Palm IIIxe Batteries

Alkaline

Alkaline AAA batteries are exactly the power units that Palm intended the IIIxe to use. From the factory, the IIIxe comes configured to use 1·2 volt alkaline AAAs and shows superb longevity. My use of the IIIxe is typically rather more strenuous than Palm’s assumed use when calculating battery life, but even so I have seen close to six weeks of use (shortly after buying my iPAQ).

On Alkaline AAA batteries, the IIIxe typically returns at least thirty hours of mixed uptime, encompassing keyboard use, Hotsyncing, but no backlight use.

Nickel Cadium

I have very recently bought two sets of 250 mAh 1·2 volt AAA batteries. NiCad batteries are ideal for short burst, high drain applications and less useful for something such as the Palm. Although early days, I typically manage approximately five hours of use from a full charge. In isolation, this isn’t especially impressive, but the 700 mAh 1·2 volt NiMH batteries only manage around fourteen hours of use. It’s my intention to use the NiCads for those occasions where I am planning an especially productive session with my foldable keyboard and Palm IIIxe, since the batteries cope well with the additional current drain.

The IIIxe can be configured to use NiCads by using the “shortcut dot seven” command.

Unfortunately, I have encountered three serious crashes – requiring a hard reset – whilst using the IIIxe on NiCads!.

Nickel Metal Hydride

I have two sets of 650 mAh 1·2 volt AAA batteries. These typically provide the IIIxe with between twelve to sixteen hours of typical uptime. The NiMH batteries are my preferred choice of power. I originally bought these batteries in 2000 and they have typically seen service for ten days of every twenty. I am not sure as to how much longer they will last.

The IIIxe can be configured to use NiMH batteries by using the “shortcut dot seven” command.