Comments on: Seidio Treo 680 & 750 Extended Battery Review

If you were asked to name a problem endemic to today’s omniscient mobile devices, there's a pretty good chance that you’d nominate "battery life". Modern smartphones are being used for more and more of our daily computing needs, and with manufacturers striving to satisfy the market’s craving for ever-thinner designs it’s more often than not that the battery is first thing to buckle. Such was the case with Palm’s latest GSM smartphones: the Treo 680 and Treo 750 both debuted with... uh... adequate... 1200mAh batteries – a 33% cut from their fatter predecessors.

Sure, the smaller battery wasn't all bad: it made the notoriously hefty Treo much more comfortable to hold, and the difference was definitely noticed in the pants. (Pocket!) But as the day wore on, power users found themselves watching that rapidly-depleting battery meter with an inverse amount of panic. Now, finally, Seidio have released a high-capacity 1600mAh battery that boosts the Treo’s stamina without adding an ungainly hunchback. How does it perform? Grab your safety goggles, don your lab coat and watch out for the gold-plated Yankowski-bots - they're just for reassurance, folks - as we take a tour of PIC's top-secret testing range...

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Nice research and write-up

twrock @ 8/28/2007 9:13:25 PM #

Hey, that was a well done article and interesting read, and I don't even own a Treo.

These guys really "do batteries." I'm already imagining the first Seidio "rumpshaker" extended battery for the Foleo. "Double your Foleo's computing time! And it doubles as a handy carrying grip."

Thinking about Vista? Think again: http://www.cs.auckland.ac.nz/~pgut001/pubs/vista_cost.txt
Want an alternative? Try this: http://www.ubuntu.com/ or http://www.mepis.org/

RE: Nice research and write-up

freakout @ 8/28/2007 10:39:53 PM #

(blushes, bats eyelids) You're too kind, sir.
On the subject of a Foleo handle: it could actually be a good idea for future models. (maybe not as part of the battery compartment, though... ;) )Although it was rarely used, I used to really appreciate the handle that was built into the back of the Nintendo Gamecube. Cute and clever.

Tim
I apologise for any and all emoticons that appear in my posts. You may shoot them on sight.
Treo 270 ---> Treo 650 ---> Crimson Treo 680

RE: Nice research and write-up

cervezas @ 8/29/2007 1:51:49 AM #

There won't (and should't) be a "rumpshaker" battery for the Foleo for one very good reason. Unlike most laptops, the Foleo is designed with the battery compartment along the front edge of the device--not a place you'd want tilted up.

When I find out who made the decision to do this I'm going to buy them a beer the next time I'm passing through Sunnyvale, because it's brilliant in one of those "so simple why'd no one ever think of that" ways. See, if you have the weight in the front you can open the lid with one hand and the bottom stays right on the table. After years of having to pry open every laptop I've owned with two hands it feels like there's some weird magic in the hinge design of the Foleo every time I open it. The hinge is high quality--it stays firmly in any position you put it--but the magic is in the placement of the battery. Somebody's been reading Archimedes!

There's also no ugly, fidgety latch on the Foleo (I'm looking at you, Dell, Gateway). Just as the lid is about to completely close you can feel a very slight tug of what must be some small magnets inside the enclosure. Then it shuts with a small, firm thump. I'd have thought the magnets would have prevented the one-handed opening, but their force and the front-weighting of the keyboard are calibrated just right.

Sounds trivial, I know, but wait till you try it. It's that thing you hear craftsmen say about how their favorite tools are "perfectly balanced."

David Beers
Pikesoft Mobile Computing
www.pikesoft.com/blog

RE: Nice research and write-up

freakout @ 8/29/2007 4:31:46 AM #

I'm at war with myself over the Foleo. I've decided that I could definitely put one to good use as a writing tool, and all the reports are saying that the build quality is great. But $600... ugh. It'll be just as expensive as my Treo 650. And I swore to myself I was never going to pay that much for a gadget again, no matter my what my inner materialist said. Now it's happening again... that little voice that says "Go on, splurge! Want it! Need it! Buy it!"

It's hard to shut it up.

There won't (and shouldn't) be a "rumpshaker" battery for the Foleo for one very good reason. Unlike most laptops, the Foleo is designed with the battery compartment along the front edge of the device--not a place you'd want tilted up.

Looks like we'll need a new name to replace Rumpshaker then. How 'bout "Codpiece"? ;)

RE: Nice research and write-up

SeldomVisitor @ 8/29/2007 8:09:19 AM #

> ...you can feel a very slight tug of what must be some small
> magnets inside the enclosure...

I'd think they'd just use a little spring-activated cam instead of magnets. Did you try playing with a paperclip and see if it stuck anywhere?

RE: Nice research and write-up

twrock @ 8/29/2007 10:39:52 AM #

the Foleo is designed with the battery compartment along the front edge of the device--not a place you'd want tilted up.

Silly me, assuming it was by the hinge. I've got two laptops: one's got the battery in the back and the other in the front. So I don't know why I made that assumption. Anyway, does make sense, paticularly in this case (pun only slightly intended).

Thinking about Vista? Think again: http://www.cs.auckland.ac.nz/~pgut001/pubs/vista_cost.txt
Want an alternative? Try this: http://www.ubuntu.com/ or http://www.mepis.org/

RE: Nice research and write-up

SeldomVisitor @ 8/29/2007 10:47:19 AM #

Do your two laptops behave noticeably different on opening?

RE: Nice research and write-up

twrock @ 8/29/2007 12:09:16 PM #

Yes, but only because they are two very different laptops. The Dell 700m has an extended battery that sticks out the back, creating a "lever". It also is much smaller overall in size vs. the D620. Given that they both also have "heavy" hard drives and optical drives in different locations as well, it really is a bit like comparing apples and oranges. The hinges are also significantly different in the amount of friction they open with.

Thinking about Vista? Think again: http://www.cs.auckland.ac.nz/~pgut001/pubs/vista_cost.txt
Want an alternative? Try this: http://www.ubuntu.com/ or http://www.mepis.org/

Battery with reset button?

Patrick @ 8/29/2007 2:27:07 AM #

I've been wondering if it were possible for a new battery to incorporate a "reset switch" to compensate for Palm's penny-pinching "oversight". Just a little button that temporarily disconnects the battery's connection to the Treo's terminal would do the trick.