Hardware 3DS battery life in standby (sleep) mode

[bloodliketheatla]

I am hoping someone could shed some light on why I can't carry my 3DS (without ever using it) without turning it on to find a red flashing light.

I leave it charged until 10am and then head out for the day and rarely get a chance to play it let alone even open it. The main reason I am doing this is for the pedometer to get those stupid play coins and even more importantly because i *should* be able to. I have read reports that vary from 1-3 days with the wireless switch on. I am getting 7 hours from 100% to completely dead in sleep mode.

I'm not sure if leaving the wireless switch on matters. I have tried both but usually it's on because I forget to turn it off. (side question: do street pass or spotpass (forgot the difference) work with wireless off?

Other things to note: I keep a supercard dstwo in the game slot at all times but I don't usually leave a game in sleep mode while in ds mode. This is happening while I am on the main 3rd menu with no programs open. I am at a place that does not have a wifi connection that my 3DS would be trying to connect to. Even if I were it still shouldn't be trying to connect to wifi anyway unless something is specifically trying to use it. I am also not passing anyone else that has a 3DS - I am sure of that.

So why can't I go half a day leaving my 3DS in sleep mode when this mode is supposed to barely drain any power? The actually play time is horrible enough, but dealing with this problem is equally frustrating. And please don't recommend that I just turn the power off all day. I could do that but I'm trying to use it as advertised. Thanks for any comments!

 

[heartgold]

I dunno, my 3DS lasts 3 days in sleep mode

 

[AaronUzumaki]

I dunno, my 3DS lasts 3 days in sleep mode

Mine too. It could be related to the flash cart, though I don't see how that would change it so drastically.

 

[ShinyJellicent12]

My DS Lite does better than that!

 

[DiscostewSM]

Other things to note: I keep a supercard dstwo in the game slot at all times

That's your problem right there. As long as there's a connection with the DSTWO and the connectors in the slot, it is active and will drain your battery. It doesn't shut off or go into some power-saving mode when you put the device into sleep mode.

Now, to do an actual test on battery life, you don't use a flash card (especially one that has a SoC), but a commercial card meant for the 3DS, like an actual game you pay for.

 

[Blaze163]

I dunno, my 3DS lasts 3 days in sleep mode

I've left mine on sleep mode for absolutely ages before now. Hell, I left it in the charging dock for like, a week, before I realised I hadn't plugged the bloody thing in. I was on about 2% battery but it was still going, barely. The 3DS battery is nowhere near as bad as people make out.

 

[heartgold]

I dunno, my 3DS lasts 3 days in sleep mode

I've left mine on sleep mode for absolutely ages before now. Hell, I left it in the charging dock for like, a week, before I realised I hadn't plugged the bloody thing in. I was on about 2% battery but it was still going, barely. The 3DS battery is nowhere near as bad as people make out.

yeah I suppose, it only lasts 3 days because I play it here and there, it can last a week if just left to sleep mode.

 

[Blaze163]

I dunno, my 3DS lasts 3 days in sleep mode

I've left mine on sleep mode for absolutely ages before now. Hell, I left it in the charging dock for like, a week, before I realised I hadn't plugged the bloody thing in. I was on about 2% battery but it was still going, barely. The 3DS battery is nowhere near as bad as people make out.

yeah I suppose, it only lasts 3 days because I play it here and there, it can last a week if just left to sleep mode.

I will admit that my battery has taken a pounding lately, mostly thanks to the fact that I now have Starfox 64 on my person at all times and my system has 3 Zelda games on it now. That sort of combo takes the wind out of anything.

 

[bloodliketheatla]

heartgold: a week keeping it in sleep mode? with the wireless on? i find that a little hard to believe but anything is possible.

DiscostewSM: are you *positive* that is it or are you just guessing? i don't see any reason why a supercard dstwo would eat the power in sleep mode if its not even being used. if it does that is extremely poor design and it raises other questions. 1) does it also eat insane amounts of power on the dsi/dsixl? do retail ds games also suck down the power if left in the game slot on a 3ds? do other flashcarts? or is this a problem you're claiming only happens with the SC dstwo?

I find it hard to believe that Nintendo would allow the sleep mode to be affected by the presence/non-presence of a game card in the slot, whether its a 3ds game or ds game. but if you know something I don't about the SC dstwo, please explain.

btw, I will take it out today without opening it, without any cart in, and let you know what happens. i am guessing it will be dead or close to dead after 7 hours because I have been through this many times before...

