Guest neuronisis Posted January 12, 2003 Report Posted January 12, 2003 Hi all, going on holiday soon and taking my SPV with me. I've encoded a few movies to watch on the plane(Radio will be turned off) but was wondering how long the battery would last. I've only really watched short 30 minute episodes to date. So guys, any ideas on how much video we can watch before the battery dies? :D
Guest Emad Posted January 12, 2003 Report Posted January 12, 2003 MP3 playing has lasted me 5 hours or so.. I'd imagine a movie would be 2-3 - possibly more as the radio is turned off.
Guest crimminsky Posted January 12, 2003 Report Posted January 12, 2003 be careful on the plane though, not all steward/stewardess will believe/understand you when you tell them that the radio is off and they will demand you turn it off and leave it off :D
Guest neuronisis Posted January 12, 2003 Report Posted January 12, 2003 Yeh, you've got a point about steward/stewardess demanding the phone is turned off all together. I just hope they understand! As for the Mp3's, i was just thinking, could it be that an Mp3 uses more processor power because the bit rate is 128kbps and my movies are 46kbps? There for more battery power for movies than Mp3's. Just a thought. 8)
Guest awarner [MVP] Posted January 12, 2003 Report Posted January 12, 2003 Yeh, you've got a point about steward/stewardess demanding the phone is turned off all together. I just hope they understand! Unlikely :( There was a bit in the paper about someone using a gameboy on a flight a while back and the stewardess kicked up a right fuss about it. But you never know your luck, you might be on a flight and the pilot might want a go :D
Guest Emad Posted January 12, 2003 Report Posted January 12, 2003 Also, its very hard to hide with that wee lil backlight :D I'd imagine mp3s use less power - mp3 compression is less hardware intensive than mp4 style compression (wmv files).
Guest ajb3000 Posted January 12, 2003 Report Posted January 12, 2003 I really hope I can use my SPV on my flight to Moscow, I'll take the manual with me and kick up a fuss if they tell me to turn it off. Are you allowed to use PDAs on planes?
Guest spacemonkey Posted January 12, 2003 Report Posted January 12, 2003 You're allowed to use any non radio (transmitting or receiving device) in flight except during takeoff and landing. However at the end of the day, all the laws are in the favor of the airline and if you kick up too much of a fuss they can fine you.
Guest Bazz Posted January 12, 2003 Report Posted January 12, 2003 One of the MS guys also posted on the MS newsgroup that some American airlines have a no mobile policy - even in radio off mode. At the end of the day air hostesses have enough to worry about without learning the features of every model of phone, checking that people switch the radio off and checking that everyone keeps it off. Can't you survive for a couple of hours without your phone? And just try and pick a fight with a stewardess. Airlines and police have no patience for air rage especially in these times - quite rightly in my opinion! Barry
Guest Emad Posted January 12, 2003 Report Posted January 12, 2003 I normally use my pda fine on flights - God bless ebooks. Kicking up a fuss these days generally isn't a good idea - airline crews and security people have got a bit more jumpy and a lot less tolerant in recent times..
Guest ajb3000 Posted January 12, 2003 Report Posted January 12, 2003 So we'll have to try and hide the phone under a jacket or something then, doh.. On another note, almost every flight i've been on i've heard someone recieve a txt message during the flight.
Guest Bazz Posted January 12, 2003 Report Posted January 12, 2003 So we'll have to try and hide the phone under a jacket or something then, doh..Yeah that's the answer... You know cause they're only doing it to annoy you. Not for safety or anything. With all the bugs in the phone how can you be certain it won't flip to radio on halfway through the flight? On another note, almost every flight i've been on i've heard someone recieve a txt message during the flight. Cool. Must be safe then. Just like in that old phrase: 2 wrongs do make a right! Let's all use all electronic equipment during take off. A million quid to the first arsehole who manages to crash a plane and kill all passengers including themselves!!
Guest ajb3000 Posted January 12, 2003 Report Posted January 12, 2003 I didn't mean we can leave our phones on cause other people, i meant 2 things by that: 1. it can't do anything that detrimental to the planes equipment if phone are on during the flight, and 2. it quite worrying that people do leave phones on that do send and recieve radio signals during flight.
Guest spvman Posted January 12, 2003 Report Posted January 12, 2003 To ajb - Ok so if the stewards / esses tell you that your phone cannot be turned on during the flight you are going to be seen fumbling with an electronic device beneath your jacket....you really aint the brightest bulb in the pack are ya??? Have some common courtesy, check out the headlines from oh, say 16 months ago and get a f*cking brain. We all like our little fault ridden gadgets but just get a life, leave it turned off and watch the in flight movie. And dont even think about flaming me for this posting.. you wouldnt like my response and you know it makes sense. :evil:
Guest Bazz Posted January 12, 2003 Report Posted January 12, 2003 OK. Being very short in my replies tonight. Not sure why. Must be a lack of vitamins in my diet or something ;-) I'm sure some people do forget. Everyone has mobiles nowadays, so some people must forget. Doesn't make it right/safe though. I think I did hear somewhere that airlines were getting less worried about mobiles and were considering not demanding they were switched off. Not sure where/if I heard this so let's not take it as fact. At the end of the day they have rules for a reason and I don't think we should attempt to get around them. Let's not take the risk OK? Anyway I'm away to bed now before I snap at someone else... Barry
Guest Emad Posted January 12, 2003 Report Posted January 12, 2003 Does anyone know of the real dangers of mobiles on airplanes? I seem to remember reading somewhere that they weren't really that great.. I can't imagine that a mobile phone of any type would produce all that powerful a radio signal - could be wrong of course.. Those inflight call charges are ridiculous too..
