[comp.sys.laptops] battery-watching program for Zenith Minisport

hnridder@cs.ruu.nl (Ernst de Ridder) (05/06/91)

Some days ago, I bought a Zenith Minisport.  But the machine doesn't
give any information about the state of the battery (apart from bleeping
when it's almost empty).  Now, I heared or read some time ago about a
utility called Battery Watch, a TSR which checks your computer regularly
and reports the "fill-level" of the battery.
Who made this program?  What does it cost?
How reliable is it?
Since it is a constantly active TSR: how much time does it cost?
Have there recently been any reviews of it in a computer magazine?
Are there any other programs doing the same thing? -- What are the answers
on the above questions for those?

Thanks in advance for any answers you may provide,
	Ernst de Ridder

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bumby@math.rutgers.edu (Richard Bumby) (05/07/91)

Two postings have asked about Battery Watch:

     Article <124565@unix.cis.pitt.edu> May 6 12:56
     Subject: Battery Watch Software
     From: dpbst3@unix.cis.pitt.edu (David P Brennan @ University of
     Pittsburgh)

     and

     Article <1991May06.115931.4461@cs.ruu.nl> May 6 11:59
     Subject: battery-watching program for Zenith Minisport
     Keywords: battery watch, minisport
     From: hnridder@cs.ruu.nl (Ernst de Ridder @ Utrecht University, Dept.
     of Computer Science)

I have been using this product in my T1000 and find it moderately
useful.  The program itself is very small, so you buy a disk that
allows you to install it on just about anything.  It is a product of
"Travelling Software" -- the Lap-Link folks.  It can't perform
miracles -- it can only use what the computer manufacturer makes
available, but I have found it useful for getting a better idea of
battery life than the little "low battery" light is able to give.  The
deep discharge is a nice idea in principle, but I have not found it
particularly useful in practice.  
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jackw@nstar.rn.com (Jack Wiggins) (05/07/91)

What you'll have to watch out for with "Battery Watch" is whether or not it 
even supports the Minisport.  I bought a copy for my Supersport SX only to 
discover that when it said it supported "Zenith Supersport" it only 
supported the original "Supersport model and not the series.  As far as I 
know, they STILL don't support the SX.


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brian@zds-ux.UUCP (Brian C. Barnes) (05/08/91)

In article <1991May06.115931.4461@cs.ruu.nl> hnridder@cs.ruu.nl (Ernst de Ridder) writes:
>Some days ago, I bought a Zenith Minisport.  But the machine doesn't
>give any information about the state of the battery (apart from bleeping
>when it's almost empty).  Now, I heared or read some time ago about a
>utility called Battery Watch, a TSR which checks your computer regularly
>and reports the "fill-level" of the battery.

I think the program your after was done by a company called
"Travelling Software" - They also did the program LapLink - Used in
PC to PC communication.

bdahlen@zephyr.cair.du.edu (Robert L. Dahlen - U. of Denver USA=) (05/08/91)

In article <8T0J22w161w@nstar.rn.com> jackw@nstar.rn.com (Jack Wiggins) writes:
>What you'll have to watch out for with "Battery Watch" is whether or not it 
>even supports the Minisport.  I bought a copy for my Supersport SX only to 
>discover that when it said it supported "Zenith Supersport" it only 
>supported the original "Supersport model and not the series.  As far as I 
>know, they STILL don't support the SX.
>internet: jackw@nstar.rn.com              1300 newsgroups - 8 inbound lines

I just read that Battery Watch Pro v3.0 $49.95 is a new generic version
that supports 40 "popular" laptops.  Call Traveling Software at 206-483-8088.

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jackw@nstar.rn.com (Jack Wiggins) (05/08/91)

After trying to deal with Traveling software and my non-functional "Battery 
Watch", I decided it'd be easier to give up on them ever trying to support 
my machine.  They've lost my vote for sure.


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laird@think.com (Laird Popkin) (05/09/91)

In article <8w5L22w161w@nstar.rn.com> jackw@nstar.rn.com (Jack Wiggins) writes:
>After trying to deal with Traveling software and my non-functional "Battery 
>Watch", I decided it'd be easier to give up on them ever trying to support 
>my machine.  They've lost my vote for sure.

The version I have (about 2 years old) allowed me to enter any values I
liked for the power drain caused by hard drive access, etc., and implied
that you could use it with _any_ laptop if you could determine reasonable
power drain numbers.  On the other hand, there are some features such as
backlighting which are specific to each model computer, so I don't see how
this could be so.  I can see how it could be difficult for them to keep up
with the nearly infinite number of laptop models and revisions.

This whole discussion _almost_ makes me think that Apple's use of a lead
acid battery (which allows you to determine the battery's charge directly)
was a good idea.

Travelling Software has certainly changed since the days when they produced
(very impressive) software for the Radio Shack Model 100.

- Laird Popkin, Thinking Machines

Connection Machine: Massively parallel supercomputer.  Also a cool black
cube with more blinking lights than you can shake a stick at.