Hi,
I also have the same kind of pbl; I bought my p550 in June''06. It had a 1200mA/h battery. So I replaced it by a 1700mA/h battery but no change. I am also disappointed by this device. No answer from Mio tech support. BTW my P550 only lasts <36 hrs even when it is turned off!
So if someone else has another idea?
Thanks for any feedbacks.

Having exactly the same problem with both my P550 and mio ''support''... It is intermittent, since it''s now been off for two days and still has 100% battery...

I have the same problem with the battery which runs out when the PDA is switched off. I bought it in November 2006. At home I always let the P550 to be connected to the charger otherwise it is completely discharged after few hours. Closing all programs doesn’t help.

Another big problem is the On Off Switch. You keep the PDA in your pocket but it turns on all the time because the On Off switch sticks out.

Sometime it turns on of itself even when it is just laying on the table.

The P550 GPS Time o Fix(TTF) can be long. In the UK I tried it with Destinator and TonTom with very bad result of TTF, approximately 10 minutes. Very strange, I used it in Israel and it was much faster (Destinator and iGO).

I would not recommend the P550, there must be better devices out there.

/Joel

I bought it 10 days ago in Israel and this morning encountered the same problem. Did you try to switch off On-Off Switch with the stylus in addition to switching off with Power Button?

Shlomo

Hi,
Well I also tried the on/off switch on the bottom, but it resets the date and time each time which is most annoying!

I bought my P550 in Dec 06, similar problems: (1) turn on by itself without touching. (2) If I navigating in my car by only using its own battery, it will shut down by itself, so no navigation. I tried to contact Mio by their sites are extremely user-un-friendly. Difficult to send them email for tech help. Anyone know how to use it with its own battery but won''t shut down by itself? Thanks.

I found a "MIO P550 Power Problem patch" file download from MIO Canada site. Though I download it, but cannot install because it give me a message: This is not a valid Win32 application". I think this patch will solve our problem but cannot install. Please try this patch and let us know what happen. Thanks.
Patch file download link: http://service.mio-tech.com/M0100/F0130_1.aspx?...

ok thanks for the hint; I will certainly try to download this patch and let you know the outcome.
Well I've just done the download, but have also the same pbl related to Win32. Wondering if this is a patch for Windows XP :(

Help please! I have two days to decide if i am giving up and return my new Mio P550 (14 day return policy at store). I am having the same intermittent power problem I am reading here. I have called mio and all they suggest is the patch. I got the patch but cannot install - get this error: "Coud not found superpackage.bin file!!".

Id like to know if any of you have found a fix as I would like to keep this item. It is otherwise perfect for my needs.

I''d also like to know, what you recomend as an alternate device if this one has to be returned. Looking to spend same price and get similar/same features...love the GPS, love mobile windows, love built in wifi.

Thanks alot, eh!
Angie
Canada

Personally I''d return it. I am really disappointed by this power issue since I haven''t solved my problem yet. I''d recommend the Airis T620. Rgds, Luc

You need to put it on your PDA and run it there, as follows:

How to install the patch?
download the patch by clicking on the link above. Select the language your operating system is in
unzip the file to the root (this means top level) of an empty SD card
insert the SD card in your PDA
Via start/programs/file explorer go to the folder of the SD card
double click on MioUpdatePackages.exe
follow the instructions on the screen.

Thanks for the hint; I followed your insrtuctions but once I double click on MioUpdatePackage.exe on my P550 I get the following error msg:
this SuperPackage is not for this device !!
This really drives me crazy :-( BTW I did unzip both files MioUpdatePackage and Superpackage on the root of my MMC card.

Hi There

I installed the patch and got the same SUPERPACKAGE error. I calle MIO who never heard of that and could not tell me what to do next. Mio suggested I return my unit and try another. They said I had a 50/50 chance of getting one that would not have the same problem. They could not pinpoint the problem to a certain lot or production run so I just returned it. I am very sad because I loved that little thing.

Yesterday I got an HP rx5910. It was $200 more which is insane but I was tired of looking. This HP uses TOMTOM 6 which doesnt seem as nice as the MioMap. The main purpose I need is the GPS so unless I grow fond of the TOMTOM in the next day or two it will be going back to the store.

