In my Review of the Palm Pre, I said that the Pre's battery gets me through a day of moderate use, but with heavy use cuts out rather quickly. If some of what I'm hearing on Twitter and in the forums is any indication, I've been lucky with my results.
So yes, let's come out and say it: battery life isn't good on the Pre and hopefully Palm will be able to alleviate it with some software fixes (we know some are in the works). In the meantime, here are some tips and tricks for improving your battery life. We'll start with the most important, end with one tip that may surprise you, and then offer a few accessory suggestions.
A huge thanks go out to the PreCentral.net Members who have been on this case like Columbo.
It's all after the break!
Palm Pre Battery-Saving Tweaks
Log out of IM
The Messaging apps keeps you logged into both AIM and Google Talk even after you dismiss the card. The IM protocol on the Palm Pre is currently afflicted with a bug that makes is suck the life out of your battery. The bug is aggravated if you have a lot of buddies. For now, unless you expect you'll be actively using it, click the green circle at the top of your buddy list and select Offline.
Turn Bluetooth off
I've not seen the Pre do anything particularly nefarious with Bluetooth and battery life (seems to not make much of a dent to me), but better safe than sorry.
Move your phone
I have to admit that despite my complaints about poor coverage, there are places around with slightly worse coverage (I'm in one now). The Pre drains quickly in areas of marginal coverage -- so if there's a spot in the room with better signal, it wouldn't kill you to be sitting there. (see below for more options).
Change your Fetch Interval for Email
I still have Gmail set to "As Items Arrive" because I'm stubborn and push Gmail is too nice to give up. Still, if push email isn't critical to you, consider setting your fetch interval (in email preferences, under your account info) to 30 minutes or a half hour. Heck, depending on how often you get email, setting your interval to "As Items Arrive" may help your battery life. It's something you need to play around with.
Check your screen settings
Does your brightness really need to be maxed out? Do you really think the screen needs to be on for 3 minutes before it turns off?
Hotmail? May be an issue
Folks in our forums are identifying Hotmail as a particularly nasty culprit for heat and battery issues. To be fair, this one could be as much Microsoft's bug as Palm's. But if hotmail isn't essential for you, shut'er down.
Turn off GPS
If you're not using (and not fixing to use) GPS, you can head into your location preferences and turn it off. In my testing this hasn't made a huge ding because the Pre doesn't have GPS on all the time, but if you're using Google Maps a lot, it could help you.
Turn ON WiFi. No, seriously
Palm told us that the Pre was very efficient at WiFi and that we might just see better battery life with WiFi on. I haven't done extensive testing yet, but yesterday I spent all day in a spot with absolutely terrible Sprint signal. In the morning, WiFi off and the battery drained rather quickly, down to 50% in three hours of moderate use. In the afternoon I turned WiFi on and with the same usage, it managed to keep it up to 25% four hours later. Still not great, but surprisingly better!
So: poor signal but good WiFi? Turn on WiFi. No WiFi around, turn it off.
Close apps, especially 3rd party apps
Can't hurt! In fact, you may even want to consider deleting them (Opt + Tap in your launcher). We haven't confirmed yet, but it's possible some 3rd party apps may be failing to close cleanly and killing battery.
Reset the device
You never know, even built-in apps sometimes behave badly on the best of platforms.
Battery-Friendly Accessories
Spare Pre battery
Don't be tempted by your old Centro's battery either -- we don't recommend it. Our very own PreCentral.net Accessory Store will have the official Palm Pre battery in soon, for $39.95
Touchstone
Having a Touchstone around means you can top off more conveniently, so battery life isn't as much of an issue. Again, our pals at the still will have them in stock within a week or two and for cheap! Touchstone Charging Kit clocks in at $49.95 and the Touchstone by it's lonesome is $39.95.
One thing to keep in mind: the Touchstone doesn't come with a microUSB cable or a wall charger and in my testing it does not charge when you plug it into a computer -- so you'll need a wall charger to go with it. The kind folks at the store have created a Touchstone + Battery Cover + Wall Charger Bundle for $71.90 and if you're looking for a second setup for your office, they have a Touchstone + Wall Charger Bundle for $66.40.
Travel Charger / USB Charger
Sometimes you just need to plug in - here's a list of chargers and cables that have been tested to work with the Palm Pre.
