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Nintendo 3DS

spatular

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Jbone

Jbone

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My Vita comfortably beats the 3DS battery both running and in standby mode. It feels like my 3DS battery is drained every time I turn it on.

Same here and I've got my Vita syncing trophies/save data and downloading updates overnight. The 3DS is comparable if you turn off the wifi switch though, so I've started doing that if I know I need a long(er) run time.

It is being drained if you've got spotpass or streetpass enabled.

What really bothers me about the Vita is that I can't just put it in standby and charge it from USB - you need to completely turn it off. I've got and Anker external battery and usually when I'm not using my 3DS I just plug it into that, so it's always got pretty much a full charge. They've fixed it for the new Vita model, I think.

I think people have covered this now, but there's some information about the Vita's USB connection here: http://www.snapturtle.com/wp/2012/02/22/ps-vita-usb-charging-solved/

It's not the only device that uses a bridged data connection for charging, so these days I think it's worth keeping a mains USB adapter that forces that kind of connection (I used to use a Nexus 7 one, that link recommends a Nook charger) or one of those Pisen dongles that Alex mentioned. I think I got a dongle from eBay for about a quid and I just use that if needed. It actually lives on the end of the Vita cable now... Anyway, yes. The more I can charge from a single USB mains brick the better.

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gizmo1990

gizmo1990

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The 3DS has two screens, one of which is 3D.

I knew you'd mention that. Ok, I'll raise you the vitas resolution and it's screen brightness.

We could swap usage and tech specs all day though. I guess I'm making the point that the vita has a battery you would expect of such a device, given its power and screen. The 3ds, imo of course, does not.

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TheSlugFormerlyKnownAsNap

TheSlugFormerlyKnownAsNap

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Compared to other modern portable devices the 3DS really doesn't push that much around to excuse its deplorable batterylife. It's just Nintendo scraping the pennies by using cheap, unoptimised components and/or weak batteries. And then delivering the final insult by not inserting a charger in the box. Crafty buggers.

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Barny

Barny

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There's one USB port on my laptop which can charge the Vita. It's a USB3 port and it has a lightning icon next to it, which none of the other ports have. Haven't looked into what the icon means yet.

6521.usb-powershare.jpg

This icon means the USB port supports PowerShare.

"Sleep-and-charge ports

Sleep-and-charge USB ports can be used to charge electronic devices even when the computer is switched off. Normally, when a computer is powered off, the USB ports are powered down. This prevents phones and other devices from being able to charge unless the computer is powered on. Sleep-and-charge USB ports remain powered even when the computer is off. On laptops, charging devices from the USB port when it is not being powered from AC drains the laptop battery faster. Desktop machines need to remain plugged into AC power for Sleep-and-charge to work.

These ports are found colored differently (mostly red and yellow). On Dell laptops, the port is marked with the standard USB symbol with an added lightning bolt icon on the right side. Dell calls this feature "PowerShare.""

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Massive Invisible Dog

Massive Invisible Dog

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I knew you'd mention that. Ok, I'll raise you the vitas resolution and it's screen brightness.

We could swap usage and tech specs all day though. I'm guess I'm making the point that the vita has a battery you would expect of such a device goven its power and screen. The 3ds, imo of course, does not.

I just think they both have equally crap battery life. Neither is doing anything impressive in that regard.

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womble9

womble9

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Finally started Zelda today. Oh my is it lovely.

Absolutely and just hearing another person sharing my thoughts on it makes me smile!!

If you're able to then be sure to play it with some headphones on. The 3DSs speakers are (IMO) pretty piss poor and don't do some of the musical scores any justice at all. Zelda in particular was musically so much better through them :)

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Not Thread Owner

Not Thread Owner

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I've been keeping an eye on my 3DS battery these last few days (it's getting a lot of use at the moment) and I'm finding it's not lasting as long as it used to. I don't know if this is because of its age, or if it's a recent update that's done it, but it's blinking red at me after about three hours instead of 4 to 5.

Are there any replacements that have a longer charge but aren't bigger yet?

Failing that, where's the cheapest place to get a replacement normal battery?

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gizmo1990

gizmo1990

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I just think they both have equally crap battery life. Neither is doing anything impressive in that regard.

I'd have to disagree, especially over your nothing impressive remark. Considering the vita is in many respects a portable ps3 I'd say it's battery life is entirely reasonable, good even.

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deerokus

deerokus

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The 3DS battery is tiny, it's roughly what they were putting in smartphones three years ago (a very long time in that sector). 4-5 hours of screen time isn't bad on a battery like that I suppose. It seems that isn't very efficient though as the screens are really low-res.

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Not Thread Owner

Not Thread Owner

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The 3DS battery is tiny, it's roughly what they were putting in smartphones three years ago (a very long time in that sector). 4-5 hours of screen time isn't bad on a battery like that I suppose. It seems that isn't very efficient though as the screens are really low-res.

800x240 + 320x240 is higher res than most smartphones three years ago though.

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deerokus

deerokus

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800x240 + 320x240 is higher res than most smartphones three years ago though.

That's true actually, hadn't thought of it like that. Hard to compare such devices in terms of power as the 3DS hardware seems to be somewhat custom-built. Would it be fair to say it seems to be capable of performance similar to the Wii?

Basically I'm a sucker who would by a 3DS XXL if it came with a 3000mah battery :(.

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HarMGM

HarMGM

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I'd have to disagree, especially over your nothing impressive remark. Considering the vita is in many respects a portable ps3 I'd say it's battery life is entirely reasonable, good even.

Bollocks, all that power is for naught if you don't give your handheld any fucking longevity. Just because Nintendo thought they could get away with a moronic battery life doesn't make the Vita's piss poor battery life any better.

Nintendo and Sony both need to take a page out of the book 'How to make a Handheld 101' by G. Yokoi and stop pissing around with either hardware specs whether it's 3D- or 'console gaming on the go'-nonsense.

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outspaced

outspaced

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Absolutely and just hearing another person sharing my thoughts on it makes me smile!!

If you're able to then be sure to play it with some headphones on. The 3DSs speakers are (IMO) pretty piss poor and don't do some of the musical scores any justice at all. Zelda in particular was musically so much better through them :)

I just finished the game, and made sure to wear headphones for the final dungeon and the music was great, it reminded me of the Pirates of the Caribbean theme. I really enjoyed it and found the difficulty level pitched just about right for me and my attention span, I wasn't 100% sold on the item rental/purchase scheme but at least it was something new for the formula. I'd recommend the game.

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Massive Invisible Dog

Massive Invisible Dog

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I'd have to disagree, especially over your nothing impressive remark. Considering the vita is in many respects a portable ps3 I'd say it's battery life is entirely reasonable, good even.

A portable PS3 I mainly use to play games which would have run fine on the original PSP which had about twice the battery life. I guess that's why I find it less impressive, maybe I'd feel differently be different if I spent most of my time on it playing stuff like Killzone or Uncharted.

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