PGF is a plastic lithium battery produced from high unit Li-Polymer that has high safety margins. The product is particularly suitable for a variable atmosphere pressure and dramatic temperature changes. Most low-price Li-Polymer batteries cannot operate or be placed in flight machines and low atmosphere pressure environment. Packaging materials will be damaged due to gas leak.

 Li-Polymer is sensitive to the environment temperatures, and the PGF is no exception. However, the product characteristics are above average quality. Under working environment between -5ºC and 60ºC, capacity changes range between 10-15%. Other Li-Polymer batteries will vary between 30%-40%. As different power capacity leads to different power transmission characteristics, PFG has performed the most stable adjustments for all power transmission condition changes for PDA.

Currently, not all users who have installed PGF batteries are satisfied with the product quality. Why is there such a difference? Is PGF quality unstable? Or the product capacity report was inflated to deceive the consumers? The purpose of this thorough analysis is to reveal these questions in details.

How long can the 2100mA capacity last?

The chart on the left indicates the power capacity distribution between the original Li-Polymer batteries and PGF batteries. It is clear that PGF allotted about 45% of power capacity to data backup, a benefit in data preservation. As for main power, the degree of increase is only about 70% (based on the 36xx series) and 5% (based on the 3850). Under the condition that the hardware structure remains unchanged, this is already the maximum power capacity of PGF.
 Since each iPAQ differs in caliber, albeit slightly, any little changes in the component manufactures and production process would create some minor effects. When the device is used for an extensive period of time, battery power will be wasted. PGF is no exception to errors. However, the degree of deviation is usually controlled within 5%. If the user has substituted certain components with that manufactured by unauthorized companies, it is highly possible that power will be spent more quickly, and even leads to total machine failure. Therefore, the user must use his/her past experience to judge the power provision ability of PGF. Slight deviations will occur even between two brand new devices.

Actual Test Comparison
Before the comparison starts, we would like to inform users that during the backlight test, we discovered that power spent on backlight in each iPAQ is different. Therefore, the data for switching on the backlight is only for reference only. Actual operation should still be regarded as the main test basis. In this test, three H3630 were used. Here are the statistics of the backlight power supply from three different machines.

Test machine	Super bright current	Low bright current	Standby current
No. 1	295mA	170mA	60mA
No. 2	280mA	160mA	61mA
No. 3	310mA	170mA	59mA

H3630 vs. H3850 vs. H3630 + PGF

Test 1: Turn on the backlight for continuous power-on
Test environment: Indoor. Average room temperature, 20 ºC.
Test condition: After full charge, slow charge for 3hrs without performing any action on the device.
Test model: Compaq H3850 64Mb Ram 32 Mo Rom, H 3630 (Chinese OS) 64Mb Ram 32Mb Rom, install PGF (test machine no. 1)
Installed software: PDA Time for ARM. No other applications installed. The screen freezes on “Battery”

Test result

H3630 -> 4h:51m with low bright
H3630 -> 2h:38m with super bright
H3850 -> 6h:15m with low bright
H3850 -> 3h:52m with super bright
H3630+PGF -> 6h:25m with low bright
H3630 + PGF -> 3h 57m with super bright
The difference between PGF and H3850 is not great. PGF used on a capacity of about 1200mA. This is related to the power supply characteristics. Please refer to the “Characteristics” for details on why the larger the power supply amount is, the smaller the capacity is. However, if we shut off maximum backlight and leave H3630 switched on without operation, the device can remain powered for a few more hours (about 3 hours above), This is because, the more power is provided, the capacity current decrease is also more significant. Power supply point in H3630 will then be activated, and force iPAQ to shutdown. H3850, on the other hand, cannot be switched on again and continue operation. We have encountered PGF that could function far longer than the H3850 could. The test target is replaced by PGF that just reaches the standard for fear of misleading the consumers.

Test 2: Data backup test
Test environment: Indoor. Average room temperature 17.4 ºC.
Test condition: After full charge, slow charge the device for 3 hours. Connect external voltage-meter to monitor the battery current. Switch on once per day for checkup.
Test model: Compaq H3850 64Mb Ram 32Mb Rom, H 3630 64Mb Ram 32Mb Rom installed with PGF. (Test machine no. 2)
Installed software: None.
Test duration: January 20, 2002 to March 03, 2002.