 

[DiscostewSM]

DiscostewSM: are you *positive* that is it or are you just guessing? i don't see any reason why a supercard dstwo would eat the power in sleep mode if its not even being used. if it does that is extremely poor design and it raises other questions. 1) does it also eat insane amounts of power on the dsi/dsixl? do retail ds games also suck down the power if left in the game slot on a 3ds? do other flashcarts? or is this a problem you're claiming only happens with the SC dstwo?

I find it hard to believe that Nintendo would allow the sleep mode to be affected by the presence/non-presence of a game card in the slot, whether its a 3ds game or ds game. but if you know something I don't about the SC dstwo, please explain.

btw, I will take it out today without opening it, without any cart in, and let you know what happens. i am guessing it will be dead or close to dead after 7 hours because I have been through this many times before...

There's a difference between the DSTWO and most other flash cards and commercial game cards. The DSTWO contains a CPU and RAM that must be kept powered, even while in sleep mode. The latter two do not have these. They still are powered while in sleep mode, but it's miniscule in comparison because their main drain comes from reading/writing data. The amount of power being sent to the card slot isn't consistent for each different card used either. The amount of power granted is based on what it requires. If it were always constant, then such things like the Bluetooth-enabled card of the Pokemon Typing DS package wouldn't work because that such card requires more power than what regular cards need to operate.

 

[konel01]

I take my 3DS to work and play it on my breaks. I was leaving Zelda OoT3D on sleep mode in between breaks. after a 8hr shift and 4 breaks I'd have 2 bars left in battery life.

Recently I started playing Kirby Mass Attack on my AK2i and like with Zelda OoT3D, i'm leaving it in sleep mode in between breaks. well by the time i get off of work my 3DS is now getting close to death. When i get home the Red light is on and I only have 1 bar left. FlashCarts are sucking sum pretty extra juice. Never really noticed it on my old DS's.

 

[chris888222]

My sleep mode lasted me a good 3 days.

But with the DSTwo connected, it lasted about a day. :/

 

[relminator]

I dunno, my 3DS lasts 3 days in sleep mode

I've left mine on sleep mode for absolutely ages before now. Hell, I left it in the charging dock for like, a week, before I realised I hadn't plugged the bloody thing in. I was on about 2% battery but it was still going, barely. The 3DS battery is nowhere near as bad as people make out.

Definitely.

Not as bad as my PSP 3K's battery. Played mytran wars the other day and 3 got 2.5 hours when in UMD and 3.5 hours in ISO.

 

[bloodliketheatla]

Well I tested it today (leaving the super card at home) by taking the 3ds out for 7 hours, never playing it (left it sleep mode), and it had 2 bars when I got home. So I guess the super card is to blame.

I know about the extra CPU but why in the world is that being powered at the main 3ds screen? The only thing the 3ds icoukd be doing is reading it's game name. What is the sc dstwo doing that is draining power?

/rant/ I'm starting to think I should have purchased a DSxl. The only things I'm doing with the 3ds are playing everything on super card and a bunch of DSiware games. All this spotpass/street pass stuff is so gimmicky. We have nintendo video playing repeats of the same 10 or so videos every week or so, mostly involving college humor or the blue man group. And there's a Netflix with no 3d support so not that useful. I'd rather save my battery for other things and watch Netflix on one of my many other devices that doesn't die half-way throng the day. And finally it has one of the most poorly organized shops in existence. For god's sake we can't even watch trailers for 3ds retail games IN 3d. I am watching a video ON MY 3DS that says "you are watching 2d footage of 3d gameplay". What LAZY bastards. And becuse the entire bottom of the screen is used up by a very necessary, gigantic play button, all footage of games such as DSiware force delevopers trying to showcase a 2 screen game in a single screen. They can accomplish this by squishing both onto one which is barely visible. Or just focus on one particular screen. Usually they focus on one but show it to a tiny square in the center of the screen and wrap a large background around it to flash statements about how great the game is. Nintendo just NEVER listens to customers. We got a free Zelda game that I can't play with other people because they couldn't even support online multiplayer. It's just insane. I have supported them forever but they will not last. With the 3ds and wii u set to be their only two products soon, their future might no be so bright /endrant/

*edited to clean typos*

 

[DiscostewSM]

Well I testedmit today ny taking it out for 7 hours, never playing it, and it had 2 bars. So I guess the super card is to blame.

