Battery Charge Cycles/Battery Life Over Time

[Flyordie]

To start this off, have any of you started having severe battery drain issues?

The battery life on my ZuneHD has been rapidly decreasing. I am beginning to think the battery on my ZuneHD has gone bad. :-(

Charges fine but fails to hold a decent charge. Anywho, I would like the meaning of this post to be this-

Dave, has Microsoft solved the RMA issues people have been having?

I have kept my ZuneHD in a DLO ActionJacket since I got it and it looks just as if I bought it brand new. I do not want to send it in, as I fear I would get a "refurbished unit" even though technically my ZuneHD is in "BNOB" condition.


1. Post battery life at start of product (first week or so of use)
2. Post battery life at 1 month intervals after so.
-
The point of this is to keep track of possible battery issues.

My current battery life is about 11 hrs audio and 4 hrs video. Screen Off on audio, full random looped "Play All". Video was screen on low output and set to play a looped podcast of The Rachel Maddow Show.

[CrowdAds]

[Celenet]

My Zune's battery life is not so great either, but it lasts me through the day.

After leaving my Zune in standby with music paused for 3 days, the battery would go from half to less than a quarter.

From a full charge, I would lose a sliver of bar after only 5 minutes of activity.

[lem7]

Omg same!! I get 4 hr's of battery life from videos... Sucks wheres the other 4.5 hrs? Settings are low brightness/ work off/ no tilt.... They won't give you a refurb they will just change the battery.... But I don't want to spends 3 weeks without my Zune so ill just have to live with his disability.

[Machiventa]

Originally Posted by lem7

They won't give you a refurb they will just change the battery....

They could just send a refurb. It says on their Service FAQ:

Q. Will I get the same Zune Player back?

A. Not necessarily. Microsoft will, at its option, repair or replace the defective Zune product. The Zune product may be new, refurbished, or serviceably used and comparable in function and performance to the original product.

It's more than likely they'll immediately send out a refurb, then diagnose the problem, fix it, then send that one out as a refurb for another user awaiting a Zune HD from repair.


Personally I would just send it out as the problem will most likely get worse (not better), so you'll have to wait either way.

[Flyordie]

Originally Posted by Machiventa

They could just send a refurb. It says on their Service FAQ:


It's more than likely they'll immediately send out a refurb, then diagnose the problem, fix it, then send that one out as a refurb for another user awaiting a Zune HD from repair.


Personally I would just send it out as the problem will most likely get worse (not better), so you'll have to wait either way.

This is exactly why Microsoft should make Batteries and OLED/Digitizers open. So if someone who has theirs die out of warranty can fix it themselves instead of buying a new ZuneHD.
As for me, I am certified to service ASUS products (repairing broken caps, sockets or VRMs and in rare cases, PCIe/PCI slots..), I am also certified to service BBA/AMD Graphics Boards.

It amuses me that Microsoft who's primary attack on Apple is about Apples closed source"ness", would keep such a device as locked down all around. I see alot more Ipod Parts out and about than I do ZuneHD/Zune parts. So my plea to Microsoft is this-

Allow some of the common breakage parts to be sold on E-bay or Rapid Repair... anything like that.
-Batteries
-Digitizer
-OLED

Just those things are the primary parts requested.

Originally Posted by lem7

Omg same!! I get 4 hr's of battery life from videos... Sucks wheres the other 4.5 hrs? Settings are low brightness/ work off/ no tilt.... They won't give you a refurb they will just change the battery.... But I don't want to spends 3 weeks without my Zune so ill just have to live with his disability.

Is yours a launch ZuneHD? As in did you get it Sept-October?

[lem7]

I go mines 3 weeks ago

[Flyordie]

Originally Posted by lem7

I go mines 3 weeks ago

hmm.. odd. whats the bitrate you are playing the movies at?

[thygriever]

The battery on mine is good so far. It lasts pretty long I must say. Get ther 3rd party app "Icarus Battery" to see your actual battery stats (I use this a lot).

The sliver of battery lost at 5 minutes I believe is natural for all Zune HDs. By looking the actual numbers, my Zune at full charge is 98% (not sure why not 100%) and then by 96% or 95% is when you lose a sliver. The next sliver drops at either 90% or 89%. So people will rarely ever see a full battery image in the corner if you're using your zune because 5 minutes of use should drop that first sliver right away. I believe the slivers are misleading because you assume you're losing a lot of battery but you're not. You have to look at the actual charge percentage to be sure.

[lem7]

480x272/ Bitrate: 900 / sound: 192