Vehicle Charger
Yeah, having a way to charge the Pre in the car is going to be important.
Emergency Charger
I'm a gearhead, so there's always something in my bag that needs charging. My favorite new addition to my bag is the Freedom Mobile Power Emergency Charger. It's just a little 1800mAh battery pack that gets charged by mini-USB and charges via mini-USB. So it's important to note that by itself it is not compatible with the Palm Pre. But I also carry a mini-USB to micro-USB adapter which, combined with the Freedom emergency charger, charges up the Pre just fine.
Signal booster
Before I get to step 4 (which involves a monthly fee and a compromise), I'm currently testing out a signal booster from our store, the Wilson Electronics SIGNALBOOST DT Dual-Band 800/1900 MHz Desktop Amplifier Kit. It's essentially a repeater - you put an antenna outside your building and run a coaxial cable to a box in your office. Given that I have lots of bars outside my steel box of an office and none inside, it seems like a good solution. It's expensive, however, so we'll have a full review for you next week to help decide between this and the...
Airave
Sprint sells something called the Airave, which essentially is a miniature cell tower in your house that runs off your high speed internet. In theory, it's the perfect solution. In practice, it works but not for everybody.
The reason I'm not putting an Airave at the top of this (at least above the Wilson solution) is that it just has too many compromises:
- it costs $5 a month to use
- it only works for 5 users
- it does not provide high speed EVDO data, only 1xRTT signal for voice calls.
- it comes with a GPS puck whose sole purpose is to make sure you're only using the device in approved areas. (and yes, there are legitimate E911 reasons for this, but it still grates me)
It's only $100 bucks initially, though, so despite all those compromises I may break down and get one for the office.
What are YOUR battery saving tips?
Comments
there is an extened 1350 battery for the 800w, did anyone try it in the pre?
what about the 1600, i really want to maximize battery life
It's made for the Treo 700, won't fit the Pre. I think the 1350 for the 800 will fit the Pre, but I am sure Dieter "will not recommend it".
someone need to test this out for us
not to mention palm recommended not using centro battery because the "electronics" are different.
Thanks Dieter!
I too noticed significantly less battery drain when I set up wifi on the phone. I can't quantify it but based on viewing video and web on wifi and evdo, I would guess its about a third better, just a guess.
Here is a tip of my own: Create a 320x480 image that is pure black, upload it to your phone, and use it as wallpaper. I haven't quantified this, but I have done this with a lot of success on laptops, where I have gotten better battery life for having no wallpaper.
So a darker wall paper will use less power to illuminate the screen. Brilliant! (guinness commercial)
No no no nononononooooo... dark backgrounds use more power. The pixel has to be turned ON to make it black. The only reason you save battery power is because it's a simple solid field of color and your computer doesn't have to think hard about how to display it. The backlight's going to be on full bore regardless.
And let's be honest, how often are you going to have the background up for longer than a second anyway?
So are you saying that a solid white field background would be the most power saving? Or are you saying that any solid color background would be equally as power saving?
Tell me straight up Derek. Dieter won't read this... Would you put a bigger Centro or Treo battery in your Pre if you knew there would be no circuitry issues (which there aren't, or are there?) ??
This used to be true of LCDs, until the advent of "dynamic contrast ratio." Nowadays, if your LCD is equipped with this "feature," it stands to reason that your display will consume less power when primarily dark images are displayed on it, because the backlight does, in fact, dim. That said, I haven't heard of the pre having any flavor of auto-backlight dimming. If that's indeed true, then your background image will have no practical impact on battery life.
If the screen is LCD then, yes you're correct. But I believe the screen is LED which means black is good!
Yeah, an LED high resolution screen makes no sense. Definately LCD.
The airave is now $100 + $5 per month, although there are claims that if you call the retention department and complain about poor coverage at your home/work you can get one for free.
That said, I just went out and bought one. I've been a long time sprint customer and paying an extra $5 a month (especially when I get 20% off my bill due to my job) won't beak the bank.
The airave does a lot more than just improve signal strength. My call quality is noticeably improved and on par with a landline when I am in range of the airave. Obviously performance will vary with the speed of your broadband connection, but seeing as how I have no landline having higher call quality at home is a huge plus. Also the GPS puck does more than just make sure you are using the airave legally (no taking it to canada/mexico/europe to avoid roaming charges) it also ensures that the airave is e911 compliant. Without it Sprint would be in violation of those standards.
