[Pre] Device Will Use Centro-Size Battery

[Awake]

From Engadget:

"For all those commenters in our recent Palm Pre feature wondering just exactly what kind of battery we could expect to see in the device, wonder no more. According to Dieter Bohn over at the newly christened PreCentral, the phone will use the exact same battery as the Treo 800w and the Centro -- a 1150mAh model. Apparently Palm reps were happy to snap the back off the device and show the source of its juice off. That same size battery is used in the G1 as well, and Dieter notes that there's an aftermarket 1350mAh version which could offer more power. Certainly such a small battery -- a size which we know leaves a lot to be desired in a next-gen phone like the G1 -- isn't music to our ears, but since we don't know how the Pre handles power consumption, there's still plenty of questions to be answered. And hey, you could keep a spare around, right?

**Update: Jenn at Pocketables tells us that the battery is 1200mAh as told to her by a Palm rep at CES.**"

http://www.engadget.com/2009/01/16/palm-pre-to-use-centro-sized-battery/#comments

[parazitu22]

A little smaller battery then I had hoped for, but, the batter in my centro lasts about 2 days of moderate use, and 1 day of heavy usage. Hopefully the Pre is just as good on conserving battery life!

[laursifer]

Oh that rocks... I have 2 batteries for my Centro and the external battery charger with case (http://store.palm.com/product/index.jsp?productId=3121054&cp=3238806&fbc=1&f=PAD%252FDevices%2BSupported%252FPalm%2BCentro&shCMS=1&fbn=Devices+Supported%7CPalm+Centro&parentPage=family&catsId=3238806) for it. So when I get the Pre, I'll have 3 batteries for it ;)

[parazitu22]

Oh that rocks... I have 2 batteries for my Centro and the external battery charger with case (http://store.palm.com/product/index.jsp?productId=3121054&cp=3238806&fbc=1&f=PAD%252FDevices%2BSupported%252FPalm%2BCentro&shCMS=1&fbn=Devices+Supported%7CPalm+Centro&parentPage=family&catsId=3238806) for it. So when I get the Pre, I'll have 3 batteries for it ;)

Don't get too excited yet :-) they may have the same specs, but doesn't mean it is physically the same. The connectors might be in a different spot. :fingers: cross your fingers though.

[Awake]

A little smaller battery then I had hoped for, but, the batter in my centro lasts about 2 days of moderate use, and 1 day of heavy usage. Hopefully the Pre is just as good on conserving battery life!

Engadget updated their article with info on a 1200mah battery that should be just fine. Palm devices usually have good power management.

[laursifer]

Don't get too excited yet :-) they may have the same specs, but doesn't mean it is physically the same. The connectors might be in a different spot. :fingers: cross your fingers though.

I'm just going off the article, which says it's the "exact same battery."

[parazitu22]

I'm just going off the article, which says it's the "exact same battery."

Lol, I know, I am wishing for the same thing, as the battery in my centro still holds charges very well and having a second battery around would be great!

[Felicia]

ARRRRGGGHHH!! This make me anxious for the Centro 2 or Pretro ??(hopefully)! I wish Palm would throw us a hint on wheter there will a Centro 2 and some specs? Colors? GPS?

[gedansky]

Two things make me skeptical of this...

1) The Treo Pro, which is, despite the WinMo OS, the best-designed, most feature-rich Palm device that's actually out, has the entire back of the device removable, and my understanding is, that it has a pretty sizable battery.

2) I read somewhere, amidst the many postings of official Pre specs, that the battery was either 1530mAh or 1600mAh, which would put it up with the Treos.

I am much more inclined to believe, especially after the Treo 800w power management issues, that they wouldn't give the Pre much more fire power. UNLESS they have also come up with a way to make it remarkably more efficient in power use. BUT, BlueTooth, WiFi, general data services, and GPS being the power draws that they are, that's pretty unlikely. So, I go back to, it probably has a 1500+ or 1600+mAh battery.

