72 replies to this topic

[RedStar1949]

Anyone have a general idea what battery life will be like on the Pandora?

[Gruso]

Yes we do.

http://pandorawiki.org/FAQ

Edited by Gruso, 15 April 2008 - 10:05 PM.

[craigix]

About 10+ hours we hope.

[DisgruntleElf]

Will the Pandora be able to run on the AC adapter alone(no battery)? This would be a great feature for home use to save on battery life.

[Chip]

Will the Pandora be able to run on the AC adapter alone(no battery)? This would be a great feature for home use to save on battery life.

You mean removing the battery entirely? Probably, but it's not going to be worth the trouble. The battery will be user-replaceable, but that doesn't necessarily mean it will pop right out. The last I heard about it was here. Things may have changed since then. A small increase in overall battery life will not make up for the hassle of removing and re-installing the battery when you're near AC power.

[Squidge]

Will the Pandora be able to run on the AC adapter alone(no battery)?

Probably, but why you'd want to is another thing.

When plugged into a power source it will power the device and charge the battery, so it's best to leave the battery in the unit.

[Jaguarandine]

Didn't craigix say that they'd be using a custom li-on battery solution in order to put as much power into the Pandora as possible? So that means we'll be using a proprietary battery, right?

If you can get 10 hours out of it at average power usage then that's great. You probably won't need to take out the battery nearly as much as the GP2X. I just hope that the proprietary nature won't make the spare batteries cost over $20.

Out of curioity, could you use both Pandora USB ports to charge the device at the same time?

[Squidge]

Didn't craigix say that they'd be using a custom li-on battery solution in order to put as much power into the Pandora as possible? So that means we'll be using a proprietary battery, right?

Yes.

[Chip]

If you can get 10 hours out of it at average power usage then that's great. You probably won't need to take out the battery nearly as much as the GP2X. I just hope that the proprietary nature won't make the spare batteries cost over $20.

You won't really need to take the battery out at all until it goes bad several years down the line. I can almost guarentee that a custom 4AH Li-po battery will cost more than $20, but it's not something you will have to worry about any time soon.

[MWeston]

Will the Pandora be able to run on the AC adapter alone(no battery)? This would be a great feature for home use to save on battery life.

Currently, the design requires the battery to be connected for the system to come alive. It isn't a design error but a function of the power management chip coupled to the OMAP processor. The very first time I powered up the Pandora board with a DC jack, I thought I screwed up and the design didn't work. It turned out that I had to attach a battery for the PMIC to acknowledge a "battery OK" condition before starting the regulators.

I have been trying to ask some TI engineers on whether there is an alternative hook up possible to keep the system up when the battery is removed but so far no response on that. Since this chipset was designed with mobile phones in mind, this is likely how it will stay.

Out of curioity, could you use both Pandora USB ports to charge the device at the same time?

Only the USB OTG port is connected to the charge path. It would be bad to have the host port in the charge path when it can create it's own 5V.

[Squidge]

Only the USB OTG port is connected to the charge path. It would be bad to have the host port in the charge path when it can create it's own 5V.

Yes, that would be bad, regulating it's own 5V and then trying to charge itself with that same voltage

[fusion_power]

Will the Pandora be able to run on the AC adapter alone(no battery)? This would be a great feature for home use to save on battery life.

Currently, the design requires the battery to be connected for the system to come alive. It isn't a design error but a function of the power management chip coupled to the OMAP processor. The very first time I powered up the Pandora board with a DC jack, I thought I screwed up and the design didn't work. It turned out that I had to attach a battery for the PMIC to acknowledge a "battery OK" condition before starting the regulators.

I have been trying to ask some TI engineers on whether there is an alternative hook up possible to keep the system up when the battery is removed but so far no response on that. Since this chipset was designed with mobile phones in mind, this is likely how it will stay.

Out of curioity, could you use both Pandora USB ports to charge the device at the same time?

Only the USB OTG port is connected to the charge path. It would be bad to have the host port in the charge path when it can create it's own 5V.

Why I should remove the Battery? Its a rechargable so I want to use this Accu more than the Power Adapter. I hope, modern rechargable Bateries are Designed for long life even with permanent charging.

It's more important to use a non-exploding Battery, we all know these Funny Laptop-Blow-ups even with Batteries from big Companies. And I hope I can connect the Power Adapter onto the Pandora without a reset of the Unit like the GP2X does.

AND please don't forget a WORKING Battery warning LED.

[MWeston]

And I hope I can connect the Power Adapter onto the Pandora without a reset of the Unit like the GP2X does.

AND please don't forget a WORKING Battery warning LED.

Thanks for reminding me. I have been meaning to test this. I had the system running on the battery. Then I plugged in the DC adapter: no reset. Then I removed the DC adapter and tried a USB cable from my computer: no reset. This is exactly what I expected but it was good to confirm it.

As for the battery warning, that will be based on a software algorithm unlike the GP2X which likely uses a comparator built into the Maxim power chip (???). I'm not sure exactly what the GP2X does, but since it is software based on Pandora, we can tweak it until it is very accurate.

[PokeParadox]

Possibly do some battery profiling like gnome power manager?

[Tobriand]

Presumably the fact that all Pandoras will use the same battery (as opposed to a myriad different brands all with slightly different discharge patterns) will also aid in the accuracy of any battery indicator. Less variety, whilst it has the negative effect of it being harder to get replacement batteries in due course, does at least have some bonuses .