I can't wait till they let the screen shut off when on the touchstone. Sort of annoying to have to unplug the cable and plug it in to have it charge over night without creating a glow in your bedroom.
Are they going to make a battery charging dock for the spare battery?
Also if you have a mini to micro converter is it ok to use motorola adapters for charging?
"Also if you have a mini to micro converter is it ok to use motorola adapters for charging?"
They do not work. When I connected it to my Touchstone, it cycles between charging and not charging every second. When I plugged it into my Pre, it did nothing.
However, I have found that the Palm Treo Pro charging accessories work perfectly with the Pre.
That glowing at night bugs me too, no reason for it.
The glow with the clock and the email notifications I find is great on the desktop. Just plug directly into the phone without the stone for bedtime.
Actually, I bought a mini to micro converter (Motorola brand) to test it out - I have soooo many mini-USB cables around, and only one micro (for the Pre), and the cable was 57 cents ($0.57), so I figured, "Why Not".
In my experience, it works perfectly. I have a 12v auto to USB converter in my truck, and I keep a USB A to mini-USB cable to charge my GPS. I put this mini to micro converter dongle on the end of that cable (it even has a little loop of string that I attach it to the mini cable to keep from losing it when I'm charging the GPS), and then I plug the micro into my Pre (or my Jaba headset). It works fine, for me.
Remember, I wasn't trying it with a Touchstone, though, so I can't give any experience/advice on that, just on plugging the Pre into it directly.
I have an airave (via retentions, although I did need to call to remind them not to bill me the $5/mo)
Since I also have wifi, it works out (almost) perfectly. My call reception is great and data doesn't matter because I would have been using wifi in either case.
I say almost perfectly because it does have one weakness -- you can't roam _into_ its coverage. So if you are talking in your car and you go into your house you will not start using it without hanging up and calling the person back. You can roam _out_ of its coverage, which is a blessing and a curse. If you are actually leaving your house, its a good thing of course because it means your call (probably) won't get dropped. If, on the other hand, you are just going outside for a second you'll roam away and when you go back inside your coverage will suck.
So far though it seems to work well for my pre.
doh, that sucks about the roaming =(
"30 minutes or a half hour"? six of one half a dozen of the other...
Palm is already selling extra batteries on their site. Seidio is selling an external battery charger to keep your spare topped up. Seidio will shortly be selling a 1350 mAh extended battery (taking pre-orders now) and are working on an extended battery with DOUBLE the life. It will come with a new back (rubberized) for the Pre to accommodate the larger battery; I've emailed them to find out if their new back will work with the Touchstone.
Update: Seidio said their replacement Pre back would not work with Touchstone (bummer.) They also told me my existing external charger for Centro batteries would not work with Pre batteries.
I bought 2 touchstones for me and the misses at launch, but luckily they were 56 bucks so i dont feel so ripped off. They dont even have a spare cable in there though. WTF PALM!
Where is the Inductive car charger? I would make my own, but i hear the touchstone doesn't work with most car chargers. Needs more Juice.
The GPS app definitely has a memory leak too, and it would be wise to just restart your phone after you use it for now. It said I was chewing up memory and no cards were open and the Pre finally restarted itself.
You should be able to wire it directly to your 12volt if yoy have an adapter. Otherwise get a small portable 120v converter, and plug into that.
I purchased a second touchstone and the Sprint car charging cable. The micro usb connector has a larger than necessary plastic piece that prevents it from fitting into the touchstone (probably on purpose). However, a few minutes with a flat file and I was able to whittle down the connector plastic so it fit into the touchstone.
Now, I have a touchstone charger for the car that works perfectly, and it holds the phone at a great angle on the center console. Couple that with a bluetooth headset and the Sprint Navigation app is better than my stand-alone GPS device and the Pre battery never runs down on a long trip (although it does get toasty hot after a while).
Why is there supposedly a problem with the Centro battery? Seems like the 3404WW kit would be a good solution, especially for those of us who have legacy Treo chargers.
Would you say turning wifi on is still a good idea if you have excellent Sprint coverage? I have a full signal at my office, and I had been leaving wifi turned off. (I also have extremely light daytime usage though... so I'm not sure if it even matters in the long run)
I'll have to start experimenting with it on/off some more. I never expected to learn that having an additional service on would improve battery life...
