# Power off frustration



## AZMoosie (Jun 8, 2011)

I'm new to the boards, so forgive me if this is a dumb question.  I did several searches before posting but found nothing close to my concern.

There are many reasons I love my Kindle.  There is only one reason I hate it; it's called the power button.  It would be an extremely rare occurrence to slide the power button by accident, especially if it's in a case that makes it even more difficult.  The worst thing that would happen is that the Kindle goes to sleep - no harm, no foul.  To deliberately power off requires a bit of dexterity and a lot of time/patience.  Why does it take so long (it often seems like minutes)?  Am I the only one who finds this simple exercise so exasperating?

Is there a way to change the length of time one must slide and hold the power switch?


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## Ann in Arlington (Oct 27, 2008)

According to Amazon holding for a second or two will put the device to sleep. This is the most you need to do on a regular basis.  If you don't expect to use it for a long time then you should hold it for 5-10 seconds.  But that's almost never necessary.  If it freezes up you need to hold it for 15-45 seconds until it restarts.

I haven't ever turned off any of the several Kindles I've owned over the lat 3+ years.  I just let 'em sleep.


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## NogDog (May 1, 2009)

Yeah, "sleep" is fine 99.9% of the time. It consumes very little power while sleeping (assuming you turn off the wireless), and conversely powering on from a complete shutdown supposedly uses more power than coming back on from sleeping, so the power usage difference of sleeping versus powering off are minimal, unless it's going to be off for a long time (several days or weeks, not just hours or a day).


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## valleycat1 (Mar 15, 2011)

I don't fully power off either.  I just let it sleep, and recharge as necessary (which, so far, I've found goes much faster than they say it will).


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## NogDog (May 1, 2009)

valleycat1 said:


> I don't fully power off either. I just let it sleep, and recharge as necessary (which, so far, I've found goes much faster than they say it will).


I think the only way you'll get anything like the max usage time they advertise is if you never turn on the wireless and only use it to read books. (I've noticed things like some of the game apps use up the battery even faster than using my Kindle's wifi to browse the web does.)


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## AZMoosie (Jun 8, 2011)

Thanks everyone.

I was aware of sleep mode, and use it occasionally, but I'm one of those compulsive types who always turns off lights, the TV, the computer, etc.

While I understand how the Kindle works, I still can't understand why I have to hold the power switch so long before the unit turns off.  I guess I'll just have to live with it.

Thanks again...


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## Linjeakel (Mar 17, 2010)

AZMoosie said:


> Thanks everyone.
> 
> I was aware of sleep mode, and use it occasionally, but I'm one of those compulsive types who always turns off lights, the TV, the computer, etc.
> 
> ...


I think you'll find that Amazon haven't worried about making turning it off any easier as they don't expect you'll want / think you need to turn it off very often. In fact they may have deliberately made it more difficult than it needs to be for that very reason - they don't want you to turn it off unnecessarily / accidentally.


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## Morf (Nov 18, 2010)

Indeed, if you read here for instance http://kindleworld.blogspot.com/2009/03/to-sleep-or-not-to-sleep-to-turn-off-or.html it's made fairly clear that Amazon do not intend you to turn the Kindle off in normal use - at least for the K2 which is when that article was written.

I did test the claim made there, that turning off would lose your place in a book, and it didn't seem to be the case on my K3, but I would never turn the Kindle off in normal use, just flick the switch to put it to sleep and flick it again to put it back on.

The only difference that I'm aware of is that wireless stays active in sleep mode, but most people only turn wireless on when they need it and leave it off the rest of the time to save the battery.

I think the only real purpose for the "off" mode is if you get enthusiastic cabin crew on a plane who insist on checking for electronic devices being turned off. The fact that the screen goes completely blank will probably make them happier than seeing a screensaver.

AZMoosie, I recommend that you try to get used to using sleep mode normally.


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## Ann in Arlington (Oct 27, 2008)

I agree with Morf. . . . .Let's redefine "off" for you:  it means there's a static picture showing and none of the buttons work.


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## Elk (Oct 4, 2010)

AZMoosie said:


> I'm one of those compulsive types who always turns off lights, the TV, the computer, etc.


I understand. I do the same.

Morf's idea is excellent (as usual).

Sleep with wi-fi off really is "off."


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## SOHKat7 (Jul 11, 2011)

AZMoosie said:


> I'm new to the boards, so forgive me if this is a dumb question. I did several searches before posting but found nothing close to my concern.
> 
> There are many reasons I love my Kindle. There is only one reason I hate it; it's called the power button. It would be an extremely rare occurrence to slide the power button by accident, especially if it's in a case that makes it even more difficult. The worst thing that would happen is that the Kindle goes to sleep - no harm, no foul. To deliberately power off requires a bit of dexterity and a lot of time/patience. Why does it take so long (it often seems like minutes)? Am I the only one who finds this simple exercise so exasperating?
> 
> Is there a way to change the length of time one must slide and hold the power switch?


