as your other devices?
I think I may call Vodafone now and see if a replacement helps. That's if they'll still swap it out.

If you arent happy with the phone, return it/exchange it.
simple as.
As for advice, read the threads.

I also have none of the problems you are suffering. My wifi works as well as any other device I have had. Phone signal is better on the same network a my htc desire. Sound quality is better than my desire. Battery life is so far pretty good and will get better with use and even better once 2.3.4 comes out very soon.
As for your charging issues while using nav this is a common thing with cheap chargers, you might not have got it from poundland but its just not supplying enough juice. Had exactly the same problem when I first got my desire over a year ago, ended up modifying my car charger by soldering the data wires together to force it to max out its current output. Use that same charger for my sg2.

The only problem ive had is the car charger one which i didnt realise untill yesterday. All your other problems dont exist on my phone so mabey exchange it

barneypooch said:
Do you mean it works fine when you're also using satnav? Because there seem to be many, many people whose SGS2 won't charge when running satnav.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
just been out to the car and can confirm, it charges fine with google navigation running - seems to make no difference with mine navigation or not.
keep soldiering on dont give up on yer sgs2 yet!

With reference to the car charger problem while using satnav look at http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=670702&highlight=car+charger&page=2
Thats the thread from the HTC desire doing the exact same thing. If your charger is 1000ma you should be able to mod it or a cable so that it will happily charge your sg2, if not make sure the next one you buy can supply enough current.

barneypooch said:
1) The antennae (or whatever)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The phone seems to have love/hate relationships with different routers. In the way I use it, it works as well as a G2 and G2X connecting in the same locations. I have a beast of a router and what I tend to connect to (airports, hotels, airplanes) have better than average equipment. People have had some luck by replacing their router. If it's software, the imminent 2.3.4. update may help.
The SGS2 had no (phone) reception. The others did
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
There have been various postings on this. People with issues popped another carriers SIM in the phone and in a lot of cases the problem went away. Try replacing your SIM. If the phone's just not good reception wise in the areas you travel or on the network you use you may have to return it.
3) The SGS2 just won't charge in my car if it needs plenty of juice.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I've been using the LG charger from my G2X and it keeps the phone battery-positive using Nav and Bluetooth audio streaming. There's a thread dedicated to this somewhere, do a search.
The sound isn't great I'm using Shure SE530s
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have the same headphones and am quite pleased with the output. I also stream Bluetooth in my car and the phone easily outperforms the G2 and G2X. There's a long thread discussing audio and a couple of folks using Shure's were getting different results. It might be a hardware issue with your particular phone. But, judging audio is subjective so what's good for me may not be for you.
5) (though not as much as some, it would seem) the battery life is a bit meh. And I'm not a heavy user.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
There's an issue with the suspend process in 2.3.3. that drains the battery at idle. The imminent 2.3.4. update should correct this.

I also noted poor wifi signal. Changed my router to a better one and it fixed the issue, however I still have problems in my travels ( hotels, bars, airports ).
Regrading the navigation, I did a total of 2500km ( 2 long trips of 900 km each + other small and medium trips ) with the phone being in nav mode. I had the battery issue you described due to overheating, but as soon as I protected the phone from direct sunlight ( a small piece of paper over it ) or kept a small flow of air on it ( placed it near the AC vent and redirected the flow twoards it ) the issue got resolved. Using a 500mA car USB charger my phone stays cool at about 36 degrees C and the battery gets +1% every few mins ( navigation + wifi tethering on with Kies over wifi activated ). In regards to the software, I mainly use iGo or Copilot.
So solution: make sure you have a little airflow on your phone and a little space between the back of the phone and the phone holder. Satisfy these 2 conditions and you will eliminate the charging problems.

rojdag said:
just been out to the car and can confirm, it charges fine with google navigation running - seems to make no difference with mine navigation or not.
keep soldiering on dont give up on yer sgs2 yet!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for that, mate. Just to say: my phone "says" it's charging in the car; but when I do a drive with the satnav, then unplug the phone, it hasn't actually been charging. Again, I'm not the only one with this problem (or feature).

