Help A500 discharges by itself. Why?

[jungleexplorer]

I have owned an A500 for one month now. This is my first Android device and first tablet. I have been a Palm TX user since it first came out and I have to say that it is still probably the best smart device ever created. It was way ahead of it's time. I wish the palm OS would have won the OS war. But it didn't, so now we are stuck with Android or (shudder to think) Apple.

Hardware wise, my A500 seems pretty good, but that's about all I like about it. There are many things I could complain about, but what really bugs me is that my battery dies when I am not even using the device. With my palm TX, I could fully charge it throw it in a drawer for a month and come back and it would still be at 99% charge. I once lost it for half a year (I bought a replacement) and it still had 50% charge when I found it. And for those that don't know what a Palm TX is, yes it is an INSTANT ON device. The A500 works similar to the Palm TX in that it goes to sleep after a period of non use, but unlike the Palm TX, the A500 still consumes battery while it is asleep. That kind of defeats the purpose of it going to sleep to save the battery life. My A500 dies in less then 24 hours by itself even if I never use it once. Since the specs say that it has up to 8 hours of battery life (in use), that means I am experience about a 35% battery drain while in sleep mode. That is crazy!

What I don't know is this. Why is this happening? Is it Normal? And what can I do to stop the A500 from draining the battery when I am not using it?

Thanks for any help.

 

[MahaloCat]

The nature of android devices will cause them to lose charge when on....sleeping. you will never get an android device to last 6 months and still have 50%. There are a few tips on battery life....turn down screen brightness.
Turn off Wifi when no using it. Turn on airplane more.

If you aren't going to use the device for 24 hours....turn it off. It has a pretty short Boot time IMO.

 

[jungleexplorer]

The nature of android devices will cause them to lose charge when on....sleeping. you will never get an android device to last 6 months and still have 50%. There are a few tips on battery life....turn down screen brightness.
Turn off Wifi when no using it. Turn on airplane more.

If you aren't going to use the device for 24 hours....turn it off. It has a pretty short Boot time IMO.

How exactly do you turn it off? I did a google search "How to turn off my A500" and did not find anything.

What do you mean "The nature of Android devices"? I understand that mobile phones will run down when in sleep mode because they are constantly contacting the tower. But what is using power on a tablet? And why would my Palm TX, that has WiFi, Bluetooth and IR, be able to use no power in sleep mode and an Android device can't do the same. It just does not make sense to me to design an OS or stand alone device like a tablet to consume power when not being used. It is counter-intuitive and illogical. What the heck is the Tablet doing to consume power when it is asleep?

If what you are saying about it being the Nature of Android devices to consume power when they are asleep is true; then I am utterly disappointed in Android. Everything Google has done has been pretty good and smart. If this is true, then the Android OS is just plain stupid (IMHO).

 

[MahaloCat]

How exactly do you turn it off? I did a google search "How to turn off my A500" and did not find anything.

What do you mean "The nature of Android devices"? I understand that mobile phones will run down when in sleep mode because they are constantly contacting the tower. But what is using power on a tablet? And why would my Palm TX, that has WiFi, Bluetooth and IR, be able to use no power in sleep mode and an Android device can't do the same. It just does not make sense to me to design an OS or stand alone device like a tablet to consume power when not being used. It is counter-intuitive and illogical. What the heck is the Tablet doing to consume power when it is asleep?

If what you are saying about it being the Nature of Android devices to consume power when they are asleep is true; then I am utterly disappointed in Android. Everything Google has done has been pretty good and smart. If this is true, then the Android OS is just plain stupid (IMHO).

First - To turn Off the Device - Hold the power button - Top left hand side until the screen turns off - your device is now off.
This should last a Very long time.

Now - Sleep uses way LESS battery then wake time - but it is not 100% asleep. it will respond instantly when you touch it.....Again - if you turn off your wifi and put it into airplane mode you will see a significant increase in batt life in sleep mode.

 

[Jonnay0808]

I had a similar problem. When my A500 was on 3.1 the battery life was extremely good. It could last a couple days with moderate use. Now that I updated to 3.2 my battery life sucks. I can have it fully charged, and over night it'll drop to 30-50% I don't know how to fix this.

 

[MahaloCat]

can you plug it in over night? Im on Thors rom...if I forget to plug it in...I loose about 5% overnight....somethimes more sometimes less.....

 

[Jonnay0808]

How do you put roms on it?

 

[MahaloCat]

A rom is basically new software....You need to root and READ READ READ...
**Acer Iconia Android Development - Sticky Roll-Up Thread** - xda-developers

as you took the update...your process is a bit harder...you need to downgrade then root..... We are here to help if you have any questions...
as an fyi....its not as tough as it sounds or as others make it out to be. BUT....technically it does void your warranty...