The Icon/BP units employ a unique setup. They run on a powerful operating
system called Linux which is installed on a 30Gb hard drive. This O/S
allows the unit to essentially turn off the hard drive to conserve battery
and minimize wear and tear. While the unit is in this sleeping state,
however, it is not off. Turning it on, is essentially instantaneous from
this point. If the unit is docked in its docking station/keyboard, the
same
is true, and the docking station offers one more layer of battery
conservation and charging. By pressing a button on the docking station
the
unit comes alive immediately and is ready to do anything you need to do.
Leaving the unit either plugged into the docking station or plugged into
its
power cable, with either of these devices plugged into the wall mains
power,
is probably the best scenario since the Icon/BP is always ready for
immediate use.
If, on the other hand, you physically power the unit off, and there are
certainly reasons to do this. For example, you are using either it or the
docking station in battery mode, and you want to conserve as much battery
as
possible while you are not actually using the unit. If you have no access
to a power receptacle, this would be a good thing to do. When you do turn
off the unit like this, then it takes about a minute or so to load the
operating system and initialize things, spin the hard disk up, etc. I have
never timed it, but it is not an unreasonable length of time by any
stretch.
It takes way longer to turn on any computer, and just about as long for
some
cell phones and PDA's that don't even use a huge hard disk like the
Icon/BP.
So, whatever device is touting a fast turn on, can not use that as a plus
against the Levelstar/APH units. They come alive ready for use as fast as
you can press the buttons. Just be aware of the two states I mentioned
above, the sleeping-ready-for-use-immediately state, and the
I'm-completely-shut-off-for-an-extended-period-of-time state. If it helps
you in a purchase decision, I have only turned my Icon off completely
maybe
twice since I got it over a year ago. It is always either sleeping on
battery and plugged in to the wall, or sleeping on battery plugged into
the
docking station which is plugged into the wall. When I go on trips, I just
leave it sleeping on battery until I want to do something, and it
certainly
lasts full days in this type of usage.
T
O use the device straight in an intensive hard disk usage mode, and maybe
even with the wireless turned on and doing stuff, it still works just fine
for hours, maybe 3 without complaint or loss of service. ... longer than
that I haven't tried. I like to keep my battery fully charged. As an
example, I played music for an entire train trip to New York City a few
weeks ago, about 3 hours and 15 minutes. When I got to NYC, I plugged the
unit into the wall for about two hours... and played music just about all
the way home as well. I think I turned it off about two hours into the
return trip.
For all it does, this unit is simply great on power, and battery
conservation.
John Esak
-----Original Message-----
From: icon-discuss-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
[mailto:icon-discuss-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Richard Fiorello
Sent: Tuesday, June 24, 2008 12:27 PM
To: icon-discuss@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [icon-discuss] turning the unit on
Hi;
When initially turning the unit on, does it run immediately or does the
software have to run first? If so, how long must you wait for the
software
to run so that you can start using the unit? The voice sense folks made a
point of emphasizing that their unit runs immediately when you turn it on
which leads me to suspect that the braille plus may not. There is still a
rather large unexplained difference in price.
Richard
Icon Discuss Mailing List
icon-discuss@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
//www.freelists.org/list/icon-discuss
To unsubscribe from the list send a blank message with unsubscribe in the
subject line to:
icon-discuss-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
To post to this list, send your message to:
icon-discuss@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
For answers to the most frequently asked questions about Icon and Braille
+,
Visit
the LevelStar and APH FAQ pages:
Visit the LevelStar FAQ page at
http://www.levelstar.com/support-faqs.php
Visit the APH FAQ page at
http://sun1.aph.org/webcast/brailleplus2/faq.html
No virus found in this incoming message.
Checked by AVG.
Version: 8.0.101 / Virus Database: 270.4.1/1516 - Release Date: 6/24/2008
7:53 AM
If you reply to this message it will be delivered to the original sender
only. If your reply would benefit others on the list and your message is
related to LevelStar or APH then consider sending your message to
icon-discuss@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Icon Discuss Mailing List
icon-discuss@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
//www.freelists.org/list/icon-discuss
To unsubscribe from the list send a blank message with unsubscribe in the
subject line to:
icon-discuss-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
To post to this list, send your message to:
icon-discuss@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
For answers to the most frequently asked questions about Icon and Braille
+, Visit
the LevelStar and APH FAQ pages:
Visit the LevelStar FAQ page at
http://www.levelstar.com/support-faqs.php
Visit the APH FAQ page at
http://sun1.aph.org/webcast/brailleplus2/faq.html
