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Dell Venue 8 Pro Stylus Battery Issue
I have a Dell Venue 8 Pro and purchased the Dell Stylus....today I spoke with customer support because for some reason the battery in the stylus lasts about 3 - 5 days before the battery dies entirely. In speaking with Technical Support they told me there are known issues and that the resolution is to remove the battery from the Stylus every time you decide not to use it. This does not sound correct to me and would be a significant design flaw if it is in fact the case. For a $40 stylus you would expect more from Dell....can anyone tell me if they are encountering a similar problem related to Stylus battery draining and not lasting more than 3 - 4 days max.
This is highly disappointing if it is the case and Dell should issue refunds or add an off switch to the pen if it is in fact the case.
Thanks
David
dcleavenger
1 Message
0
December 25th, 2013 13:00
I received stylus on Dec 20th, installed battery and tested good. Now 5 days later it is dead. It's at about 0.56 volts. I didn't even use the device.
jwmas
8 Posts
1
December 26th, 2013 06:00
I'm on my second stylus and both never got more than three days from a battery. At that rate, given the cost of the AAAA batteries it won't take long to before battery costs exceed the cost of the tablet itself.
This, aside from the other problems with the stylus, is a deal killer for me. I've given Dell over seven weeks to fix this and have decided to send the whole kit back, which is a shame as I liked the tablet.
I'd be interested in learning of others battery experience.
Computerstuff_M
8 Posts
1
December 26th, 2013 10:00
I am on the second Active Stylus, amongst the other issues both the batteries lasted less than two weeks of minimal use. The first stylus quit working in about three days. I changed the battery and it worked another day and quit working again. I found if I tapped the stylus on the eraser side it would start working temporarily. I called tech support and Dell sent me a replacement stylus. At this point I wasn't regularly using the tablet because of the stylus issues. The second stylus worked when I received it and while using the tablet occasionally. Thinking my problems were over, and within two weeks, I took the tablet to a meeting for note taking and the battery for the second stylus was dead. Also, with the latest firmware and drivers the stylus still has intermittent erratic operation, acting as if it is touching the screen when it isn’t.
In so many ways this is a great device, but, for me it’s not worth keeping without the Active Stylus working properly. I wish we knew if there was a fix coming.
geekydevjoe
6 Posts
1
December 27th, 2013 10:00
I had this same problem and I got a replacement battery from RadioShack. The top of the battery (+) top connector sticks out very little compared to the energizer that came with the stylus.
The stylus didn't work with the new battery because it wasn't connecting. The lower portion of the stylus has a design flaw because the connector inside is inset and needs something to connect it to the battery.
I found a small spring (like that of a pen, but shorter) and "screwed" it into the lower part of the stylus (the part that is inset). Now that spring can touch the (+) terminal of the battery.
I put it all together and now the stylus works perfectly because it has a good battery connection. This is why the battery died and it wasn't working well to begin with. It was having an intermittent connection off and on, thus draining the battery
srich001
3 Posts
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January 2nd, 2014 17:00
Same problem with my stylus. If you don't remove the battery it lasts 3-5 days.
JT8D
1 Message
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January 4th, 2014 14:00
Same issue, used a spring works like a charm. Dell has serious QA issues, battery does not make contact. How insane is it for customers to figure these things out.
I bought the tablet at MS store and you could not purchase an Active Stylus, had to order from Dell, who in Dell is driving marketing and sales strategy, :)
Unbelievable!!!!!!
geekydevjoe
6 Posts
1
January 4th, 2014 15:00
Update to the spring solution. While that did work for the battery connecting to the + end my battery still only lasted less than a week. Dell just shipped me another stylus. Ugh, feel like just returning it and waiting for an updated stylus.
RC944jim
2 Posts
1
January 11th, 2014 12:00
I too had the same battery problem, but for me they keep wanting me to update things on my V8Pro, as for the battery no store in my area handles the 4a bat with the long tip on the + end, I had to order from Amazon and have used 3 of the six batteries they sent me. Sure hope they come up with a pen that works otherwise back it all goes. AND they Dell never offered to send me a Bat. One tech told me that a lot of stylus shipped with a defective bat and I should replace it.
Are there any folks that got a stylus and have had no problems?
tfortunesc
1 Message
0
January 20th, 2014 16:00
Having the same problem with the battery life on my stylus. I called technical support and they told me Dell would be coming out with a new stylus in about a month. Told me to either call customer care and request a refund now or wait a month or so and call for a replacement. I waited 6 weeks originally for this stylus so I think I will hold off and wait the month and call for a replacement. With the amazing amount of problems with this stylus you would think Dell would just notify everyone who has purchased this "dead" pen and tell them they will be replacing. Love the Venue Pro 8 - hate the stylus.
geekydevjoe
6 Posts
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January 24th, 2014 20:00
There is an update for the touch panel firmware. just installed it and so far the stylus is working more like my surface pro device. Much better. Hopefully it will stay that way.
http://www.dell.com/support/drivers/us/en/19/DriverDetails/Product/dell-venue-8-pro?driverId=8T9WD&osCode=WB32A&fileId=3332775140&languageCode=en&categoryId=FW
hwang2218
5 Posts
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January 31st, 2014 19:00
I just got my second Active Stylus from here for 40 bucks:
http://www.parts-people.com/index.php?action=item&id=15176
It is different part number (332NG) but same technology from Synaptics special for dell xps 11. It is compatible with Venue 8/11 pro. I'm using it on my DV8 Pro without any problem like many people described here, no hover clicks but I will see how long the battery can last.
shirokuro
2 Posts
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February 5th, 2014 08:00
I ordered the exact same thing this week - ordered Monday, they said delivery Wednesday, but it arrived Tuesday! Great service!
Anyway, it worked I'd say almost perfectly for the first 15-20 minutes. Then it started hover-clicking, and after a reboot, I now get NO hover cursor on the tablet, although it is hovering, and it hover clicks pretty much constantly. Absolutely unusable.
I've removed the battery several times. I don't have a spring but i rolled up some aluminium foil and tried using that to aid the contacts. No luck.
I can't believe Dell sold this stuff. It's a real shame, because I love the tablet itself. I have until the weekend to decide if I'm keeping the tablet, or returning it (to the Microsoft Store) and waiting for the Asus Vivotab Note 8. :-(
dwx
25 Posts
1
February 5th, 2014 08:00
It's really what the manufacturer date says on the packaging as AFAIK these pens are still the original A00 October 2013 pens. The revised pens are the A01 January 2014 pens, so you may be getting the old broken pens.
The issue is everyone was trying to get "a" pen whether it was the old one or not because Dell stopped selling them, and then a couple days later we find out some are starting to receive the revised pens. Really poor communication on Dell's part with all of this.
shirokuro
2 Posts
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February 5th, 2014 09:00
Yeah, I got an A00 October 2013 pen. It says so on the package.
Seriously, Wacom had this stuff figured out way over 10 years ago. Shocking, Dell and Synaptics, utterly shocking.
jkcolak
2 Posts
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February 6th, 2014 08:00
Has anyone heard when the new pens will be coming out? I used my pen with a NEW battery to take notes during 2 days of meetings and the battery is already dead. I took the battery out overnight, but the fact is that I needed to keep it in while taking notes. How power consumption issues. If it used a AAA battery I could at least use rechargeables, but the fact that they chose to use the AAAA battery makes this VERY expensive to use. I hope that they honor the exchanges if/when they release the new pens...