I've only had my Kindle 3 for a few days. But I don't read constantly so I can't "justify" keeping it on all the time. I fully power it down when I'm done reading. I can't stand leaving something on for a screensaver to play if I'm not going to go back to it within 5-10 minutes. When I first got it and was trying to power it off it was frustrating that I had to old the off button for so long to get it to actually power down, but I guess on some level its better too cause then you aren't accidentally turning it off and on all the time


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## Ann in Arlington (Oct 27, 2008)

I guess I'd say you shouldn't think of the 'screensaver' as a 'screensaver'. . . . .it's really just a picture that displays while the kindle is asleep -- I think of it as a 'sleep picture'.  The Kindle uses no more power while sleeping than it does if completely turned off -- well, there is some tiny trickle drain, I guess, to keep the clock, but nothing significant if you've got wireless off.  It certainly doesn't use any power to maintain the static image -- that's the nature of the technology.   And the keys are locked so pages won't get turned accidentally when it's handled.  But it will 'wake up' from sleeping much more quickly than it will boot from completely off.  If you don't always have a long time for a reading session, that might be an important consideration.

For most people, there's no reason to turn the thing off.  Amazon recommends if you won't be using it for a week or two it's not a bad idea, but I've never even done that.  Once I picked up my old 1st Gen Kindle and it had turned itself off due to low battery -- I'm not sure why but it had been a couple of weeks since I'd been reading on it -- but I just plugged it in and turned it back on and I was back in business.  I read with it plugged in for a bit and then left it to fully charge.

In short, putting it to sleep is all that's needed in most cases.


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## Mike D. aka jmiked (Oct 28, 2008)

SOHKat7 said:


> But I don't read constantly so I can't "justify" keeping it on all the time. I fully power it down when I'm done reading.


Here's the thing: You _can't_ fully power it down. There's no way to do that, short of taking it apart and removing the battery.

The Kindle is always on, as it has to keep the clock running, monitor the power switch to see if it has been toggled, etc. There is no power used to display text or picture on the screen, only to change it to something else.

Turning the Kindle "off" just removes the picture (again, not to save power, but to let you know the device is in very low power mode), and prevents it from doing things like indexing.

Mike


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## Ann in Arlington (Oct 27, 2008)

That's technically accurate.

But I think most people think in terms of "sleep", "off", and "battery out".

And the point is there is no benefit to "off" over "sleep" unless you expect to not be using it for an extended time. And I personally think that is debatable. 

{niggling memory} I seem to recall someone saying that when they had the Kindle "off" for some length of time and then turned it back on, it started indexing. Which, if you have a lot of books, could make the battery seem to drain faster. But they might have been talking about a restart which, as I understand it, briefly does disconnect the battery so that it can start completely clean . . . a _tabula rasa_ as it were.


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## Mike D. aka jmiked (Oct 28, 2008)

Ann in Arlington said:


> That's technically accurate.
> 
> But I think most people think in terms of "sleep", "off", and "battery out".
> 
> ...


Well, I'm a technical person! 

I'm pretty sure the restart procedure only resets the CPU, not actually disconnecting the battery. But I could be wrong.

Mike


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## Elk (Oct 4, 2010)

jmiked said:


> I'm pretty sure the restart procedure only resets the CPU, not actually disconnecting the battery.


Mike, I think you are right. Most computerized gadgets just perform a stack/memory dump and reset under these circumstances.

It is pretty much a return to tabula rasa in any event. It would be handy if I could perform one on myself occasionally.


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## slieveen (Jan 11, 2011)

Can someone remind me again why I would even want to force my kindle to sleep when I lay it down? As I understand, there is no difference in power draw between a page of text and the sleep image. Why not just lay your device down when you're ready for a break and let it go to sleep on its own if you don't pick up again within the preset "sleep" window?


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## Linjeakel (Mar 17, 2010)

slieveen said:


> Can someone remind me again why I would even want to force my kindle to sleep when I lay it down? As I understand, there is no difference in power draw between a page of text and the sleep image. Why not just lay your device down when you're ready for a break and let it go to sleep on its own if you don't pick up again within the preset "sleep" window?


There may be times when you don't have the option to just 'lay your device down' when you finish reading. If you're travelling etc. you'd probably have to close its cover and put it away in a bag. Until it goes to sleep the keys are still 'live' and you could be pressing things unknowingly. It's best to put it straight into sleep mode on those occasions, to lock the keys.


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## SOHKat7 (Jul 11, 2011)

So, because the screen isn't like a TV or computer screen, we shouldn't be worried about images or text being "burned" into it? 

I've heard others say after awhile the screen gets lines and its kinda garbage after that. I'd assume that could be from leaving it on all the time too...

These are the reasons I've powered mine down after I'm done with it


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## Linjeakel (Mar 17, 2010)

The only time a Kindle gets lines down the screen is when the screen is cracked. This is a non repairable fault and if it happens Amazon usually replace the Kindle immediately.

Some people report getting occasional ghosting, but a screen refresh usually sorts that out. If you use your Kindle reasonably regularly, there really is no need to do more than put it to sleep. The screen won't get burned by displaying the same picture. Honestly! I've had Kindles for two years and have never switched one off yet.


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## SOHKat7 (Jul 11, 2011)

Linjeakel said:


> The only time a Kindle gets lines down the screen is when the screen is cracked. This is a non repairable fault and if it happens Amazon usually replace the Kindle immediately.


Does Amazon always replace them for things like that? Or is it just for a specific amount of time after buying it?


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## Linjeakel (Mar 17, 2010)

Kindles come with a 12 month warranty, so they should replace it if it's less than a year old. Even after that, they often give a good deal on a refurbished one.


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## SOHKat7 (Jul 11, 2011)

Linjeakel said:


> Kindles come with a 12 month warranty, so they should replace it if it's less than a year old. Even after that, they often give a good deal on a refurbished one.


Ok cool. Good to know. I'm gonna have to protect this big time then HAHA!


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