UMPC Pro Battery Life

I’ve been carrying an OQO Model 01+ with a USB GPS around with me on airplanes, hiking, and cross-country skiing for over a year and if there is one thing that has been the single biggest problem, it is battery life.  I have seen the same comment in reviews of the Sony Micro PC as well so I don’t think this is just an OQO issue. (Incidentally these devices are being referred to as UMPC Pro devices to distinguish them from consumer UMPC devices from ASUS, Samsung, and others.)  Recently OQO released a larger battery which is designed to allow you to run your OQO for 6 hours.  In my opinion battery life is usually defined by the marketing department so I took my OQO with a USB GPS (which uses the OQO’s power) and the larger battery on a 7 hr hike this weekend.  I turned the OQO on at 9am and it automatically hibernated at 15:15.   Very impressive. 

I have heard from authoritative sources, that as components become less power hungry and battery technology improves, all day UMPCs will become the norm, which is something to look forward to.

Geoff Zeiss

Geoff Zeiss

Geoff Zeiss has more than 20 years experience in the geospatial software industry and 15 years experience developing enterprise geospatial solutions for the utilities, communications, and public works industries. His particular interests include the convergence of BIM, CAD, geospatial, and 3D. In recognition of his efforts to evangelize geospatial in vertical industries such as utilities and construction, Geoff received the Geospatial Ambassador Award at Geospatial World Forum 2014. Currently Geoff is Principal at Between the Poles, a thought leadership consulting firm. From 2001 to 2012 Geoff was Director of Utility Industry Program at Autodesk Inc, where he was responsible for thought leadership for the utility industry program. From 1999 to 2001 he was Director of Enterprise Software Development at Autodesk. He received one of ten annual global technology awards in 2004 from Oracle Corporation for technical innovation and leadership in the use of Oracle. Prior to Autodesk Geoff was Director of Product Development at VISION* Solutions. VISION* Solutions is credited with pioneering relational spatial data management, CAD/GIS integration, and long transactions (data versioning) in the utility, communications, and public works industries. Geoff is a frequent speaker at geospatial and utility events around the world including Geospatial World Forum, Where 2.0, MundoGeo Connect (Brazil), Middle East Spatial Geospatial Forum, India Geospatial Forum, Location Intelligence, Asia Geospatial Forum, and GITA events in US, Japan and Australia. Geoff received Speaker Excellence Awards at GITA 2007-2009.

View article by Geoff Zeiss

Be the first to comment

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published.


*