Concerning Wi-Fi/EVDO, I've noticed that my phone seems to be smart with its usage. While active it will use an available wi-fi network. However if the phone is idling it turns off the wi-fi and uses evdo. I assume this saves power as I'd expect evdo to be more efficient when data is sparse/the phone is idling.
I should also point out that this occurs when my phone is *right* next to my wireless router.
While I'd like to get the airwave, the signal booster I'm really curious about. It could be usable not only for Sprint, but other carriers.
But like most repeaters, I really would like to get your findings on it. $300 is a lot to drop after all the money I spent switching to Sprint
You should turn WiFi off if you are not at a hotspot or at home/office. The Pre will continue to look for a WiFi connection point and that will drain your battery.
so should we leave wifi on no matter what? Even if there is no hot spot around? That is what I am taking from this article
From what I have noticed, Wifi is inactive unless you are around a signal. Turning it off when you are not near a Wifi connection you can connect to isn't a bad thing, but if you have the option to use Wifi over EVDO, do it.
Are Pre batteries are hot-swappable without losing any data? It's all non-volatile RAM like the Treos, right?
Correct
Well, hot-swappable wouldn't be the right word. Hot-swappable would indicate you could do it while the phone was still running without turning it off, which obviously is not the case.
But no, you will not lose your data when you remove your battery.
I thought I'd share a few backgrounds with you all. I have an all black, all white, and two photos that I did for my Pre, available for free off my website. I will have about a dozen others available for free by tomorrow on the same page. Visit: http://www.rarearts.com/pre.html.
Would any micro USB charger work... like the charger for the LG Lotus?
In additon, i think its a good idea is to get an adapter for the car that will change the input to allow you to use the wall charger.
I use a power inverter in my car to use the wall charger in the vehicle. It has worked well to charge the battery but unfortunately something in the line is not properly shielded and I get audio interference when I plug the Pre into my car stereo via auxiliary input. I am not sure if its the components of the Pre's charger or the inverter itself (the inverter was quite cheap). Either way I am looking to adapt my Motorola car charger that I used to use with my WinMo phone with no audio interference.
All inverters will do this unless they are Sine Wave (clean power). Sine Wave inverters are expensive and I've only seen them with high watt ratings. You would see the same problem with a laptop, LCD TV, etc.
My wife had the LG Lotus before we upgraded to the Pre. The Micro-USB wall charger AND Car Charger that we got for the Lotus both work with the Pre. So now you have no excuse for a Pre with a dead battery since you will have multiple chargers everywhere! :)
nah, it'd be much cheaper, more efficient, less obtrusive, and more reliable to just get a power adpater for your car that has one or more USB ports on it. There's no need to step the 12VDC up to 120VAC with an inverter, only to step back down to 5VDC with your wall charger. Just cut the middle man out and step 12VDC down to 5VDC (USB), then just plug your USB cable into the adapter. Something like this will do http://www.sourcingmap.com/black-usb-port-car-charger-adapter-for-apple-... or you can find others with multiple ports.
THis is toooooo much! Turn this off, turn this on, turn this off. THis phone should be ready to use without all this crap. Palm better get their engineers in gear.Fine they need to push this phone out...Great, now push out the updates. It would be a shame to have all those PREs returned. On a side note, does anyone else's head hurt when talking on the Pre?
It's a smartphone, not psychic ... you kinda still need to let it know what you are and aren't going to use.
The Airave GPS puck is quite a bit more important than this. Keep in mind that an Airave is FCC authorized to operate on cellular frequencies licensed by the cellular carriers. Your location is needed to know what frequencies are licensed to Sprint in your location (so that you don't operate in other carriers' CDMA channels). It is also needed to know what cellular towers are near you so that it can properly coordinate handoff of your call to a high-wattage cell tower and so that those high-wattage towers can hand off to the femtocell in your home as you come into range of the Airave.
Personally, I think that it's very cool that Sprint allows privately operated cells to incorporate into their mesh of towers in this way.
You may be comparing this to the T-Mobile equivalent which requires that the handset include a separate radio to operate on frequencies compatible with the base. This probably uses unlicensed frequencies (just a guess). The Airave is cool because it truly is operating on the same frequencies that the phone uses to connect to the big towers. That means that the whole Sprint product line of phones is compatible.
