Steve Gibson hosts one of the most fascinating web-sites on the Internet. Apart from offering expert advice and free solutions to many security issues, he has also done some research on extending PDA battery life. This is discussed in detail here. Essentially, there are two simple remedies:
- Reduce the brightness of the display. This can be done by tapping on the brightness icon, top right of the graffiti area, and then dragging the pointer to the far left.
- Reduce the processor clock speed using a Palm under-clocking utility such as Lightspeed.
The results of this research can be summarised in the following table extracted from Steve's site:
| Brightness | Clock Speed |
Current Consumption |
Running Time | % Normal |
| Max | Max | 245 mA | 5.31 hrs. | 100% |
| Min | Max | 185 mA | 7.03 hrs. | 132% |
| Max | Min | 175 mA | 7.43 hrs. | 140% |
| Min | Min | 105 mA | 12.38 hrs. | 233% |
From the table it can be seen that, if one applies both remedies in full, i.e. minimum brightness and minimum clock speed, one can more than double the battery life of one's PDA. Although we've tested both methods, please note that we cannot guarantee results, so please use them at your own risk.
Copyright © 2001-2008 Multi-Media Publications (Pty) Ltd -
All rights reserved
This page was last updated on 14 March 2008 at 13:15 South
African Time (GMT + 2:00)