Re: Mugen Power Batteries
 

Just got e-mail

Seems like they're sending it automatically for all previous orders. I didn't even had to request new cover. :)

Re: Mugen Power Batteries
 

They also updated their product page saying MicroSD and camera works with new cover.

My replacement covers also got shipped yesterday. It was a bit annoying actually. I came home and assaulted a pair of useless earbuds to harvest the magnet, taped it and some padding with white adhesive tape to the inside of the cover and got MicroSd and camera and flashligt functionality. Then checked email, and they had shipped new cover 12 hours before I started modding cover v1 :)

Re: Mugen Power Batteries
 

Yeah I got the email yesterday as well.

Re: Mugen Power Batteries
 

Is this battery the only option for improved capacity? Because the phone looks really a bit odd with the huge cover.
Could anyone post some pictures of the new covers?

Re: Mugen Power Batteries
 

Directly, yes, AFAIK. Of course, there's always carrying spare standard-size batteries, or carrying an external battery that charges it through the USB.

Probably be a bit before anyone gets them, but I'm sure someone will when they arrive. (Including me, if nobody beats me to it.)

Re: Mugen Power Batteries
 

Unless there's an improvement in battery technology, the only way to get a larger capacity is to increase the battery size. I can think of battery designs that would need a smaller cover than Mugen have made (by making better use of the internal space), but they're probably cost-prohibitive to produce (anything other than a simple cuboid probably is).

Re: Mugen Power Batteries
 

there's a new photo on the site. there is no cover over the lense, but there is now an on off switch. kind of weird, but definitely better than what we had before. And a magnet has been added to make the memory card work.

http://www.mugen-power-batteries.com...ery-door.html#

Re: Mugen Power Batteries
 

$96.95 ! For the sake of a little inconvenience, buy a spare battery and charger from fleabay for £6.49, also saves having to buy a wheelbarrow/new pair of cargo pants to cart the phone around in :)

Re: Mugen Power Batteries
 

I have to agree with Reading1800;

I bought a couple of genuine original Nokia batteries (£11 each on ebay) and a couple of desktop 'chargers' (these are in fact just battery holders that work off your Nokia charger).

With a freshly charged battery and two fully-charged spares in an adapted credit-card holder I have over three days use should I be stranded and/or be away from the mains or my car. I still have the sleek original monolith looks of the standard case and uninhibited use of camera, mmc, etc.

Fact is, I have only once ever had recourse to swap batteries, but it's great to be able to pull out those spare batteries in the pub to wind up iphone users when their batteries die!

Incidentally, if you do run spare batteries keep them at least 50% charged and rotate them every week; if battery voltage drops too far damage can occur on re-charging that might lead to overheating and resultant damage to your N900, if not your pockets...

My Best advice: ONLY USE QUALITY BATTERIES. Nokia of course (beware of fakes - they are identical visually), Mugen and a limited number of other quality brands are also equally acceptable. Don't buy cheap batteries - you might get away with it, but in my opinion it's not worth the risk.

I fly R/C model aircraft and there are some real horror stories of (especially cheap) LiPo battery packs exploding through mis-use.

Re: Mugen Power Batteries
 

I hope not. The Nokia "charger" is just a power supply..The charger is in N900.

What do you think happens if you charge your LiPo with cables straight from your car battery? :D

Re: Mugen Power Batteries
 

A solar charger is great as it charges no matter what rain hail or snow hehe no need to buy a wheelbarrow to carry any batteries that way.

Re: Mugen Power Batteries
 

@shadowjk:

I stand corrected, of course.

The terms 'charger' are generically but incorrectly used by the manufacturer and users alike. I followed that mistaken use of the word. I also referred to the standard battery as being Lithium Polymer. It is in fact Lithium Iron.

To those who don't know: the software in the 'phone manages battery charging. Usually this is done by monitoring battery voltage and other data This facilitates a faster charging rate up to a safe point and thereafter a prolonged but typically limited trickle-charge. The 'charger' is really a transformer that supplies a constant voltage and charge rate.

Cheap 'desktop chargers' often claim to have similar charging ciruitry, but I would not rely on that. NEVER leave batteries on a desktop/trickle charger for more than a few hours at a time and regard them as backup charger only.

Keep the charger away from paper/other flammable materials and monitor battery temperature throughout the charge process. Perform as much charging via the phone as possible - this is your best policy for prolonged and safe battery life.

