Hacking Battery life using DSTWO's GBA?

[YayMii]

Hey everyone:
Well, I heard that using the DSTWO's GBA emulator results in having really low battery life. I'm considering getting the DSTWO, but I'm worried that it will kill my battery life.
I'm just wondering: How long battery life are you getting from playing the GBA emulator (from full battery, using the GBA the whole time)?
Please list your console, brightness setting, CPU frequency setting, and your battery life.

 

[Overlord Nadrian]

Launch DSi, highest brightness setting, CPU frequency 4, a little over 5 hours of battery life.

I can't complain.

 

[DarkWay]

Black DSl, highest brightness setting, CPU frequency 4, a little over 5 hours of battery life.

I can't complain.

Yoink no point typing it all myself

 

[YayMii]

DarkWay, you do know that the DS lite has more battery life than the DSi, right?

Can anyone with a DSi XL at Brightness level 3 and default frequency setting post their results?

 

[DeltaBurnt]

Launch DSi, highest brightness setting, CPU frequency 4, a little over 5 hours of battery life.

I can't complain.

Wow, that's actually pretty damn good. I'd only get about 2 hours on my old DS Lite with a crappy battery.

 

[Overlord Nadrian]

Well, you said it yourself: the DS Lite is old and has a crappy battery, so it is only natural for you to get a short battery life using the GBA emulator

 

[DeltaBurnt]

Well, you said it yourself: the DS Lite is old and has a crappy battery, so it is only natural for you to get a short battery life using the GBA emulator

Yah I know, I was just noting that a DSi battery (which on average has less life than the DS Lite's) on the highest brightness and high cpu frequence lasted 5 hours was pretty good.

 

[Supertrooper]

DarkWay, you do know that the DS lite has more battery life than the DSi, right?

Can anyone with a DSi XL at Brightness level 3 and default frequency setting post their results?

I've got a DSi XL and I'd say it's about 4 hours with the GBA emulator. You'll get about 8 on DS roms.

 

[YayMii]

You'll get about 8 on DS roms.

That doesn't sound very good. I get 13+ hours on my Acekard 2i.

 

[Fluffbutt]

I don't think it matter if you use the gba emu or not - those two 300/400 Mhz processors are still running.

(Does it have a halt or idle command??)

I only get about 4-5 hours playing NDS roms, same with gba - the SC2 is still running even if you don't use the extra features of the cpu's.

 

[YayMii]

I don't think it matter if you use the gba emu or not - those two 300/400 Mhz processors are still running.

This completely contradicts Supertrooper's results.

 

[DeltaBurnt]

I don't think it matter if you use the gba emu or not - those two 300/400 Mhz processors are still running.

(Does it have a halt or idle command??)

I only get about 4-5 hours playing NDS roms, same with gba - the SC2 is still running even if you don't use the extra features of the cpu's.

I'd imagine that there'd be a way to halt the CPU on the DSTwo. There's no use in feeding it power if it's not going to do anything.

 

[9th_Sage]

I'd imagine that there'd be a way to halt the CPU on the DSTwo. There's no use in feeding it power if it's not going to do anything.
They definitely do something like this. Next time you have lower battery power (but not the red light) try this: Play a game for a bit then go into the in-game menu and you'll notice the light turn red while it's up.

QUOTE(Supertrooper @ Jun 27 2010, 09:48 PM) You'll get about 8 on DS roms.

That doesn't sound very good. I get 13+ hours on my Acekard 2i.

Is this with the lowest brightness? I've NEVER gotten that much on my DS Lite with flashcarts or commercial games.

 

[YayMii]

You'll get about 8 on DS roms.

That doesn't sound very good. I get 13+ hours on my Acekard 2i.

Is this with the lowest brightness? I've NEVER gotten that much on my DS Lite with flashcarts or commercial games.

Second-lowest brightness on a DSi XL. But a DSi XL on average has 2 hours less battery life than a DS lite.

 

[9th_Sage]

Second-lowest brightness on a DSi XL. But a DSi XL on average has 2 hours less battery life than a DS lite.

Huh, maybe my battery is going...weird.

 

[RedBaron]

There is one thing you have all have overlooked, the make and size of the memory card that you are using, the bigger the card the more current it uses and what brand also affect the amount of current used

 

[Pong20302000]

There is one thing you have all have overlooked, the make and size of the memory card that you are using, the bigger the card the more current it uses and what brand also affect the amount of current used

well on my DS PHAT (yes i know, if it aint broke why upgrade it)
battery it seems to last forever
and i have a 32gb micro SD card

dont think it should affect battery

 

[RedBaron]

Yes it sure does and what brand you get also determines how hungry they are, brand X and fakes are the worst, I find Kingston as being very good to use, I had a fake Kingston once, it flattened the battery in 1 hour and boy did the flash card get hot, so watch out

 

[Overlord Nadrian]

Hahaha.

No.

It doesn't affect the battery life.

 

[CannonFoddr]

There is one thing you have all have overlooked, the make and size of the memory card that you are using, the bigger the card the more current it uses and what brand also affect the amount of current used

Yes it sure does and what brand you get also determines how hungry they are, brand X and fakes are the worst, I find Kingston as being very good to use, I had a fake Kingston once, it flattened the battery in 1 hour and boy did the flash card get hot, so watch out

Hahaha.No.It doesn't affect the battery life.

I agree - did a Google on info & came across this titbit of info

QUOTE

Flash memory is based on store and erase 'cycles'. They dont have to have power constantly going through them to store info like RAM or something.

Power is used momentarily during the time something is actually written to the disk, and then again when that same piece is read from. All the time in between, the card is just sitting there. Thats why the card doesnt suddenly get erased if you take it out of the camera.
Reference: bachelors in computer science.

so IMHO having a bigger card doesn't seem to draw any more power than a smaller one.

The 'Brand X' type card MAY have some truth behind them though - because of cheaper less tolerant materials used then it's possible that cheaper knockoff may need to access several more times before a successful read/write is achieved

EDIT: FYI - with DSi (fully charged), Brightness FULL, Volume LOW, running 'Metroid - Zero Mission' intro only (i.e. idling) through NDS-GBA with default settings
Got red light after only ~2h30m - although still waiting for 'flat battery' (Time permitting I'll be trying it out with DSi+Brightness 'Low', and DSLite+Brightness high/Low as well)
EDIT 2: Just got flashing red light on DSI @ ~3hr17mins - died shortly after that @ 3hr20mins