Battery And Landscape Rotation Questions For The Samsung 5.0 on Android

[Lschinaia]

Hey guys,

Every time I search for good deals, or tech this forum comes up. I figured I would join and ask a few questions.

I have had a Sansa e280 Player for about 4 years now, and love it. With it's removable battery and expandable sd card it was miles above many players back then. The only thing I could not get used to was any polished playlist option. So I decided to upgrade and figured I deserved it. Even though my Sansa still works great after using it multiple times a day everyday.

So I decided on a happy medium after loads of research and reviews, and being annoyed the ipod touch was so limited and even the ancient versions are more expensive than the new tech out now.

So I bought a Samsung Galaxy Player 5.0, and it came in Friday. So far I love it. I wanted a "smart" phone without the phone bill, and etc. Though it does make free texts and calls thru wifi.

Getting down to it, I charged it to 100% Friday night thru my usb and it seemed fine. I shut it off completely and went to bed, woke up Saturday morning and it was nearly dead at 15% battery life. How can that be when it was off?

I wrote tigerdirect, (it is refurbished) and they said if it does not hold a charge I can return it. I also wrote samsung and they said the apps were draining the battery while it was off? LOL I don't think so. Basically they gave me the "reset" the player and it will fix everything. After I spent hours downloading and customizing it. Of course if I send it back I will have to anyway.

My question is, if anyone has one, I know the battery is large at 2500 mah and takes a while to charge, but did anyone else have a problem charging theirs thru usb? or should I just give up and send it back?

**I charged it the full 6 hrs yesterday and it seemed to work, with some gaming, and music play and being on stand by the battery lasted 13+ hrs... but I an still unsure about it, also I had some UI issues. Is there anyway to get it out of standby or sleep mode without pressing the power button? I am afraid I will break it. I found some apps that claim to turn it on and off with a sensor but they don't work.

I also found that the home/apps screen does not rotate to landscape is this a planned thing from samsung? Because there website shows pictures of the player with landscape view apps. I got an app to rotate it, but not sure if mine is supposed to or there is a setting I am missing. It rotates for everything else, but home screens. It is on Auto Rotate.

Not only is this the first "smart phone" item I have purchased but the first android, if anyone can help me I would be very thankful.

Thanks
L

[Lschinaia]

Really any info will do guys, please.

[skip252]

Welcome To ABI

Your thread title didn't reflect you interests so I'm guessing that's why you haven't received any feedback. I've changed it to what I think you may be looking to know more about.

I don't know any of the answers to your questions so I can't help with that, sorry.

[lebellium]

Hello, please don't bump the thread several times a day, we're not machines replying automatically and immediately. Please be patient

- The E280 is rockboxable. It supports and handles playlists pretty well
http://www.rockbox.org/

- Last time I charged the GP 5.0 by connecting it to the PC in USB or with its docking station it said "fully charged" at a moment while it obviously was not fully charged yet. So I tried with the included Samsung wall-charger instead and then it went on with charging for a while.
Anyways, losing 85% battery in one night while OFF is not normal at all.
I almost never use my GP5.0 but last time I let it ON. It remained ON for 2 weeks without using it...Pretty impressive.

- Regarding the landscape mode for the home screen, it worked in the previous Android version. For some reason the R&D removed the feature in the latest 2.3.6. I reported that to the Quality department in Korea. At the time they replied to me that the R&D should not have done that and that they will get the feature back in the following firmware. Almost 1 year later and several firmwares, still nothing. So just forget it

[Lschinaia]

Sorry I didn't mean to offend. I only bumped it once
Thanks for the answers, I will try that on my sansa, did not know.
I have had no luck charging it well thru usb, but leaving it on after plug charge it last almost two days. Whether that's good or not, still have not figured out.
I am thinking it just does not charge or takes forever thru usb.
The app I use for landscape works well, I guess I'll keep it.

[Zapp]

I've had my SGP 5.0 since June. The SGP 5.0 has a very large battery, it takes a long time to discharge it, and it takes a long time to recharge it. I have noticed that it takes a very long time to completely charge the SGP 5.0 via a computer USB connection, so your 5.0 may be normal in that regard. The external wall charger will charge the 5.0 much more rapidly.
I hope that you enjoy your 5.0, I have found mine to be very useful.

[Hurricane John]

It takes a long time to charge my SGP 5 (about 4 hrs) using the AC adapter, but be aware that the on screen battery charging indicator (the one that tells you it's 100%) is not accurate. I usually charge it until it tells me it's 100% and then I start up my player while leaving it plugged in and wait until the fully charged indicator shows up in the left hand corner of the title bar, which sometimes takes another 1/2 hr to show up. Once this happens then I know it's fully charged, or at least as fully charged as it's going to be!

As I stated in a previous post, I get about 2-2.5 day of battery use between charges with fairly heavy wifi use.

[Lschinaia]

Still trying to find mine it lasts long for moderate use but games and such only about 5hrs is that normal? Just want to make sure in case I have to return it. Also if the battery is drained, for some reason it sets the time and date wrong to 2004 is that normal? Again this is my first smart device so forgive the strange questions. Just want to make sure its good and won't have to return it.

[Zapp]

I would say that the battery in your unit may be on the weak side. It's a refurb unit, so you don't know how old the battery is, or how it was used. Running the battery absolutley flat can greatly decrease its useful life.

I avoid refurbed units. You never know why the original owner returned the unit. If the original owner returned the unit due to an intermittent problem the chances are the return depot won't catch it, and it will be passed on to you. In fact, these units really aren't "repairable" in the traditional sense of the word. Perhaps the original owner returned this unit because the battery was weak. On the other hand, often the original owner has returned unit for no good reason and you get a bit of a bargain.

[Lschinaia]

Yeh I would have bought new but wanted to save some money tiger direct does have a 3 month warranty so that's why I bought from them plus they said I could return it in a month no questions if it keeps draining but I have no basis of comparison since I never owned one so that's why I ask what's the better battery life. If it keeps giving me very little life I'll return it. But thx. Seems ok so far. I installed an app to save battery but it keeps closing my wifi right in the middle of browsing. Its annoying. But have taken some battery tips online hoping they work I like the device just needto find out more. Have not tested the music playback life yet.