Store batteries in a cool, dark space and if they get cold warm them very gently before charging. Never carry exposed batteries in your pocket - the contacts could be shorted out. Use/rotate spare batteries to ensure their voltage does not drop too far as this may result in a 'dead' battery that cannot be re-charged.

I hope this clarifies the matter and am indebted to shadowjk for pointing out the shortfalls in my Quick Reply - these are important matters.

Re: Mugen Power Batteries
 

I have been using cheap batteries and cheap chargers for three or four years without observing any of the precautions you suggest. How often would you expect problems to occur?

Since cheap batteries are available, typically, for less than $5, why are precautions such as never carrying spare batteries in your pocket necessary? You say that the risk is a dead battery that cannot be recharged. I have never had that happen, but if it did, I would be out less than $5. Expensive Nokia batteries, on the other hand, might justify such care.

Re: Mugen Power Batteries
 

Typically these desktop chargers are built using emergency battery protection chips. They're meant as second line of defense in case the primary charging circuitry fails, or if the device doesn't shut down by itself before battery becomes empty. Because they're not meant to actually have to do anything in normal use, their trip points are set outside the typical operating range of the battery.

In the long run this stresses the battery, making its capacity decay much more rapidly than normal.

Re: Mugen Power Batteries
 

This makes sense, though with cheap batteries, one solution would be to throw out your batteries every so often and buy new ones.

I don't suppose you could recommend a charger that DOESN'T have this problem?

Edit: Besides buying a second N900 :)

Re: Mugen Power Batteries
 

Hey people, my mugen battery arrived today and i just wanted to chime in and give a sorts of update:

the back cover comes with a switch that flips the white strip telling the camera if the cover is open or not.

Charging it for the first time now and will be back later if theres something to tell about :)

Re: Mugen Power Batteries
 

I also got the replacement back cover today for the Mugen 2400 mAh battery.

Camera and changing microSD-cards work now.
A photo with the old and new back cover is attached.

The battery lasts about 48 hours in normal (moderate) use from fully charged to the state it has to be recharged (as the picture of BatteryGraph shows)

Little too expensive though, I think, but otherwise I recommend it if one needs longer battery life with N900 and do not want to reboot to change for a backup/secondary battery. (Would be nice if N900 would have some kind of hibernate state where battery could be changed without rebooting.)

Re: Mugen Power Batteries
 

Wow, a hundred bucks.

One could buy a 5800XM off fleabay or some other SH and have a desktop charger, second battery and an emergency phone all-in-one (5800xm has the same battery). Heck, even a broken one that still charges is nice.

I think for 100 one could get a 3rd party desktop charger and battery.

I see a desktop charger (usb plug, case and logic only) for $3.99 and a BL-5J for 17$. So 21 bucks for a battery that charges from USB.

Also, from $10 to $40, you can buy a battery pack with an USB socket and just charge the device in your pocket. Ranging from 4-AAA cheap to huge-Li expensive, some of those recharge away in the office. (I have one).

I'm not saying the Mugen solution isn't sweet, since there's no rebooting, but I don't think it's commercially desirable (from my standpoint).

Also, I was hoping for a flat cover, flush with the camera. Now it just looks overweight.

Re: Mugen Power Batteries
 

How did you manage to have a nicely descending battery bar graph? My battery status bar widget stays at 8 bars until the Mugen battery is dry, when it goes straight to the zero level.

Re: Mugen Power Batteries
 

Won't happen unless someone breaks laws of physics and chemistry, or changes Lithium-Ion to some other (yet unknown) material. LiPo-batteries is the best we can get currently and the size/mAh is what it is.

I have had it too.
Sometimes the charging levels seem right, often not; actually never they are exact right to show 2400 mAh.
It's a bug:
https://bugs.maemo.org/show_bug.cgi?id=9789

I wonder if new customers have this issue fixed and Mugen would have resistor instead of thermistor inside the battery?

Re: Mugen Power Batteries
 

There is no need to be dramatic. By flush with camera I mean that the current back should be about 3 mm taller, so that the camera is at the same level with the rest of the back, with the bonus of stability. This adds another 3 mm to the already 4 mm battery, allowing for an unnamed percentage increase in battery, likely less than 100%.

Also, there's no need to break anything. There are several chemistries out there better than Li-Po in many respects. Don't mistake wide commercial availability with physical impossibility.

Re: Mugen Power Batteries
 

So is there any way to have the graph software account the full capacity or is it accepted to have it work in the 1200> range all the time?

Re: Mugen Power Batteries
 

It appears the N900 is expecting a normal batteries capacity.

By that I mean, I have been using the Mugen for about 16 hours now and N900 still reports 100% full.