Wish I could tell you where I found the specs. I thought it was on the Sprint website, but the ad for the Pre isn't rotating through right now.

[laursifer]

Wirelessly posted (Palm Centro: Mozilla/4.0 (compatible; MSIE 6.0; Windows 98; PalmSource/Palm-D062; Blazer/4.5) 16;320x320)

Sprint's Pre site is pretty bare last I checked. Maybe it was Palm's you saw it on. At any rate, check the official sticky at the top of the forum. I have all of the links listed right there.

[gedansky]

Wirelessly posted (Palm Centro: Mozilla/4.0 (compatible; MSIE 6.0; Windows 98; PalmSource/Palm-D062; Blazer/4.5) 16;320x320)

Sprint's Pre site is pretty bare last I checked. Maybe it was Palm's you saw it on. At any rate, check the official sticky at the top of the forum. I have all of the links listed right there.

Yeah, I saw it when I came back to the thread. That's pretty embarrassing.

So, let's hope that they actually did create a very power efficient device (even with all the wireless options fired up), because the 800w was such a nightmare to keep powered it is quickly being replaced by the Treo Pro, which is supposed to seriously rival or exceed the power of the 755p. It would really suck for them to release the coolest phone since the iPhone (sorry G1), and have it eat power. And to have to wait for an aftermarket battery that's ONLY 1350 mAh (still pretty spare) and pay $50+ for it, would be annoying.

I'm pretty forgiving, but if I have to plug it in everywhere to keep it charged when I use the functionality, I'll be a bit cranky. Especially since I expect to pay close to list price for it.

[peace0frog]

Here is some info on TI's site about the chip that will be in the PRE (their OMAP3430)

http://focus.ti.com/general/docs/wtbu/wtbuproductcontent.tsp?templateId=6123&navigationId=12643&contentId=14649

Maybe someone more knowledgeable than I can speak to what all this means, but here is the info on the power management part.

Power management. The OMAP3430 boast the most advanced and effective power management techniques in the market. The chip makes exhaustive use of TI's SmartReflex technologies which include a broad range of intelligent and adaptive hardware and software techniques that dynamically control voltage, frequency and power based on device activity, modes of operation and temperature. Additionally the OMAP3430 is supported by the TWL4030 power management/audio codec companion device which is designed specifically to maximize battery life and boost system performance in mobile phones that leverage the OMAP3430 applications processor. The highly integrated TWL4030 combines SmartReflex-compliant voltage regulators and converters, a high-fidelity audio/voice codec, class-AB/D audio amplifiers, high-speed USB 2.0 OTG transceiver, battery charger circuitry and much more into a single chip, significantly reducing board space and system cost while managing power consumption efficiently.

Also another article on the PRE can be found here:

http://blogs.techrepublic.com.com/hiner/?p=914&tag=nl.e101

[sfhub]

Here is some info on TI's site about the chip that will be in the PRE (their OMAP3430)
All the power management marketing literature always sounds great on paper but in real life they tend to make 5-10% jumps through advanced power management improvements. There is no substitute for bigger batteries but if they can get the phone to last a full day for 80-90% of the people they should be fine. In the end, they mostly end up improving standby power usage so for heavy users that have the CPU or coprocessors running often, bigger battery, swapping batteries, or constantly recharging will probably still be the solutions. On the plus side, at least they allow you to swap batteries, unlike iPhone. Even better would be if they had a small internal battery so you could swap batteries and not lose any of your context/open cards, etc. I had this on my iPaq 2210 and it was great.

The key # to look at IMO is the talk time, which I haven't seen published. This will directly relate to how many hours a day you can be on the network transferring data or be talking. From what I can observe, if they get into the 5-6 hour range, that is the sweetspot for 80-90% of the people. Centro is at 4hr talk time using this battery.

