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PSP Battery Journal

Posted by CmdrTaco on from the old-man-murry-would-have-had-a-better-review dept.

ayersrj writes "The folks over at IGN have started a "Battery Journal" in an attempt to provide us with some relevant information regarding the battery life issue on the PSP in a realistic playing environment. The first run: a little under five hours with no wi-fi. Not too shabby."

7 of 332 comments (clear)

  1. Dear Journal by Locdonan · · Score: 5, Funny

    PSP hit me again today. It says that its my fault that it gets so little battery life. If I would only learn to love it as it is. I just don't know.

    Today the PSP saw me linking up to play with some friends. It burnt my hands and threw a CD at me. It says that I don't need friends. I should just be with it.

    What have I done!? I couldn't take it anymore. I killed the PSP. I took it off teh wall jack, and played it till it passed out. Then I flushed it down the toilet... All I have to remember it by is the broken CD and a scar under my left eye.

    --
    If I wrote something witty, you would say I stole it from somewhere.
  2. DS does 10 by kuwan · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Nintendo claims that the Nintendo DS can last about 10 hours before it needs to be charged. I don't know whether or not this is real-world performance. It'd be interesting to see what the battery life is when doing multiplayer, wireless gaming.

    --
    Free Nintendo DS

    --
    infested with jello like fishes no melotron wishes
    1. Re:DS does 10 by FuzzzyLogik · · Score: 5, Informative

      Ok I'll bite. I own a GBA SP that they claim lasts 10 hours with frontlighting on and 16 with it off. My experience has been about 12-13 hours with the frontlight on and I can't comment on the frontlight off because I never turn it off. Nintendo typically gives correct numbers for batterly life, as you can see my battery life is actually HIGHER than they stated. So how's that for ya? I would trust nintendo, where I do not trust Sony.

      --
      Kyle
      http://www.unlogikal.net/
  3. interesting criteria by fireduck · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Playing through Ridge Racers until the battery dies is probably not a good indication of how long the battery will last when you end up getting your PSP system and putting it to use for a variety of things.

    Except, this is exactly the scenario I'd want tested when purchasing a portable device. I'd like to know if it will die on me when I'm flying from Los Angeles to New York. Hopefully they'll include this in future tests.

  4. Re:Yeah but... by antifoidulus · · Score: 5, Informative

    Heh, I know it's a joke, but TFA does mention that much like Apple laptops(don't know if others do this as well, probably do) if the battery level drops below a certain point, the PSP will put itself to sleep, allowing you to resume your adventures provided you charge it within a reasonable amount of time.

    --
    Monstar L
  5. Gamespot says 90 minutes in real life tests by _KiTA_ · · Score: 5, Informative
    Accordig to reports from Gamespot, the battery lasts approximately an hour and a half to 3 hours playing a complex 3d game like Ridge Racer. The benchmarks from Sony apparently come from using non-graphically intense, small games that don't require much CPU, VPU, or disc read time.

    Sony did similar things when they were releasing benchmarks of the Playstation 2 -- they turned off all lights in the room, and rendered a black triangle polygon in a black room. The numbers were amazing. But they weren't real at all.

    So yeah. PSP Battery Life: 90 minutes. This drops further if you enable WIFI.

    Q: How long does the PSP's battery last?

    A: The short answer is that it depends on what you're doing. The longer answer is that Sony has stated that the battery should last around six hours. With simpler-looking games, like Lumines or Mahjong Fight Club, that definitely seems to be the case. But with more graphically intensive games, like Ridge Racers, the battery doesn't last quite as long. Based on our estimates and a few battery-draining tests, Ridge Racers seems to last somewhere between 90 minutes and three hours. Playing with the wireless networking switch flipped on will also further reduce your battery life. The system has an auto-sleep function that stops the wireless drain, but that switch is there for a reason. Turn it off when you're not using it.
  6. Re:GameSpot reports otherwise... by SetupWeasel · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Considering that Gamespot used the most graphically intensive release game and IGN didn't, I'm more inclined to trust Gamespot's numbers. Gamespot said it depended what you were doing, so they used a graphically intensive game to get the low end.

    IGN played freaking music files for one hour and played a puzzle game for one hour and forty-five minutes.

    Going by what IGN said, they spent 2 hours playing games likely to drain the battery quickly and spent 2:45 doing things that aren't likely to drain the battery quickly.

    I imagine that if you stick to the rigorous itenerary IGN gave precisely, you will get 4.5 hours. But if you want to play Ridge Racers single-player, you will get 1.5 - 3 hours.

    Either way, it is a far cry from the 10 hours Sony promised us at E3.