The Palm website has a battery for sale called 'standard battery.'
Does that mean there will be an 'extended battery' offered? I would love that, even if it means making the phone a bit larger. What good is a cute tiny phone if you can't use it without it dying before you go to bed?
the guy at my best buy said the best thing to do the first week (preferably as much as possible) is to let the phone completely discharge with use and then charge the phone til full without using this. Apparently this is supposed to enhance battery life and decrease time required for charging, but sounds really inconvenient. Anyone else been told this/ share this pt of view?
the guy at my best buy said the best thing to do the first week (preferably as much as possible) is to let the phone completely discharge with use and then charge the phone til full without using it. Apparently this is supposed to enhance battery life and decrease time required for a full charge, but sounds really inconvenient. Anyone else been told this/ share this pt of view?
Also has anyone discovered an easier way of placing the cursor where you'd like to type in the case of editing something instead of having to peck around the screen with your finger until the cursor lands in the right place?
Well, that should be very easy to do since I do it multiple times a day inadvertently. However, this is a Li-Ion battery and doesn't have a "memory" like the old Ni-Cads. The drain and refresh method worked on the old ones. I doubt seriously if it would do the same for the lithium ion ones.
For editing and cursor placement: Hold the orange OPT key down on the keyboard, and you'll see the cursor get a set of "points" around it.
Now, while holding down the OPT key, swipe in the direction you want the cursor to move, or move slowly to have it move with more precision.
It's not perfect, but it does work. Maybe I just need more practice.
GET OUT OF HOTMAIL....I can confirm that this is true. My battery was 100% dead by 2:00pm yesterday ater taking it off the charger at 8:00am (use was minimal). Last night I got on precentral and read a forum that said hotmail could be an issue so I completely erased my hotmail account. It is now 12:30 and am still at 100% charge; granted I've only used it a few times today but yesterday, even with hotmail updating every 24 hours, my pre would run very hot and drain (a lot) even when on standby. Today it has stayed very cool and has drained hardly at all while on standby. I was about to return my pre but maybe now I wont..
"Also has anyone discovered an easier way of placing the cursor where you'd like to type in the case of editing something instead of having to peck around the screen with your finger until the cursor lands in the right place?"
Hold down the orange key and drag your finger over the screen as though it was a laptop touchpad.
I wonder why hotmail would cause a problem. Why would the pre treat it any different when checking for new email?
I did erase my AIM and Google Talk accounts and that helped a ton with battery life.
Most of the Pre battery life optimization tips essentially amount to "Turn all the cool stuff off". If you don't use any of the features of your phone, you might be able to make it through a full day. That's nonsense! Sure the Pre is pretty but I didn't pay that much for a decoration. I want a device I can use! I'm still mulling over returning mine. . . I can't decide.
I turned the brightness on my display all the way down. When indoors, which I pretty much always am, there's no noticeable difference in using it, and the battery life is now great.
This time yesterday I was at ~30%, I'm currently sitting at 71%. I've also done several more demos to co-workers today, so I've probably used it more than I did yesterday, too.
Battery life is no longer a complaint of mine!
I know. I laughed the Sprint store rep told me that if I wanted the phone to make it through the night I had to turn off WiFi.
Sprint and Palm better get a handle on this and start getting info out or the bad publicity is going to kill them.
This is the reality of having so many features on a portable device .... look at the iphone and its battery life .... its just as bad. Once they discover how to make batteries with higher capacities in smaller form factors, we can have these nice little small phones with good battery life, until then .... be happy with your slim phone with available features when you want them.
Just a heads up, I spoke with a sprint store worker and someone tried to use an after market wall charger and it fried his Pre. Oh and to top it off they aren't going to Warranty it!
And talk about Sprint needing to get a handle on things. I had a sprint store rep try and tell me that the charging stone was a docking station and could be pluged into a PC, when it clearly says it DO NOT PLUG INTO PC!
I hope they can pull it together.
busdriver~
You are on the money dude. I've never heard of this crap before. Why have a great phone if you have to turn all the cool shit off. I've turned my screen down to the lowest light, deleted all my email accounts, turned off wifi and bluetooth and my battery still drains. I have been with sprint for a long time and really like their service. Sprint and Palm have two week to straighten this out or I'm out..
Oh, BTW,
Are you telling me that no one in the past 6 months of messing with this thing, noticed these problems...