Any other suggestions on a nice PDA with office moblile and a good GPS? Need built in wifi too.

Thanks again,
Angie

I tried the HP rx5910 and returned it two days later. The TOMTOM6 maps were no where near as nice as the Mio maps and the unit was uncomfortable to hold as landscape. For nearly $700 it should feel good in my hand I think.

Anyone having any luck with the patch for their mio?

Any other suggestions on what to try next?

What about these phones that have everything, including GPS?

I have got the patch installed (but can''t remember how as it worked painlessly). It''s now easier to restart after full discharge but I''m having the full discharge after 1-2 days problem too.
This is worrying as their website says it is very bad to let the battery fully discharge - will reduce the life of the battery from 20k cycles to 200.
Mio Tech Support don''t reply to emails so I''ll have to ring them. Sad to hear they have no idea about the problem as I am very pleased with the unit (eventually) other than this.
(Have just added the flac support to TCPMP media player which works fine too.)

Dear friend

After waiting long time from Mio, without any answer, people from Resco helped me and gave me the solution:
Do as bellow. It worked with me and solved the problem. Now I have anoyther problem with hard reset.

Here are the steps how to disable this strange behaviour:
- you will need to configure the ActiveSync to synchronize with server manually (it is chosen to synchronize each 10 minutes by default).
- open Programs/ActiveSync
- choose Menu / Add Server source (we need to create dummy server connection to enable the Schedule option).
- type "dummy" as server address, press next, then type anything (e.g. "a") as username, password and domain and press Next and then Finish in the next window
- now open Menu / Schedule and choose "Manually" in both combo-boxes.
- now open Menu / Options and delete Exchange Server
- ActiveSync should be now configured not to wake up from suspend mode.

Please, let me know if it works. I need help with hard reset.

Had the same discharge problem, device would only stay charged for a day...
Followed the Activesync advice above, now still at 90% charge after using it for a 24hrs!
Well done for getting that info!

Well I wonder if you guys have hit the nail on the head, and if so, why hasnt MIO thought of the above advice re: active sync?

I am on my second unit. The first one went back to the store on day 15 of the return policy. I moped around the house, tried a few other models but found I was not happy with any other brand of pda/gps combo. So I bought a new P550 and am on day 10 without a single problem. The point of my story? I have not used Active Sync - on the orginal model I had tried it out. Keep your fingers crossed for me that this second one will keep in perfect working order and I will stay far away from Active Sync for as long as possible.

Angela, do not be so happy. Sometimes Acsync is activited by other softwares, like any GPS software. This was the first symptom of this problem in my P550. I completely clean the PDA with a hard and I had no problems. When I installed Resco Explorer I had the problem. I thought it was related to RE and contacted them. After many tests and tries they suggested me to do the above and it solved the problem. I was ready to change the device.
Now, unfotunately I had a second problem, and it seems more serious. The unit completely froze and nothing activates the unit, it is not even possible a hard reset. I have sent many emails to Mio, without any answwer, and also tried to call 0905-4640010, from Brazil, without success. It seems is a phone number accessed only from UK. I am now trying to find a way to contac Mio, with an answer.
Has anyone tried and be successfull contacting Mio, by email or phone? Do you have the contact?

Well it appears I spoke too soon. My new P550 died in my hands last night. I was trying to turn the WiFi on, and noticed the icon for connecting via Bluetooth was missing. When I went through the settings it told me that there was no bluetooth hardware installed on this unit. Then I turned it off to try turning it on again and on a 90% full battery it would not power on. I had to turn the on/off switch and got the green startup mio screen. All my data was there except the date and time had returned to the original setting of May 04 2006. All my appointments and settings were there.

Now, I have 4 days again to decide what to do. Is this going to to be the worst of my problems? I can deal with resetting the date and time if thats all that happens when it goes dead. Any opinions to this?

Needless to say I am hugely dissapointed. I thought I had a winner with this second unit.

As far as a contact to Mio, Paul was somewhat helpful on a past model and his email is: paul.sanchezII_mio@yahoo.com

Looking forward to any thoughts on what I should do. Or again, is there a really good alternate out there I havent found? Ive tried the HP 5910, the Pharos 525 and the Mio C210 (no pda but otherwise a fine GPS).