Sony: PRS-350 battery discharging quickly and hard to recharge

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PRS-350 battery discharging quickly and hard to recharge

Topic started on Mar 18, 2011 8:32 AM , last reply on May 8, 2011 2:16 PM

in Reader Reader hardware & accessories

notkenOfDoom

1 posts since
Mar 18, 2011

I've had my PRS-350 since Christmas but have only just started using it regularly now I've finished a big paperback book I was reading!

I work from home so it only gets used 2 or 3 times a week, but each time I come back to it the reader has lost most of its charge. It's been in standby mode for that time, which I would rather leave it in since it takes so long to boot up from switched off. But it's not uncommon that after three days it's completely discharged, totally, so that it even needs a few minutes plugged in before it comes back on again.

Furthermore, it won't charge in any way unless it's connected to a computer. If I try plugging it into a wall with my mobile phone charger (also micro-USB) it says that charging has been stopped. Same if I plug it into a powered USB hub while the PC is switched off.

This is what's making its power-loss so frustrating. There's no convenient time to charge it. But for me neither of these problems make sense are or acceptable in a device like this. It seems to me that the battery is meant to last 2 weeks, not 2 days, and that it's meant to be able to be charged from a power socket, not just a PC.

Hope you can let me know if I should be taking this back as faulty.

Tags: usb, charge, power, battery, prs-350, discharge

emmab28
1 posts since
Apr 4, 2011

Written on Apr 4, 2011 11:58 AM

Hi i'd say take it back must be faulty . I have a prs 350 as well got it for a christmas present use it all the time and i get weeks out of the battery i'd say since christmas i've charged it about 3 times max and i leave it on stand by all the time . I charge it with my blackberry charger and it works fine . So i reckon there is some sort of fault with your's .
Hope thats some help to you .
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eternal422
5 posts since
Apr 4, 2011

Written on Apr 4, 2011 9:55 PM

I have a PRS-650 and have found that it will not charge with a lot of micro-USB chargers - I read somewhere that a couple of the USB pins need to be shorted out to get the reader to accept the charge. Connecting it to a PC works to charge it, otherwise you will need to get the Sony mains charger (which charges it in about 2 hours from flat to fully charged).

I'm just going through some timings now as my reader is taking a full charge but has just lost half its charge after only 2 days - most of the time on standby and only around 100 page turns. Reading a lot of forums it seems that some people are having problems - so perhaps Sony have an issue with charging and/or batteries on these devices?
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SteveF48
52 posts since
Nov 22, 2010

Written on May 8, 2011 2:16 PM

My PRS-350 battery normally lasts for ages. It's difficult to say how long, because I often download books from my local library.
It has completely lost all of the pwoer in the battery twice since I've had it. In both cases it had about 80% power when I left it and was almost completely flat when I next looked at it. Last night the screen was white, instead of showing the Eiffel Tower and instead of opening from stand-by it acted like it had been powered off.
There is definitely a battery fault, but it's going to be almost impossible to prove it.
I left the PRS-350 connected to my USB hub until it said battery charging complete. When I unplugged it the screen showed a no-entry sign and was unresponsive. I switched it off and when I tried to switch it on again there was no sign of life. The screen was completely white and didn't react to the power switch, or reset.
Plugged in the USB cable, which I had removed from the USB hub, then the device switched itself on and went through its cold boot sequence.
How bizarre is that?

Message was edited by: SteveF48
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