If you have it plugged into the charger, can you hot swap like the Centro?
How do I turn off IM and GPS?
Another tip related to the screen. When you're done using it, tap on the power button to turn off the screen. This will save you anywhere from 30 seconds to 3 minutes of the screen being on every time you access the phone.
Did any of you guys own a first gen iphone? The battery life was awful! Just as bad as my pre. Apple did a good job making things go more smoothly, and battery life improved. At least i can buy a second battery for my pre, my iphone didn't give me the same option. Palm will hopefully work out some of the kinks with this generation, maybe offer a bigger battery that will not void my warranty. Take it easy, chill out, buy a second battery for all you heavy users, maybe a car charger? Before my Iphone i had a motorola w385, and that thing would kill itself in under 4 hours of no service, wether i was doing anything or not. It'll get worked out, breath deep, bleeding edge tech will always have bugs. Palm has a history of working out bugs quickly. No worries.
Here is the deal with non palm chargers.
Palm recommends charging off the wall charger, but can charge of USB.
USB CHARGING: The USB 2.0 spec requires a min of 100ma (that's milliamps; how many electrons are running through the wires to create a current)and a max of 500ma. The palm wall charger (and some computers and USB hubs) deliver 1A (1000ma, 2x the usb port). Most cheap USB car cig chargers give deliver 250 or 300ma. I bought one and the pre charges off it but you have to plug it in a couple of times before it begins, so its a trickle charge, not worth the effort. You want it at least 500ma (but will be less when it gets hot).
WALL CHARGERS: You can use a different brand Micro or Mini(w/adapter)USB to charge the pre BUT, look for the Output 5Vdc= (X)A or (ma)written on the charger. Some older motorola i've seen were 350ma. Blackberry pearl is 0.7A (700ma). My HTC and Garmin are 1A. It can be greater than 1 as long as it is 5Vdc (volts, direct current).
CAR CHARGERS: The "just wireless" brand is sold in every store in america seemingly. They don't list any information about the input/output. They are some company in china that is impossible to contact. I'd stay away from there stuff as people frequently give it poor reviews.
MICRO vs MINI: If you are pissed about how everything was mini and went micro and now you need all new everything or adapters, I was too. I did some research. The micro usb is more sturdy than the mini was. The mini was rated for 500 plug/unplug cycles. (my blackberry pearls port broke after 2 years so i believe it) The micro has new mechanical design specs that make it rated for 10,000 plug/unplug cycles. AND the plug (the cheaper of the two, $500 phone port vs $25 dollar cord plug)is made to break before the port ever does. So it seems like the old screwgee but it really is to increase durablity. YEEAAAHHH.
my battery life on my pre has not been bad at all. but it would make sense of closing apps when not in use. and putting it sleep mode helps too. and when wifi is used, you can use multiple cards... its fabulous! its so zippy!
Is there a release date on the extended battery?
The WiFi tip really does save battery life! :)
It should all be automatically done for you, thus, "Smartphone". It can be done, it just needs Treo engineers to get it done instead of the PRE yo-yos. What the hell, you are not supposed to be going around switching crap on and off 100 times per day as you go on your daily life because the designers didn't do their job right the first time. That's crazy! For example, they could use the GPS to know if you are moving fast (like in the car) and so turn off WiFi while that happens, and then turn ON again when you are situated in one spot, and at any rate it should only be on automatically when you turn on an application that needs it, remain off otherwise. Etc, etc, etc, and so on and so forth for the rest of other power saving techniques. It should be done automatically for you. Now, that's what a smartphone is supposed to do.
I noticed in the PreCentral store theirs a Cigarette lighter to USB adapter thingy.
take that plus whatever cable you need for the Touchstone
clean your dash, and plop the touchstone base on it,
and Presto, you've literally got the most convenient car charger ever.....
That's my plan, as well... now I just need the Bluetooth-enabled stereo that does A2DP profiles, and I can stream Pandora through my Pre to my car stereo with no wires at all!
Or a bluetooth car kit that does A2DP, but the stereo's cheaper :)
I turn off wifi unless i'm home (there's no wifi at work anyway). I st my hotmail account to pull every six hours. I left my gmail on push. I don't make a lot of phone calls, but probably moderate data use during work hours. I've been able to get through some days with 60% batt life, 8-5 workday. That's pretty on par with my experience with smartphones.
