Your opinion, please

[TeamPEZ]

My question is simple - do I keep the Hero or ditch it for another cell?

I am unhappy about the battery life as I know many of you are as well.

I've been reading the forums for a few weeks now and I see that people are "loving" it, but I don't understand why. Is it because I am not a tech person and don't understand ROM, flashing, rooting, kernels, PRL, awake time, etc. Am I missing something? (I assure you that I am not a stupid individual - I have my Masters degree and have been teaching since 1993.)

My wife and I had the iPhones, before we switched to the blackberry, so it's not like I am unfamiliar with the touch screen process. And now we are on the Sprint network

I have 30 days to make a change

 

[tatonka_Hero]

what kind of battery life are you getting?

Also, are you looking for another android phone, or don't care? I ask this because the Moment has just as bad (if not worse) battery life than the stock Hero.

You could always upgrade your battery, there's a few options for extended batteries.

I'm a big fan of rooting and getting rid of the apps that are killing your battery, but not everyone's comfortable with that. The guides available are relatively easy to follow, and there's always people on the forums willing to help with the issues.

Edit: Holy crap this was my 1,000th post on this forum...I need to get a job lol

 

[meangreengdub]

My question is simple - do I keep the Hero or ditch it for another cell?

I am unhappy about the battery life as I know many of you are as well.

I've been reading the forums for a few weeks now and I see that people are "loving" it, but I don't understand why. Is it because I am not a tech person and don't understand ROM, flashing, rooting, kernels, PRL, awake time, etc. Am I missing something? (I assure you that I am not a stupid individual - I have my Masters degree and have been teaching since 1993.)

My wife and I had the iPhones, before we switched to the blackberry, so it's not like I am unfamiliar with the touch screen process. And now we are on the Sprint network

I have 30 days to make a change

 

[TeamPEZ]

WOW - what a quick response, thank you! I am using the stock battery and I thought about getting a bigger battery, but I don't want to have a bulky cell phone neither. Beggars can't be choosey, I guess.

Apparently, rooting is the way to go to solve this dilema. I know I read somewhere how to do it from start to finish. But since I am not a computer guru, I would have to do that one-touch program and let it do all the work for me. I think on that same link, there was a "restore" method, if I ever had to exchange the phone, etc. Just how long does it take to root the phone?

I'm not sure I am on the boat of loving it - this is my only problem. It's not like it does something amazing that other cells don't do (or at least I haven't witnessed it yet.)

 

[305Cane]

what kind of battery life are you getting? how long have you had the phone? have you updated the firmware to the most recent version?

rooting isnt the end all be all to battery life. before i rooted i was getting great battery life. answer those first questions and we will be able to better help you out.

 

[i VTAK]

If you're not comfortable with rooting it, which I won't do myself, a big battery saver I figured out is to get a toggle for data and wifi. Go to the market and search "toggle data widget" for data and you can use the HTC widget already on your phone for the wifi toggle. When you're not on the internet just keep them both off. Just remember if you get a MMS text you need to turn on your data to download it. I can go a full day easily now with heavy to moderate use.

 

[tatonka_Hero]

If you're not comfortable with rooting it, which I won't do myself, a big battery saver I figured out is to get a toggle for data and wifi. Go to the market and search "toggle data widget" for data and you can use the HTC widget already on your phone for the wifi toggle. When you're not on the internet just keep them both off. Just remember if you get a MMS text you need to turn on your data to download it. I can go a full day easily now with heavy to moderate use.

you do realize that there's already an HTC widget for mobile network, right? Just like the wifi one, and even in the same place. no need to download a new one...

 

[TeamPEZ]

I am using the stock battery and I went to settings, about phone, system updates and did each of the three options (firmware update, update profile and update PRL)

My info is:

Firmware 1.5
Software 1.56.651.2
Hardware 0002
PRI1.70_003
PRL 60662

Is this good?

 

[tatonka_Hero]

PRL: 60662? Really? That's a new one by me, when did that come out? lol.

Otherwise yeah, I believe it looks up to date.

 

[305Cane]

I am using the stock battery and I went to settings, about phone, system updates and did each of the three options (firmware update, update profile and update PRL)

My info is:

Firmware 1.5
Software 1.56.651.2
Hardware 0002
PRI1.70_003
PRL 60662

Is this good?

what are your mail settings? your data/gps settings? how long does your battery last on a normal day? how would you describe your daily usage?


edit: also, what is your processor uptime?

 

[top magoo]

PRL: 60662? Really? That's a new one by me, when did that come out? lol.