[ilovetrains]

A Sprint Store rep told me when the Treo Pro comes out it will boast the longest talk time of any Sprint PDA phone.

The 800W has to be one of the worst.

[jhoff80]

A Sprint Store rep told me when the Treo Pro comes out it will boast the longest talk time of any Sprint PDA phone.

The 800W has to be one of the worst.

I'll say with 100% certainty that there is no way the Treo Pro even with its 1500 mAh battery will come even close to the battery life of the Moto q9c.

[ilovetrains]

I'll say with 100% certainty that there is no way the Treo Pro even with its 1500 mAh battery will come even close to the battery life of the Moto q9c.

I have a Q9c still sitting under my desk. It did have pretty good battery life, though my current touch pro is better. Based upon that, I don't think it is a stretch to say the Treo Pro will have a better advertised talk time.

[tbakergobuck]

You shouldn't compare the Q9c extended battery to regular batteries. I don't see how the Pro regular battery could last longer then the Q9c extended battery. I downgraded and went back to a Centro. I use my phone a lot and usually have no problems making through the day. I don't remember my 800w getting to warm but I know my Diamond and Pro sure did. Hopefully heat won't be a issue with the Pre. :fingers:

[Sanyo]

okay, so i just threw my centro battery into my pre and fired it up. Worked fine. I am curious what the dc specs are for the pre battery so i can compare them to the centro's. They're not listed on the batter itself, nor is it listed on the pre's accessory site.

[stevecasey]

okay, so i just threw my centro battery into my pre and fired it up. Worked fine. I am curious what the dc specs are for the pre battery so i can compare them to the centro's. They're not listed on the batter itself, nor is it listed on the pre's accessory site.

http://is.gd/RV9E from Palm Support site
Prolly just marketing hype..but why would they be so strong in statement?


Battery does not charge or hold a charge
Article ID: 28923

Warning Use only approved batteries and chargers with your phone. Failure to use an approved battery may increase the risk that your phone will overheat, catch fire, or explode, resulting in serious bodily injury, death, or property damage. Use of unapproved third-party power supply accessories may damage the device and void the limited warranty for the product.

Note A Palm Centro Standard battery is designed solely for use with the Centro phone and is not compatible with the Palm Pre phone, even though it may appear to fit into the battery compartment. Use Palm batteries only in the devices for which they were specifically designed.

A number of factors can cause a battery to not charge or not hold a charge for very long. Note the following when looking for hardware problems:

* Your battery may be charging even if it does not appear to be doing so. If your battery becomes extremely low, a message appears telling you to connect your phone to a charger, and your phone soon shuts off. After you connect your phone to a charger, you still may not be able to turn it on for up to 20 minutes while the battery charges to the minimum level for operation.
* Check your power source. If you are plugging the AC charger into a wall outlet, try a different outlet on another wall. For a Touchstone, try connecting it to a different power source.
* Check the connection of the cable to the phone and to the AC charger. If a slight adjustment starts the charging process or charging starts and stops depending on the position of the connectors, then the problem is with those components. If you have access to another USB cable and/or AC charger, try them to see if the charging behavior changes. You may be able to determine which component is causing the problem. If you think you have a problem with a charging component, call Palm Support for help with additional troubleshooting.
* If you’re using an approved battery, the battery may have reached the end of its useful life and need to be replaced. Near the end of its life, a battery often will not accept a full charge and will not retain a charge as long as a new battery.

[Sanyo]

http://is.gd/RV9E from Palm Support site
Prolly just marketing hype..but why would they be so strong in statement?