I have to admit, going from my Treo 700p to the Pre was a real wake-up call when it comes to battery life. Sometimes I wish they had made it a bit bigger to accomodate a larger battery, but then I slip it into my pocket and think a midday charge ain't so bad. I don't understand how some of you can think the Pre should magically do all these great things without using power. Besides, the only time the battery actually drained to near zero for me was the first week when I was playing with it like a new christmas toy. Turn off the crap your not using, quit playing with it, and LET THE ENGINEERS FIX THE PROBLEMS THAT OCCUR WITH ANY NEW PRODUCT. Remember, this is first generation. We are the lab rats here. I'm surprised no one is complaining about the meager 8Gb of storage. This is a test run folks. Just about the time they finish releasing the updates, apps, and accessories for this model, the new and improved model will be released with: wireless tethering, video capability, 16/32Gb of storage, improved battery life, etc... By the way, the new model won't be $200 with contract. It will be $350 and they'll continue selling the current model for $200. History repeats itself folks. Enjoy your new Personnal Communication Device. I know I will (as a matter of fact, I think I'll watch a movie).
Okay, so I'm traveling for the first time and it seems like my battery is literally draining faster than it can charge. I'm probably using it a little heavier than at home, but I've been plugged in for 2 hours now and using it at the same time, but I'm only up to 32%... Any advice? Headed to the forums to do a little more digging...
Make sure you are using an officially supported car charger. My old Treo 800w one appears to charge the Pre, but it never increases in battery availability. My Sprint branded, officially Pre supported charger will charge it up just as quickly as my Touchstone at home.
I recently came across your blog and have been reading along. I thought I would leave my first comment. I don't know what to say except that I have enjoyed reading. Nice blog. I will keep visiting this blog very often.
Margaret
http://bluetoothspeakerphone.net
can some tell hoe to use the bluetooth is giving me problem not to connect wit other devices. can any help?
I recently came across your blog and have been reading along. I thought I would leave my first comment. I don't know what to say except that I have enjoyed reading. Nice blog. I will keep visiting this blog very often.
Margaret
http://bluetoothspeakerphone.net
I have found that since upgrading to 1.2.1, My pre lasts maybe 4.5 hours on one charge. Yesterday I was in clinicals and I used my skyscape software through Classic for maybe 20 minutes the whole time. Within 4 hours I was down to 18%. I never got a full day out of my Pre prior to 1.2.1 but its even worse now. I've noticed sluggish operation. My Pre freezes and hesitates. Back swipe doesnt go to my last card anymore. I am thinking about a total reset to see if maybe a program isn't closing all the way and is running in the background. The only 3rd party software I have is Classic. Location off and wifi running. I don't use google maps or any of that stuff so i'm a bit puzzled about the more than poor battery life of my Pre. Any suggestions?
while some of you may not agree with my thoughts for various valid reasons, I recommend using the Airplane patch found inside Preware which will turn off your phone at a preset time (when I known I will be sleeping) and then will turn it back on in the morning (when I know I will be awake) thereby saving valuable battery life.
My thoughts are as follows, if a friend gets arrested for DWI or a family member dies, I still need a good night sleep in order to deal with the corresponding issues the next morning. My belief is that bad news is still going to be bad news even after you wake up. Therefore, that might be your last good nights sleep for a while.
Cheers,
delete2end
just got my pre yesterday and I am not impressed whatsoever.
No freaking call recording software due to API issues?
I cant hide app icons?
Editable Docs2Go App was not and still is not working?
A native Pre does not support .WMV files?
No video recording even though the TI core supports it?
I have to install patches to get what should be standard?
No freaking Flash out of the box?
wow! feel like I may have made a mistake.....
I truly appreciate the effort that has gone into developing these tips to help us Pre owners survive as long as possibles between charges. Its good work!
But I can't be the only one that feels having to jump through all of these hoops (turn down this, dial back that, turnoff functionality etc) defeats everything that webOS WANTS to deliver. The the Pre cannot deliver on thoses webOS connected world promises all for the want of a battery that can get me more than 5 hours away from its leash (the power cord).
I have tried several batteries but always have the same problem with this phone. And I’m already doing most of the suggested tips to save power. It can’t be the batteries themselves though, just a fault with the phone that makes it eat up far more power than it should.
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