Otherwise yeah, I believe it looks up to date.

mine updated to the same PRL version as well. could be a regional thing?

 

[tatonka_Hero]

mine updated to the same PRL version as well. could be a regional thing?

nope, it was apparently a recent update (like, today). Being on one of the custom ROM's, I don't ever get automatic updates to PRL...not sure I ever did anyway

 

[pwrmedia]

PRL: 60662? Really? That's a new one by me, when did that come out? lol.

Otherwise yeah, I believe it looks up to date.

Sprint pushed it through early this morning, which is the reason why a lot of people experienced errors!

 

[i VTAK]

you do realize that there's already an HTC widget for mobile network, right? Just like the wifi one, and even in the same place. no need to download a new one...

Yeah but it doesn't work right for some reason. When I left the phone for awhile and came back, it wouldn't turn on data. I would have to remove the widget then reload it. The one I got from the market is ugly but works perfect.

 

[tatonka_Hero]

Yeah but it doesn't work right for some reason. When I left the phone for awhile and came back, it wouldn't turn on data. I would have to remove the widget then reload it. The one I got from the market is ugly but works perfect.

odd. It worked great for me, and still does on 2.1.

Although, in theory, you shouldn't even need to turn mobile data off, as it's supposed to sleep when the phone sleeps, and only things like email updates and other apps that require network updates should wake it up.

I never trusted it to sleep, so I used the widget, but I'm pretty sure it did sleep when it was supposed to (I didn't trust GPS to sleep either, but I've learned to trust it now lol)

 

[i VTAK]

Not sure about the sleep deal, but I get a lot better battery life now that it's off most of the time. And I just started reading about the GPS and decided to leave it on now (I couldn't find a working toggle for it) and haven't noticed any ill effects on the battery.

 

[jamesdal1]

i love mine, if you don't want to root your phone, get you a task killer and kill programs you don't need running, that helps out a lot.

 

[tazcollins]

After being on for 10 hours it's down to about 55%. I love the phone as stock and deal with battery issues. I have the charger at home, one at work, a car charger I use on the way home from work, and an extra factory battery. I knew I would have battery charge issues before I bought the phone (reading reviews) so I deal with it.
Also I just PRLed mine and it is 60662 also. TC

 

[scottmbolt]

After being on for 10 hours it's down to about 55%. I love the phone as stock and deal with battery issues. I have the charger at home, one at work, a car charger I use on the way home from work, and an extra factory battery. I knew I would have battery charge issues before I bought the phone (reading reviews) so I deal with it.
Also I just PRLed mine and it is 60662 also. TC

Do you use a task killer and/or a battery widget?

Once I uninstalled these programs, my battery life was almost 30% better!

 

[tazcollins]

Do you use a task killer and/or a battery widget?

Once I uninstalled these programs, my battery life was almost 30% better!

I have the htc battery widget which I really like. I uninstalled taskiller about a week ago. Now I don't worry about checking it. I let the smart phone manage itself. TC

 

[scottmbolt]

I have the htc battery widget which I really like. I uninstalled taskiller about a week ago. Now I don't worry about checking it. I let the smart phone manage itself. TC

Just from my personal experience, the HTC Battery Widget was a battery hog on my phone. Every time I would wake it up, it was showing be a 1% decline in battery left. I uninstalled it after doing a little research and noticed that my battery life was much better.

I know you love it, but you can live without it

I suggest just try and uninstall it and see what happens.

 

[tazcollins]

Just from my personal experience, the HTC Battery Widget was a battery hog on my phone. Every time I would wake it up, it was showing be a 1% decline in battery left. I uninstalled it after doing a little research and noticed that my battery life was much better.

I know you love it, but you can live without it

I suggest just try and uninstall it and see what happens.

I've read this before and I'm watching it. Battery drain seems to be about the same. I've read posts where others had this problem, uninstalled it then reinstalled it and the problem stopped. TC

 

[TeamPEZ]

what are your mail settings? your data/gps settings? how long does your battery last on a normal day? how would you describe your daily usage?


edit: also, what is your processor uptime?

Gmail is:

Batch operations is checked
Number of days to sync - 4
Inbox - Sync all
Sent - 4 days
Email notifications is checked
Vibrate - is NOT checked

How do I find out my processor time? And how do alter it if it is slow?

Also, I've read about this sleep time and awake time. Is this something I need to be concerned with and if so, how do I make it better?

Thanks again for helping this noob. I hope one day I can help someone!

 

[JB in AZ]

Moved to a more appropriate thread..

post # 20... http://androidforums.com/sprint-htc-hero/50855-how-do-i-see-battery-life-left.html