battery

[Oldrottenhead]

somethings not right then, i use unbranded 2800mah rechargeables had them for over two years and i get at least 8 hours from 4 batteries and i use everything to the max. i use my microbr constantly and only ever experienced anything like that with cheapo low mah batteries. you know pack of fifty for a £1 thrift shop batteries.

i ones i use are nimh type batteries dont know if that makes a difference.

[Ted]

I only get maybe 30 minutes of battery life!!!!  In some cases, the indicator drops from 3 to 2 "bars" within 10 minutes of inserting a fresh pair!!!  Can anyone explain this?

I get the same behavior as you, des0free.  The only setting on the Micro BR is PowerSave, and it doesn't help much as far as I can tell:

Does anyone know if the firmware update makes any difference in power management?

des0free: This is a can of worms that you may not want to open unless both (a) someone confirms that the firmware upgrade will help, AND (b) you can confirm that you don't already have the latest version.  Read the topic on the Micro BR firmware upgrade here.

[64Guitars]

Are you using the Micro BR's Power Save feature? See page 118 of the Micro BR Owner's Manual, 4th edition.

There are also some battery tips on page 22 of the manual. One that's especially interesting is that battery life will "vary depending on the type and capacity of the SD memory card". So maybe you should try a different SD card.

With rechargeable batteries, their ability to hold a charge decreases over time. I don't have a Micro BR but I have had very bad luck with rechargeables in other devices (cameras, etc). When they're new, they'll hold a charge for quite a while. But after a few months, they'll no longer stay charged for very long and I have to buy new ones. So I try to avoid using batteries in anything. I always use my BR-864 with the PSA-120 AC adapter.

[64Guitars]

Does anyone know if the firmware update makes any difference in power management?

I don't know but I think it's possible. The manual says that battery life will vary depending on the type and capacity of the SD memory card. And the update improves the way that the BR writes to the SD card. So it makes sense that battery life could be affected. The big question is whether battery life will improve or worsen after the update.

des0free: To find out which version of the firmware is in your Micro BR, switch the power on while simultaneously pressing the CURSOR < and > buttons.

oldrottenhead: Which firmware version is in your Micro BR? If it's the same version as des0free's then we'll know that his shorter battery life is not due to a firmware difference.

[Oldrottenhead]

i got versiopn1.03 never updated it.

[Oldrottenhead]

as for sd cards i use a generic 2gb card that was designed for using in playstations and the like it says on label 2gb MLC peak

[Ted]

There are also some battery tips on page 22 of the manual. One that's especially interesting is that battery life will "vary depending on the type and capacity of the SD memory card".

That is interesting. I wonder if faster SD cards use less battery or more?  I'd guess they use less. I also wonder if using an SD card with greater than 1GB has any impact on battery.  Does that extra space suck power, even though the Micro BR can't use it?

I can try a 1GB vs 2GB test, but I don't know if the cards I have are of equal speed, which is what I'd need to have for an apples-to-apples comparison.

The WikiPedia page on SD cards has a section on SD speed here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Secure_Digital#Speeds

[Oldrottenhead]

they cost about £4 and work pretty well.

found this about them.

is gobbldygook to me

FEATURES
Form factor: 9 Pads SD Memory Card specifications
High-speed Read/ Write performance
Complies with SD Memory Card specification
Non-volatile solid –state storage
SPI interface supported
Low power consumption
On Card error correction
No external programming voltage required
Mechanical write protect switch
Copyrights protection functions
Durability: 10,000 insertions
Read speed 10MB/ sec and write speed 2MB/ sec


more info here http://www.peakhardware.com/DB/Products/Flash%20Memory/Flash%20Cards/SD%20Card/SD%20MLC.pdf

[Riche]

Hi, Ive just bought a micro br... and yer it seems to eat the batteries..
My question is:
A boss adapter in the UK seems to cost £22 ouch ..
Is there a suitable alternative?

Thanks
Rich
 

[Oldrottenhead]

i got one from the store i bought my mbr at for about £12 when i bought my mbr. it wasnt a boss adaptar but it worked fine, but i never use it now, i dont even know where it is or what it looks like