I know about the extra CPU but why in the world is that being powered at the main 3ds screen. The only thing the 3ds icoukd be doing is reading it's game name. What is the sc dstwo doing that is draining power?

Emulating a real card? A computer in sleep mode still uses power to retain data in RAM at the very least.

QUOTE(bloodliketheatlantic @ Sep 29 2011, 09:28 PM) /rant/ I'm starting to think I should have purchased a DSxl. The only things I'm doing with the 3ds are playing everything on super card and a bunch of DSiware games. All this spotpass/street pass stuff is so gimmicky. We have nintendo video playing repeats of the same 10 or so videos every week or so, mostly involving college humor or the blue man group. And there's a Netflix with no 3d support so not that useful. I'd rather save my battery for other things and watch Netflix on one of my many other devices that doesn't die half-way throng the day. And finally it has one of the most poorly organized shops in existence. For god's sake we can't even watch trailers for 3ds retail games IN 3d. I am watching a video ON MY 3DS that says "you are watching 2d footage of 3d gameplay". What LAZY bastards. And becuse the entire bottom of the screen is used up by a very necessary, gigantic play button, all footage of games such as DSiware force delevopers trying to showcase a 2 screen game in a single screen. They can accomplish this by squishing both onto one which is barely visible. Or just focus on one particular screen. Usually they focus on one but show it to a tiny square in the center of the screen and wrap a large background around it to flash statements about how great the game is. Nintendo just NEVER listens to customers. We got a free Zelda game that I can't play with other people because they couldn't even support online multiplayer. It's just insane. I have supported them forever but they will not last. With the 3ds and wii u set to be their only two products soon, their future might no be so bright /endrant/

Ugh, Nintendo this. Nintendo that. You initially blamed Nintendo for a problem they not only weren't involved with, but that you didn't even take the time to examine the situation before mindlessly jumping onto the forums to complain about it. Now again, you seem to take little to no time to research other "problems" you see with a device.

If you can find enough 3D content on Netflix to warrant the 3DS to utilize it, then by all means look down on the free app. For 3D content to be played back, 3D content needs to be available.
I just skimmed through the first 10 trailers of 3DS-specific games I found via the eShop, and they were all in 3D. They will from time to time just upload videos used from commercial use, which won't be in 3D because what they were originally intended for is not 3D capable. Not everyone has a 3D TV, nor do events like E3 have the set up for showing everyone in the audience actual 3D.
A free game is a free game. Complaining a free game doesn't have a certain feature is like a beggar slapping away a loaf of bread someone is kindly giving to them because the beggar expects a steak dinner.

 

[bloodliketheatla]

DiscostewSM: do you know how business is done? typically a smart company (think: a company other than nintendo) would contact netflix and make a deal to allow special 3d content for users of their device. this would cost nintendo $ in licensing fees and just general contract agreement fees, but this would provide some incentive to potential 3ds buyers because it would then have exclusive 3d content that the other multitude of netflix apps don't have. and who cares if its just a few movies?

the deal they have now was probably the deal that didn't cost nintendo any money. netflix probably asked them if they could create an app for the 3ds and nintendo thought "well i guess that couldn't hurt" and then netflix offered it for free to reach out to potential subscribers.

and you are flat-out wrong about trailers of 3ds-specific games being in 3d. maybe you are looking at the 5 "virtual console" games that are their in 3d? you know, the ones that have a combined reviewed score of 5/10? i am talking about the trailers for their RETAIL 3ds games and the large majority are "you are watching 2d video of a 3d game" (on a 3d device) or they just don't say anything. watch devil survivor, resident evil, and super monkey ball (the first 3 check after watching the new tetris one and star fox which ARE in 3d.) if you're trying to sell a 3d game to a person a 3d system, there is NO excuse for even one of these games not being able to represent its actual gameplay.

and why can't someone complain about a free game? they are using that free game to try to save their ass from completely failing on their pathetic 3ds release. don't get me wrong - I have held on to mine like its a child since I bought it a month ago, but it just really isn't that impressive. I played ONE 3ds game (zelda OOT) for a total of about 1 hour before I realized it wasn't the least bit fun. And I have used it to download a lot of DSiware because I'd never had a chance to try any of it before. I also use my SC DSTWO a lot and THAT is why I started my rant by saying "I'm starting to wish I'd purchased a DSiXL." It's not that I don't like Nintendo, in fact I buy everything they make. It's just that the 3ds is really off to a horrible start, and we are all watching in real-time as Nintendo makes move after move that a LARGE number of people complain about, including Nintendo loyalists. It's as if they don't care at all. Look at the eShop - this isn't a case of inability but a case of absolute laziness. If the 3ds didn't have DS support (and by extension flashcard support) and DSiware support, how many of you would have actually bought it?

