How to deal with errant tablet manufacturers

[Kareem Shehata]

On Sun, 2007-08-05 at 01:05 -0400, D. Hugh Redelmeier wrote:
<snip>
> I don't know that brand (I have heard its name, but that is about it).
> I take it you ordered this -- you did not order it from a local store.

Bought it directly from them, thinking that I was supporting a local
manufacturer.

> | First off the symptoms:  when the battery gets below 20%, it'll either
> | turn right off or the screen will go blank with no hope of it coming
> | back, even after plugging the unit in.
> 
> Perhaps your battery isn't callibrated.  As I understand it, your
> software (BIOS?) may need to experiment to discover the voltage curve of
> your particular battery.  It may well be that the batter has been
> exhausted while the system thinks there is still 20% capacity left.
> 
> Do check if there is a BIOS update too.  It might affect power
> management.

I haven't been able to find any BIOS settings affect power, and no
upgrades on their website.  I would also have expected that if this were
the problem, they really should have been able to spot it very quickly
in their lab.

> |  From what I can tell, you have
> | to start with a full battery and run it down to that point, so it may be
> | heat-related.  I've always been able to reproduce this problem.
> 
> Can you replicate it while the computer is on a laptop cooler of some kind?

Don't have one of those, but I'm testing in an air conditioned basement
while the tablet is on a wirestand.  The cooler would probably reduce
heat a little, but for actual use there isn't a more ideal situation
than this one.  How much of a difference do you think that would make,
and where might I find one for short-term use?

> Can you replicate the problem in MS Windows (I presume that it came
> preloaded with Windows)?

Yup, I've left the Windows install on there.

Thanks!

-kms


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