@azra2k
"So solution: make sure you have a little airflow on your phone and a little space between the back of the phone and the phone holder. Satisfy these 2 conditions and you will eliminate the charging problems."
Thanks for those suggestions. Really, though: why should that be necessary? It's all a bit Heath-Robinson, is it not? I don't have to put pieces of paper over other satnav devices, or lodge them in the a/c vents.
I may buy the official Samsung charger but there are people elsewhere who've had no luck with that.

barneypooch said:
Thanks for that, mate. Just to say: my phone "says" it's charging in the car; but when I do a drive with the satnav, then unplug the phone, it hasn't actually been charging. Again, I'm not the only one with this problem (or feature).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sat nav will max out the phones power draw, reducing charging to a trickle, it's just a case of taking out almost as much as you are putting in.
I find from using wifi analyser on a few devices what Samsung call two bars in signal strength, most other devices call 3.
Not sure why that is.

barneypooch said:
@azra2k
"So solution: make sure you have a little airflow on your phone and a little space between the back of the phone and the phone holder. Satisfy these 2 conditions and you will eliminate the charging problems."
Thanks for those suggestions. Really, though: why should that be necessary? It's all a bit Heath-Robinson, is it not? I don't have to put pieces of paper over other satnav devices, or lodge them in the a/c vents.
I may buy the official Samsung charger but there are people elsewhere who've had no luck with that.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well, I'm sorry, but I find it completely normal to say that some charger we got off eBay, third-party probably that's not even a brand name, isn't capable of feeding our next gen device that has not only a dual core processor, the most ram on the market on any phone, a GIANT screen, not enough dissipation space (for heat) to keep it thin as thin as thin. I'm worried about battery life as well, but oh well. It's the price we have to pay! hehe.

barneypooch said:
And, again, if anyone can offer me hope that things will get better, please do. Sadly, I think I'll be going back to separate gadgets to fulfill my needs. A phone that works as a phone (and maybe a diary); a satnav that charges in the car; a music player that sounds good. Etc, etc.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sorry to hear this...but the problem isn't the "GS2" it's your specific GS2. The vast majority of users have maybe one of your problems, which either fixes it self, or fixed through an update. There are even more, who don't even have any of those problems.
I think that you have a faulty unit and if you are upset, get a replacement, because the GSII is one fine device and capable of doing all you need it to do.

Please read my last post for the correct answer to the satnav power supply problem. It has nothing to do with ventilation and everything to do with the type of charger you are using.
You could buy a 1000ma very expensive charger and it still might not charge your phone when under extreme load. Some chargers will only supply 500ma as that is the max that a usb socket on your motherboard is supposed to supply. Doing the mod I described earlier solves this.

barneypooch said:
@azra2k
"So solution: make sure you have a little airflow on your phone and a little space between the back of the phone and the phone holder. Satisfy these 2 conditions and you will eliminate the charging problems."
Thanks for those suggestions. Really, though: why should that be necessary? It's all a bit Heath-Robinson, is it not? I don't have to put pieces of paper over other satnav devices, or lodge them in the a/c vents.
I may buy the official Samsung charger but there are people elsewhere who've had no luck with that.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I only make sure that the AC is blowing through the defrost holes also... the airflow required is minimum. This applies to all phones and even other dark colored gps devices I owned before... In the summer, the sun heats up the phone and/or gps device a lot. As a test, try leaving the phone in the cradle in the car ( under direct sunlight ) for an hour. The phone can be kept at idle, or even closed. It will heat up a lot... I remember I threw away a compact photo camera cause I forgot it on the dashboard for a day, in the summer (it was pretty much melted and very deformed)...
So a bit of common sense will fix the temperature issues... the charging problems appear due to the temperature issues. If the batter temp is above 50 degrees it will stop charging. When you keep the batter under 50 degrees, a 500mA decent charger will be more than enough to keep the phone running and slowly charge the battery.

24v A/C Adapter Boo-Boo

I made a huge mistake: my external battery (24v a/c adapter) has the same plug size as the Shift a/c adapter (12v). In a tangle of wires, I plugged the 24v adapter into the Shift.
On battery, the machine still works. But the machine won't recognize when it's on a/c.
My amateur guess is that the Shift has some kind of trip (if I'm lucky) or I fried something at the a/c entry (if I'm unlucky).
I've looked at the various disassembles, but I haven't found one that addresses the a/c specifically.
(I took it to a computer shop and they won't touch it)
Any advice, or even a computer shop that can do the work, would be much appreciated.
Jake

jakfish said:
I made a huge mistake: my external battery (24v a/c adapter) has the same plug size as the Shift a/c adapter (12v). In a tangle of wires, I plugged the 24v adapter into the Shift.
On battery, the machine still works. But the machine won't recognize when it's on a/c.
My amateur guess is that the Shift has some kind of trip (if I'm lucky) or I fried something at the a/c entry (if I'm unlucky).
I've looked at the various disassembles, but I haven't found one that addresses the a/c specifically.
(I took it to a computer shop and they won't touch it)
Any advice, or even a computer shop that can do the work, would be much appreciated.
Jake
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hey man
Im sorry to hear that...
I did some searching for you and came to sorta the same thing : http://www.doityourself.com/forum/e...-24v-power-adapter-into-12v-device-kaput.html
They didnt have a good ending.
But dont you have some kind of electrical shop in your area?
Like here in my area we have a electronics store. I goto them alot of times for small repairs. They do PCB's and such. And solder as well. and sell like disco lighting and that kinda stuff.