 

[ForteGospel]

dude if you so want a dsixl then go and trade your 3ds for one...
buying a console that doesnt have any game you want right now its YOUR fault not nintendo's.
if you want 3d then get the 3d classics, any 3ds game, nintendo video, any of the TGS trailers and netflix (i do not live in us so i dont know/care if they have 3d videos), go nuts with your camera or download 3d shots from other people.

watch devil survivor, resident evil, and super monkey ball (the first 3 check after watching the new tetris one and star fox which ARE in 3d.) if you're trying to sell a 3d game to a person a 3d system, there is NO excuse for even one of these games not being able to represent its actual gameplay.

WOW! who knew? none of those games are from nintendo... if you so want to curse someone go say fuck you capcom

 

[sadak5]

So interesting, some ona that "supported" nintendo for it's entire life is complaining. If you really want good gameplay, first check what kind of games you like, review the console, and NEVER, really mean NEVER, care for the score in online pages. At first some games I like are very underscored in online pages, and others, people complaints because of the "bad controls", "bad Graphics", etc, etc.

For example, for online gaming, I mainly use my PC or my Wii, as is more confortable to use those controls. for mobile, I prefer playing shooters (doesn't need good graphics), RPG or SRPG (I own both devil survivors, DS and 3DS remake). I play mobile with PSP (own two) and 3ds (also own DS and DSi), and never complained of the psp not being 3d, or the 3ds not having large screen.

Also, for you NetFlix example, Netflix is the one that contacs Nintendo, no otherwise, as the real service is provided by Netflix, they using Nintendo SDK (nintendo sells it), and nintendo is the one that gets a share of the use of Netflix.

Also, if you complain because the lack of 3D enabled content in Netflix, imagine me complaining because until the last month, I had lack of ANY content for netflix in my country (there was no service in Mexico)

 

[DiscostewSM]

DiscostewSM: do you know how business is done? typically a smart company (think: a company other than nintendo) would contact netflix and make a deal to allow special 3d content for users of their device. this would cost nintendo $ in licensing fees and just general contract agreement fees, but this would provide some incentive to potential 3ds buyers because it would then have exclusive 3d content that the other multitude of netflix apps don't have. and who cares if its just a few movies?

It would be one thing, if Netflix actually had support for 3D streaming. The app doesn't have it because the service doesn't have it. That's a problem with Netflix, not Nintendo. The only news I've heard about Netflix and 3D movies involves Bluray discs being mailed to customers, and that may not even be available yet.

QUOTE(bloodliketheatlantic @ Sep 30 2011, 12:15 PM) and you are flat-out wrong about trailers of 3ds-specific games being in 3d. maybe you are looking at the 5 "virtual console" games that are their in 3d? you know, the ones that have a combined reviewed score of 5/10? i am talking about the trailers for their RETAIL 3ds games and the large majority are "you are watching 2d video of a 3d game" (on a 3d device) or they just don't say anything. watch devil survivor, resident evil, and super monkey ball (the first 3 check after watching the new tetris one and star fox which ARE in 3d.) if you're trying to sell a 3d game to a person a 3d system, there is NO excuse for even one of these games not being able to represent its actual gameplay.

I said I skimmed through the first many that I found, and they were in 3D. I never said all 3DS trailers were in 3D, and even made mention that 2D trailers for 3DS games can be there. You however made it sound like none of them were in 3D, as the ones you initially checked weren't formatted in that way.


The 3DS did have a bad start, but so did the original DS when that first came out. In fact, the DS had an even worse start than the 3DS. It took time for it to be truly accepted. They even included GBA support in that because they weren't sure how it would work out. The 3DS is going along the same lines, having a similar price cut, awesome games coming soon during the holiday season, etc. It's a situation that Nintendo has already gone through. How many consoles/handhelds actually had a good start? Very few if they were considered good at all.

If you're dead set on replacing your 3DS with a DSi XL, then go ahead. The price difference is relatively small, but you get stuck with last generation while the 3DS has plenty of time for improvement, functionality, some great games, and well as backwards compatibility with the last generation.