Before I go and buy a BT keyboard, can the 810 handle multiple simultaneous BT connections? I am thinking my BT DUN connection and a keyboard.

Will this suck my battery down even faster? Anyone doing something like this?

I use my iGo BT keyboard while listening via my BT headset quite often. And sometimes with my BT GPS going. All connected at the same time. I assume this answers your question.

It does, thank you!

Yes, it will suck your battery somewhat faster. Transfering more data will do that. But not much more than DUN alone, since the keyboard doesn't require much bandwidth.

Both the keyboard and sound "go to sleep" - which is a bit annoying as my headset beeps to indicate disconnect, and I have to hit a key and wait 2-3 seconds before then next key will be registered. I've not noticed a problem in normal use so the timeouts are long enough, but I can keep the keyboard and tablet linked and I doubt they draw much power.

Wow! Bluetooth keyboard, headset, and GPS simultaneously? That must really drain the battery. How long can you use these all together like that?

I would guess the main draw comes from having the BT transceiver enabled -- it's consuming power for amplifying input signals, and probably has the output amplifier drawing some power as well. The variation with how much data is transferred is somewhat less, I think.

But I regularly use BT keyboard and headset. (Wifi internet, no GPS, and only occasional file transfers from my phone.) And my battery life is reasonable.

I've gone two hours without denting the icon more than 1/3. I'm usually close by and not doing all continuously. I often listen, but only type in response after browsing. The BT GPS is actually better as the internal GPS will drain things very quickly, but also when I'm running that, I usually have two map programs (until they come out with a way to turn it on without their mapping program) so the CPU is at 100%. But my mapping program uses the keyboard (space to center, </Z/> to zoom, etc.) so it really helps having both.

The actual communications part of BT doesn't dent the battery much, even with multiple devices. Wifi seems much worse but that is also tweaked to be very efficient. Remember that the power is only required beyond a trickle for actual data. The headset profile is probably the most draining, but remember the alternative is to drive an electromechanical device and that takes current. The tiny packets for serial on the BT probably don't do much. The keyboard even less because it only needs power to say something was pressed or released.

Beyond that, Nokia did an incredible job with power management on the n810. I've heard a lot about the OLPC/XO, but the problems are the same or worse on a tablet. My cell phone drains faster and I use it much less. I keep expecting it to give a low battery or battery critical indication, and nothing so far.

Is there any way around this, or at least extending the timeouts especially when plugged into a/c?