Hi, and thanks for the link. When I brought the Shift to the local computer store, the owner said, "It can't be fixed without the parts and other places will just charge a diagnostic fee, then tell you the same thing."
On the other hand, he doesn't know the Shift's innards. He kept referring to the motherboard, which to my novice eye, appears intact. I'm thinking about buying a broken Shift and seeing if there's some possible swapping out.
That was my back-up Shift; I do have another one, but I can't stand to see it languishing in a drawer
Jake

Yes thats a possibillity. i hope u'll find one.
What kind of things do you do on the shift ?
Just interested
I also made a topic here with various problems but the community for this device is all passed away.
I got almost everything working except wifi.
Also the battery on mine only lasts like an hour or so.
How do you experience that? And do you know any address wich sells a battery?
I just need to liberate the wm part but didnt have time todo that yet.

Yeah, I was the guy that was suggesting Hardy 8.04 on the other thread, to get wifi and an increased performance (albeit with a obsolete OS).
This is a really good browser for Linux and Windows since the Shift CPU is so antiquated:
http://links.twibright.com/
As for batteries:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B003CI3JQ4?psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_search_detailpage
This one served me well. I also use a Tekkeon external battery, one of the older ones (non-usb) that gives me 12V (mistakenly using its adapter in the Shift jack is how I fried the power on my second Shift). They kick up on ebay, cheap, maybe $20usd.
I also liberated the Shift and use a SIM card that allows 3G for both WinMo and Hardy/Vista.
A new battery, and a lot of power saving measures, should give you around 3 hours. But in WinMo, I was able to install TextMaker and that battery life is about 15+ hours even using the 3G. The browsing stinks on WinMo, but Egress RSS install and so that's how I keep current without IE Explorer.

Yeah i saw that from the other topic
i think i will liberate it first. And then i'm gonna tinker with ubuntu. But first christmas
I saw this battery on amazon
unfortunatly amazon wono't ship to Holland. and the other site from mugen power is asking 229$ for a big battery pack wich also fattens up the device...
Never found one anywhere else
and not on ebay

The Muggen is not only expensive, but it's also pretty old at this point. So I don't know what charge it would hold; certainly not the fullest.
If you've got a SIM card for the Shift, then a liberated WinMo would be the way to go--long battery life, even with your deprecated battery, email, RSS, modest browsing, and if you want to drop the 40USD, you could get TextMaker, a full-fledged word processor (though a liberated WinMo would include WinMo Word; I for one need more out of a WP).
To install TextMaker, you need to install it on another WinMo device, then copy over that Softmaker directory through WMDC or the Linix equivalent. There's just not enough space in the Shift to run the cab installation.
But your WP needs may not call for such a powerful program.
Jake

I only liberate it for some games i guess on winmo
not for anything serious.
I do want a new battery but thats difficult. Maybe i can find some company that refills old Li-Po batteries.
Btw. On the amazon link you send me. it says it is a Li-Ion battery wich isnt the case. if you check the picture it is a li-po.
SHame because li-ion can be replaced with new cells when tired. lipo can't

I did not know there was a difference in cell replacement; thanks for the info.
Unless it's playing Leisure Suit Larry, it's hard to imagine the Shift as a gaming machine
If you have a SIM card in your phone, try using "sadapter," which is the best-built, safest SIM adapter and see if you can get on-line in WinMo. I read a lot about different SIM adapters and most are bad.
I'm using a sadapter when I went from a Galaxy S5 back down to a Nokia E7. So far, it's been a safe choice.
Jake

I ran quite a few games on the win7 side.
Gta3 even runs playable.
Retro city rampage
Most of the n64 games.
Older need for speed up until part 5 the porsche edition.
Still tinkering with other games.
Yes with the batteries theres a common mis conception
Li-po is some sort of paste or gel. i dont know how to describe it. Li-ion are cells they look like little AAA batteries you put in your remote. They come in a variety of sizes and mostly in laptop batteries.