Extend battery life

95LX 100/200LX

The HP Palmtops are set to power down after three minutes if a key is not pressed. If you're like me, most of the time you turn your Palmtop on and key in a quick note or an appointment. If you leave your Palmtop on, you waste three minutes of battery life.

This waste can add up. For example, say the average amount of time you are actually using the Palmtop after you press (ON) is 1.5 minutes. Then you leave the Palmtop on for an additional 3 minutes by not pressing (OFF). You may be wasting as much as 2/3 of your battery life!

The above is a bit of an oversimplification. There are other factors that drain the batteries while the Palmtop is on. Every time you save or load a file battery consumption is greater. Using graphics-intensive games on the Palmtops uses batteries up more quickly. Whenever you are using the serial port for communications or file transfer, battery consumption is greater. Pressing (OFF) when you are finished is one the cheapest way I know of to greatly improve the life of your batteries.

The other simple way to increase battery life is to keep your Palmtop connected to its AC Adapter when sitting at a desk. This is especially effective for those who spend a lot of time at a desk.

Rich Hall Editor, The HP Palmtop Paper