Guest spacemonkey Posted January 13, 2003 Report Posted January 13, 2003 At the end of the day their are two issues that they are concerned about. The first is that the radio signal transmitted by the phone may induce a spark in the fuel tanks. This is the same reason why they don't let you use mobile phones on petrol station forecourts. This one really is a complete overdose of paranoia. My favourite is recently where one of the petrol companies (can't remember which) in the UK place cell sites in their forecourt price boards... kinda proves that it's not blowing things up. The second is that the interference may impact other electronic systems. This one is a little more valid. Try this, if you have a PC with those little multimedia speakers put your phone down right next to the speakers, grab your land line and give yourself a call (while playing music on the PC of course) You will here lots of buzzing and annoying interferance noises. Also if your phone is underneath the monitor you may see some exciting horizontal lines on the screen. This is interference. While this is a relaticely true issue it isn't ordinarily going to bring down a plane but I think they are justified in being paranoid about this one. An article I remember reading about this actually said the thing mobiles on planes really caused problems for was the cell networks on the ground. When you use your phone the cell network figures out which your closest site is, on the ground this is easy, however if you are 10,000 feet above ground then there are probably 20-30 sites all about the same distance from your phone and the ground based networks will start switching your phone dynamically between all these site causing issues to the network. Anyway... hope that was as informative as it is boring.
Guest Bazz Posted January 13, 2003 Report Posted January 13, 2003 Can it really pick up the cell at that height. I thought mobiles were very short range devices (which is you need so many cells and why the batteries can be a lot smaller than 1980s chunk-meisters)? Surely at any sort of distance (including height) it'll be out of range? Barry
Guest spacemonkey Posted January 13, 2003 Report Posted January 13, 2003 You'd be surpised. I've had many occasions when I've been up the top of a mountain, like 800 + Metres anyway (mountains are a bit small in New Zealand) and you get 1 bar of reception. The main reason that you have so many cell sites is capacity management and they also need close to line of sight. It'll penetrate buildings but not brilliantlty, for instance shopping in London with lots of big old stone buildings , you lose reception almost every time you go into ground floor shops. Capacity... like when you are at a big concert or event and the single local site is just totally over loaded by the fact that you have 10,000 people all trying to use one site.
Guest Monolithix [MVP] Posted January 13, 2003 Report Posted January 13, 2003 I'm more worried about forgetting to put my phone on the x-ray machine when i go thru security. Summer before last, after being asked to check all metallic objects on the belt and to ensure my phone was also put there i happily walked thru, only to find i'd left my phone in my pocket. had to have a full frisking to check i wasnt going to blow anything up :D
Guest sparks1061 Posted January 13, 2003 Report Posted January 13, 2003 I think I did hear somewhere that airlines were getting less worried about mobiles and were considering not demanding they were switched off. Not sure where/if I heard this so let's not take it as fact. Barry Some airlines, BA for one have relaxed the rules about mobile phones to a point, You can now leave them switched on until they are ready to depart and not HAVE to turn them off as soon as you board, However, once the seatbelt light comes on then the phone must go off, At least now you can ring and let someone know you're going to be late when they board you and then leave you sitting 90mins waiting for deicing equipment as happened to me last week, Not sure how they would react to turning off the wireless part of your phone, I haven't bothered to find out, But if they tell you to turn it off I wouldn't even think about arguing with them!! And yes Mobile phones have been known to effect some cockpit equipment, I have seen several safety reports about it, Don't think it's ever caused a crash, But hey do you want to be the first?
Guest youngerpants Posted January 13, 2003 Report Posted January 13, 2003 Call me a luddite ("you're a luddite") but while on a plane, I dont bother with e-books, pda's, games etc, but instead I use document-hard-copy-fiction... or a book to the uninitiated. They come with 0Mhz processing power and 0 Mb memory, however the media has unlimited storage capacity and can be obtained from your local hardware reseller, or Waterstones. Failing that, tamazipan will make the flight fly by (pun intended)
Guest Monolithix [MVP] Posted January 13, 2003 Report Posted January 13, 2003 Just noticed this is the 2nd page. I got moaned at once for using my j70 on a petrol station forecourt, I then pointed out i hadnt noticed any sparks flying out of my phone whilst in call and went to ask if they'd lost and stations due to mobile phone use. The old lady couldnt answer that but did give me one of the little info leaflets that explain to staff/customers why mobiles on petrol station forecourts are dangerous Radio waves create electrical circuits apparently I'd like more info on where they heard of this ability moblie phones have to create pcb's out of thin air overly paranoid imho :/
Guest ukmailserver Posted January 13, 2003 Report Posted January 13, 2003 Does'nt the mobile phone ban on petrol forecourts go back to the days of when CB radio's were banned on petrol stations. The reason for this was that if you left the CB on transmit when you were filling up then the radio signal would interfere with the electronics and yo would end up paying much less that you actually pumped. Maybe they are scared of the same thing. Maybe the airlines think that the radiation from the signal might make their in-flight food hot. That would not do PS a big spark did come from my Siemens mobile phone the other month when the charger went faulty and shoved 240V down the wire. SPVMAN. Keep it chilled and relax a little. It's good to see someone who can only express themselves with 4 letter words. It shows so much good breeding. Barry
Guest Monolithix [MVP] Posted January 13, 2003 Report Posted January 13, 2003 PS a big spark did come from my Siemens mobile phone the other month when the charger went faulty and shoved 240V down the wire. woohoo! did it melt? :D
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