Test result

H3630 -> For 18 days from January 21 to February 7,the internal battery current increased by 3.0V, and all data was lost.
H3850 -> For 27 days from January 21 to February 16, the internal battery current increased by 3.0V, and all data was lost.
H3630+PGF -> For 41 days from January 21 till March 3.,the  internal battery value 3.0V,and all data was lost.
PGF and H3830 are very much different. This function should be extremely useful to users who have a strict demand about data backup. For users with less usage frequency, battery life can be far more prolonged. Full capacity in PGF may be employed.

Test 3: Continuous power on
Room temperature 22 ºC
Continuous standby, non-operated
Test environment: Indoor. Average room temperature 22 ºC.
Test conditions: After full charge, slow charge for 3 hrs. Backlight shut off, no operation.
Test model: Compaq H3850 64Mb Ram 32Mb Rom, H3630 (Chinese OS) 64 Mb Ram 32Mb Rom, installed on PGF (test machine no. 1)
Installed software: PDA Time for ARM. No other applications were installed. The screen was frozen on “Battery”
Test result

H3630 -> 12h:17m
H3850 -> 19h:11m
H3630 + PGF  -> 22h:24m
PGF and H385- are slightly different. PGF only used 1350mA of capacity. This is related to power supply characteristics. Please refer to “Characteristics” for details.
 
 
 
 

Test 4: Continuously play Windows Media Player
Room temperature 21 ºC
MP3 playing  + standby
Test environment: Indoor, room temperature 21 ºC.
Test conditions: After full charge, slow charge for 3 hrs. Loudspeaker switched on, screen turned on, non-other operation performed.
Test model: Compaq H3850 64Mb Ram 32 Mb Rom, H 3630 *Chinese OS) 64 Mb Ram 32Mb Rom, installed PGF (test machine no.1)
Installed software: PDA Time for ARM. The same MP3 song (SR: 128K), and no other software installed. The screen freezes on “Media Player.”
Note 1: When the MP3 playing volume is at minimum in H3850 (sound/on), it is very different from the minimum volume of H3630. If we adjust the volume output of H3850 to identical power output, then the third volume level start counting from no-sound will be equal to the minimum volume of H3630.
Note 2: When playing MP3, and when the battery power remains only 10%, the device will stop playing. However, iPAQ will not shut down.
Test result

H3630 -> 4h:25m
H3850 -> 6h:07m  (play MP3 until no sound frequency can be emitted) -> Continue to play until automatic shutdown 1h:38m.
H3630 -> PGF -> 6h:21m (play MP3 until no sound frequency can be emitted) -> Continue to play until automatic shutdown 3h:27m.
Yellow bar is standby time.
 
 

Option device: HyperDrive 

HyperDrive 3x/38 is the option device of PGF. This device must be installed on the mainboard of iPAQ. The purpose of this device is to perform partial modification of iPAQ internal power management for PGF to achieve optimum performance. Post-modification test result is as following:

Test 5: Continuously play Windows Media Player
Room temperature 21 ºC
MP3 playing + screen shut off + ear plug output
Test environment: Indoor, room temperature 21 ºC.
Test conditions: After full charge, slow charge for 3 hrs. Sound play through earplug, screen turned off, and no other operations performed.
Test model: Compaq H3850 64Mb Ram 32 Mb Rom, H 3630 *Chinese OS) 64 Mb Ram 32Mb Rom, installed PGF (test machine no.3)
Installed software: PDA Time for ARM. The same MP3 song (SR: 128K), and no other software installed. Screen shut off.
Note 1: Sound output through earplugs only. All other conditions identical as test 4.
Note 2: When playing MP3, and when the battery power remains only 10%, the device will stop playing. However, iPAQ will not shut down.
Test result

H3630 -> 5h:34m (play MP3 until no sound frequency can be emitted)
H3850 -> 7h:42m  (play MP3 until no sound frequency can be emitted)
H3630 +PGF -> 8h:09m (play MP3 until no sound frequency can be emitted)
H3630+PGF+HyperDrive 3x-> 15h:02m (Please note this machine plays wma format until no sound frequency may be output)
 
 
 
 

The above tests data were obtained through real tests. We welcome any verification tests from our clients.