Note A Palm Centro Standard battery is designed solely for use with the Centro phone

they have it listed as centro and 800w for same battery model. so that sounds contradicting when it says centro is for centro only, don't ya think?

link (http://store.palm.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2957245&cp=3238806&sr=1&fbn=Accessory+Type%7CBatteries&f=PAD%252FDevices%2BSupported%252FPalm%2BCentro&f=PAD%252FAccessory%2BType%252FBatteries)

[bigchico68]

Oh that rocks... I have 2 batteries for my Centro and the external battery charger with case (http://store.palm.com/product/index.jsp?productId=3121054&cp=3238806&fbc=1&f=PAD%252FDevices%2BSupported%252FPalm%2BCentro&shCMS=1&fbn=Devices+Supported%7CPalm+Centro&parentPage=family&catsId=3238806) for it. So when I get the Pre, I'll have 3 batteries for it ;)

You can't use the centro battery in the Pre, they are different volts. Might look similar but they are not.

[sfhub]

What is the output (not input) voltage of the Pre battery? User "Sanyo" seemed to say earlier his/her Centro battery worked in the Pre. Which information is correct? Is it that the Centro battery won't work at all, will work, but won't charge, or will work and charge?

[itsrapp0r]

Just to add fuel to the fire, I upgraded from a Palm Centro to the Palm Pre.

I took both batteries out, and both have the same 3.7 VDC rating, both say 1150 mAh (min).

Centro: Type 157-10079-00
Pre: Type 157-10119-00

The Pre battery also says "4.3Wh" but the centro battery doesn't specify.

I swapped batteries, and both phones turned on and operated and showed the proper battery level. I didn't keep them in though.

[sfhub]

Cool, and the Watt-hour is just the VDC times the mAh so Centro is the same in that respect. Anyone know if they charge properly?

[itsrapp0r]

It started to charge my centro battery but I didn't leave it in long.

[Sanyo]

Just to add fuel to the fire, I upgraded from a Palm Centro to the Palm Pre.

I took both batteries out, and both have the same 3.7 VDC rating, both say 1150 mAh (min).

Centro: Type 157-10079-00
Pre: Type 157-10119-00

The Pre battery also says "4.3Wh" but the centro battery doesn't specify.

I swapped batteries, and both phones turned on and operated and showed the proper battery level. I didn't keep them in though.

i didn't see this info printed on pre battery!

[itsrapp0r]

i didn't see this info printed on pre battery!

It's on the round bend of the battery, very small print

[stacybug]

The old battery can not be used in the Pre

[cltmhorn]

I wonder if Seidio's extended 1350mAh battery (http://www.seidioonline.com/ProductDetails.asp?ProductCode=BASI13PMX1S) (designed for the centro) would also work in the pre.

[2k4mach]

The old battery can not be used in the Pre

i used the battery out of my 800w all day saturday after i got the Pre.
used my 800w to charge the pre battery while i was out, not a single issue all day with the pre.

800w = same battery as the centro

[bigchico68]

Just to add fuel to the fire, I upgraded from a Palm Centro to the Palm Pre.

I took both batteries out, and both have the same 3.7 VDC rating, both say 1150 mAh (min).

Centro: Type 157-10079-00
Pre: Type 157-10119-00

The Pre battery also says "4.3Wh" but the centro battery doesn't specify.

I swapped batteries, and both phones turned on and operated and showed the proper battery level. I didn't keep them in though.

Thats all good it might turn the phone on, but when your phone burns up and stops working on you, don't go crying to Sprint, seems you are using the WRONG battery.

[itsrapp0r]

Just to add fuel to the fire, I upgraded from a Palm Centro to the Palm Pre.

I took both batteries out, and both have the same 3.7 VDC rating, both say 1150 mAh (min).

Centro: Type 157-10079-00
Pre: Type 157-10119-00

The Pre battery also says "4.3Wh" but the centro battery doesn't specify.

I swapped batteries, and both phones turned on and operated and showed the proper battery level. I didn't keep them in though.

Thats all good it might turn the phone on, but when your phone burns up and stops working on you, don't go crying to Sprint, seems you are using the WRONG battery.
I highlighted the part you seem to have missed. :)

[jspann]

It's best to just spend the $49 to buy a spare battery that is actually for the Pre