i do not know if my problem fits in this forum
Not quite, but I'm sure someone will move the topic if it's too annoying, as it should probably have gone
here.
i own the sharp model zaurus sl-5500G. i've bought it as a new model...
Which, of course, is fairly impossible, as the 5500G has been out of production for quite a while (IIRC almost 2 years) by now -- which could be a factor in your problem. If it's been sitting on a shelf someplace for that amount of time, the LiIon battery will most likely have suffered some, albeit not much if the storage conditions weren't too bad.
but the battery seems to be really weak...
Well, looks like you immediately stumbled onto the main problem with that model Zaurus in general: the battery is indeed rather weak for the amount of current the Z is drawing (mainly its backlight and some CF cards, esp. WLAN).
the status bar jumps around sometimes up to 15% . is it normal...
Depends on the software installed. If it's an off the shelf SL-5500G, chances are it's running Sharp ROM 2.36G or 2.38G. AFAIK all unmodified Sharp ROMs have a lousy APM battery meter which will just report back about 5 or so different levels. Depending on the current draw, (i.e. light on/off) it might indeed provide such significant changes in reading.
Of course if you have installed another ROM with a much finer granularity in battery reporting (or patched it in like myself ) and you experience such jumps, it might be the sign of an aging battery.
what is your experience with the battery-lifetime
Hmmm, anything from 45 minutes to 8 hours plus, depending on what I'm doing
45 minutes is about the time it'll last overclocked, maximum brightness, playing video streams over a hungry WLAN CF card. When it's underclocked, display disabled, just playing OGGs or MP3s, it'll last the aforementioned 8+ hours for me.
Typically I got 2-2.5 hours of use with WLAN on lowest brightness, or about 3-3.5 without WLAN on the same setting, in both cases just with my SD-Card in. It's somewhat less now, after maybe 150 charge cycles, and will of course continue to decline until the battery's completely dead
Hope this helps,
Chris.