So I am guessing it is like the battery is starting at like 200% and may be currently 140% or so according to the N900's calibration.

Odd, Linux on laptops can handle different capacity batteries. Maybe some software updating is needed for this to work better...

Re: Mugen Power Batteries
 

Look at the number of contacts on your laptop battery and on the N900 battery, and contemplate the distinction between software and hardware.

And FWIW, I've had at least one laptop that didn't seem to know about different battery capacities; although it's possible that was the fault of my no-name extended battery, it seemed to be a BIOS or hardware issue.

Re: Mugen Power Batteries
 

Hmmm interesting. So you think it might not be possible?

I am hoping/expecting, once the battery gets down to about half capacity, the battery indicator and lshal will indicate the charge beginning to drop from 100%

Re: Mugen Power Batteries
 

If you boot the n900 when it's cold the battery meter is slightly mre useful..

Re: Mugen Power Batteries
 

I think it's cool to have the battery read 100% for hour after hour after hour...

Re: Mugen Power Batteries
 

Yes this is true. Me too :)

24 hours without being on charge and still at 100% for me :D

Re: Mugen Power Batteries
 

I just came to work after having the phone on the recharger all night. Just whipped out the thing and saw i had 1 bar left, rebooted and now i have full power again.

It's nice to have this capacity even if completely hectic display of charge level but i don't much like having to reboot the phone all the time...

Re: Mugen Power Batteries
 

I too had issues with the N900 reporting back incorrect time left with the battery.

It either had 96-100% or down to empty and beeping at you it needed charging.

Also, I notice some artifacting, see attached.

Concerns me that this battery might be doing damage to the phone. Albeit minor.

Anyone else experience artifacts like these??

Re: Mugen Power Batteries
 

It ended up suddenly running out [after being at 96% last check only an hour before] at about the 36hour mark.

I did use it in a med-heavy way.
ie videos, browsing, Bluetooth, 3G.

Re: Mugen Power Batteries
 

I had some minor graphical glitch but i thought it would be related to something else... seeing as i run mine oc'd as well.

Mine wasn't that much though, just a speckle of artefacts right of the clock.

Re: Mugen Power Batteries
 

I got my new battery covers today. It appears that the lens isn't covered, correct? The on-off switch works fine and the memory card is detected now, but what is the best way to protect the lens?

Re: Mugen Power Batteries
 

Bump. Can someone else with the Muge high capacity battery confirm that there is no lens protector? I'm just using it without one now, but it feels insecure.

Edit: Nevertheless, I like this battery, even though it's a clunky monster. I haven't decided what to do about the uncovered lens yet. just leave it and hope for the best? That's what I am doing now.

I brought my N900 to the filming of the tv show Mad Men a couple days ago, where I was a driver. The camera was fairly useless for taking long shots of the cast, so I won't be making a living as one of the papparazi.

Re: Mugen Power Batteries
 

I don't know if this can reassure you, but I have been using the Mugen battery & cover for a month now, with lens exposed, and without any problem. The lens is recessed so it's not as prone to get dirt and scratches. And I don't have to think of recharging during a full day any more ;)

Re: Mugen Power Batteries
 

Yeah exactly. Alot of phones don't have lens covers; it was quite nice when I got my N95 to see a lens cover on it :)

It is so recessed I doubt you will get into any issues.

As for the artefacts, I am not getting any this time around. I have refrained from moving to the overclocked kernel so as to not confuse any issues with this new battery [such as this one].

I do hate not knowing if the battery is near full charge or about to die on me :(

Re: Mugen Power Batteries
 

Get BatteryGraph. It shows the voltage, which is a pretty reliable state-of-charge indicator for Li-ion. I leave it running all the time, and refresh it whenever I care. (Obviously, someone ought to make a statusbar applet using voltage to replace the standard one.)

Of course, as long as I charge it every night, I know it's not about to die on me... :cool:

Re: Mugen Power Batteries
 

I did have that and had some issues around that time, so removed it.
will try again.



That has been my mantra too so far.

Re: Mugen Power Batteries
 

That is the only thing I dislike also in this 182% battery.

Mugen should try to fix the issue. I've reported to them, but no comment if they can do anything.
I think the interest would be bigger if the issue would be fixed.

They have dropped the price again. $ 87.95 is rather expensive still though.

Re: Mugen Power Batteries
 

If we could make the battery gauge read voltage insted of (dunno what), from 4200 to 3600 mV, it would be done. Maybe with a wrapper script?