A simple trick for extending Zune battery life

[Zunerama Ed.]

From the Zunerama blog:

Here's a technique that can significantly prolong your Zune's battery life.

Most Zuners turn off their player by pressing and holding the play/pause button for a few seconds.

When you power back on, Zune will bring you back to whatever you were doing when you powered down - whether that be listening to a song, watching a video, viewing a slideshow, listening to radio, and so on.

While that's nice, there's a price! The player uses a little bit of battery power to preserve that information while the player's off. Essentially, the player is going into hibernate mode, ready to spring to life when you turn it back on.

There's a better way to turn it off that saves battery life. You won't find this method in the minimalist "Start" pamphlet that came in your Zune box.

Press and hold the down button on the D-pad, and at the same time press and hold the back button. In three seconds, the player will fully power down.

If you're not going to use the player for a few hours, or if it's just not important to you that it start at your most recent function, this method will keep your battery juiced for a much longer time.

When you do power the Zune back on, it'll display the Zune logo momentarily (about 4 seconds) and then take you to the main screen.

This trick has been well-known in our forums for a while, but I think it warrants highlighting in the blog. For me, it's the most commonly-used of all "undocumented features" of your Zune!

[xxxoom]

thanks.

[Sw0rdf1sh]

I see said the blind man as he picked up his hammer and saw.


Thx for the tip.

[A_Str8]

What other undocumented features are there?

[Zunerama Ed.]

There are a few others I'm aware of, like how to reboot the Zune, and how to completely reformat it. In fact, I'm adding those to the Zune FAQ as we speak.

[GK86]

Thanks for the info. 

[aaron00lee]

very cool man, ill remember that

[bloodygoreyguy]

really helps but i read somewhere on the zune main site that this is not recomended.
could this harm the zune in anyway???

[olion597]

really helps but i read somewhere on the zune main site that this is not recomended.
could this harm the zune in anyway???

Not that I know of, unless it does some wear and tear on the hard drive (which I doubt).  The only problem i've found, is that you lose any temporary data.  By temporary data, I mean things like ratings, and (though I havn't tested this particular one out) probably flags.  So if you rate a song, like "Echoes", a 5 out of 5 and shut the Zune off using this way rather than the pause/play method before connecting it to the computer, the Zune will forget you ranked the song.

[nymbis]

Also, if you turn off the device this way, has anyone noticed that it doesn't turn on when you plug the head phones back in? Its kinda of nice actually...

[admin]

really helps but i read somewhere on the zune main site that this is not recomended.
could this harm the zune in anyway???

I haven't come across that - did you find it in the Zune knowledgebase? Let us know a link if you come across it again.

So far, no ill effects on mine - and it definitely does preserve the juice.

[pixelsyndicate]

One issue I have found with the Zune is that plugging in the USB cable the Zune resets itself or it freezes the interface.  I have had to put it into sleep mode (holding down play) and then perform a reset (UP on the D-pad and BACK button simultaneously).

[Wayneo]

Thanks for the tip.  For some strange reason my battery was always dead at the end of the day when turning it off the normal way (holding the play/pause button down for 3 secs).  It was eight hours or so later fro the time I turned it off.  I don't know if I have a battery issue here or not.  If someone out there has a similar issue I would like to know.  In the mean time I think this tip should do the trick.  Thanks a bunch here!

[datumpirate]

Thanks for the tip.  For some strange reason my battery was always dead at the end of the day when turning it off the normal way (holding the play/pause button down for 3 secs).  It was eight hours or so later fro the time I turned it off.  I don't know if I have a battery issue here or not.  If someone out there has a similar issue I would like to know.  In the mean time I think this tip should do the trick.  Thanks a bunch here!

Try checking out the help section.  Similar problems were had.  Which Zune do you have?

[tdman77]

Very nice tip. Doing this my zune wil last for more than a day now. thanks!!!