Grimster

Well it looks like my Eris battery will last me over a WEEK now.

What did I do?

Simply TURN OFF YOUR WIRELESS CONNECTIONS WHEN NOT NEEDED!

This is not brain surgery people. Turn off ALL 4 wireless connections when not in use. Plain and simple. NO it will not stop you from sending and receiving calls and TXT msgs if you disable "mobile network"

There is NO reason to keep these connections on when you're not using an apps that will take advantage of them. More importantly most people dont even have a clue which apps need "mobile network" or not so they leave it on all the time when not needed.

BT
wifi
GPS
Mobile Network

Turn them ALL OFF.

I have made 2 10min calls today, played mp3s on the train, and messed around with setting up some home screens and my battery has only gone down 1 tiny notch since this morning (eastern time)

Last edited by Grimster; November 18th, 2009 at 11:36 AM.

Caddyman

do you need it to get email?

if yes, no thanks.

if no, still no thanks.

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Howie

kind of defeats the point of having such a mobile-centric device then

Needsdecaf

Last week I got 150 MPG in my car.

I pushed it 5 blocks to the gas station.

Woo hoo!

Grimster

Turns out that battery life basically boils down to lack of education on the users parts. You have to understand that users complaining about battery life are not educated in technology and dont understand why the battery is draing so fast nor how to prevent it when not needed.

Grimster

Really? Having a radio active in your phone when not need defeats the point of having such a mobile-centric device? I would recommend getting an education in technology before posting again...

Caddyman

You got me. Me and everyone else who thinks it is ludicrous to have to turn off your mobile connection cause you must have 6 days of life from your phone are technologically ignorant. Maybe we should just power down the phones completely...that should give you a month easy. Better yet just take the battery out and carry it around In a different pocket.

Grizzld

From my understanding, there are lots of applications that need the radio running when I'm not placing a call or sending a text message.

Facebook, Twitter, RSS readers, stock market widgets and weather applications just to name a few.

The only people I know that turn their radios off while not using their phones (other than you, of course) have been collecting Social Security checks for 10+ years.

Everyone that's complaining about their battery life should do one of three things:

1. Do like the Grimster and turn your phone on Airplane Mode when not in use.

2. Return the phone.

3. Buy a car charger or extra home charger, and plug your phone in a couple times a day when not in use.

Dreamliner

"Gee, if I shut off the 'cell phone' function, it lasts longer"

Get many calls in your 'battery save mode'? lol

You, are an idiot.

markstanco

okay, I see your sarcasm...

I too am in the same boat. I saw the 'stats' o the Eris as for battery life. And I bought it. Never knew I had to turn off a bunch of functions and not actually USE IT AS A TOOL FOR BUSINESS for it to last throughout an actual work day.

I am seriously considering switching to another phone. I have to constantly keep some type of charger nearby. I havent had to do this for over 10 years. The HTC group had the right idea, but they have dropped the ball when it come to a workhorse phone.

Dreamliner

honestly, just install handcent sms (the default app prevents the phone from sleeping), leave the gps off (sucks mega battery...on any phone), and it will last all day with heavy use.

markstanco

Not trying to be Darcy Downer here, but with GPS off and WiFi off the battery WILL NOT LAST if you actually use this phone for actual phone calls during business hours.

You MUST MUST MUST be near a charger.

I absolutely love this phone, but is there a battery available that has more power?

NefariousAryq

Well the past two days my battery life has been extraordinary. I took it off-charger at 11:30pm on Sunday night and put it back on the charger at 11:30pm on Tuesday night. I still had 10% battery life at that time, after being off-charger for 48 hours. Use was moderate during that time.

I leave GPS off, WiFi on (when in range of a WiFi signal -- off when not), BT off, and Mobile Network ON. All google services are set to sync, WeatherBug updates every hour. Pretty much turned off all widgets because the more I used them the more I decided I'm not really a "widget" guy (tho I still do use the calendar widget on the main screen, the music widget, and the bookmarks widget).

Grimster, I can understand that you feel passionate about your stance... but could you try to have a little bit of "tact" when telling others about it? You've come across as super-aggressive and and rather jerk-y in this thread (and others). Turning off all the wireless connections may be acceptable to you but it might not be for others -- accept that and move on.

dmodert66

For me, this is how I do my usage...

1) BT - OFF (I don't have a BT headset yet, and when I do, I will only turn it on in the car)

2) Mobile Network - Always On

3) GPS - Currently, mostly off, unless I am using Google Maps...If I had a Droid with Nav, or when 2.0 comes out, it will be on much more.

4) Wifi - Only at home so far. My work doesn't provide it, so no need to leave it on all the time...

I get between 12 hours and 20 hours depending on which radios I have on, how much usage, etc...

This battery life is fine for me (and I'm coming from NEVER having a smart phone). I normally just charge it at night, but I bring an extra USB cable with me in the car and charge via PC if absolutely needed...Not a big deal (to me)...

**EDIT** Lastly, please be civil with each other...No flame wars please

Last edited by dmodert66; November 18th, 2009 at 12:37 AM.

option159

Howie

LOL that made me laugh and it's not even 7am so that's a good start to the day

But, guess you don't have family on the other side of the country that sends you random picture messages... can't download those without data services. If you want to turn off data, I really don't understand buying a phone that is driven around all it can do and not just get a regular cell that is built with a qwerty keyboard for messaging. That's essentially what you are doing with it.

Now that my phone isn't always dropping in to 1X I'm pulling 2 days with data on and using it quite a bit through out the day.

...but if that works for you then I'm glad you found a way to conserve power on your device.

Needsdecaf

Actually, that's totally BS and an ignorant statement on your part.

My old BB curve could last a whole day EASILY (easily in that I wondered whether I should let it run down overnight or plug it in before going to bed) while BT was activated, while the GPS was running, while I was getting 150 emails (no joke) pushed to the phone each day, while I was using BB Messenger and surfing the web intermittently.

So why shouldn't my Eris have this capability?

It is simply ludicrous to state that it's "user error" resulting in the crappy battery life. That's how the phone comes from the store, with all features activated. Is that Verizon's user error?

Sorry, but I didn't buy a phone with these capabilities so that I had to turn everything on and wait for various programs to sync to see what someone's facebook update was, or to have Google maps sync up with where I am, or to get a weather update. That's why I bought the phone.

User error. Right.

Needsdecaf

Dear Darcy Downer:

Turn off the Bluetooth.



Yes, this phone does have lame battery life. I may actually have to get a vehicle charger now.

Caddyman

You may have already answered this but, did you do the sms fix? Go to menu>settings>about phone>status. what is your awake time?

nickrezendes

i just keep my phone off in my pocket all day, until...

..i need to make a call
..have a feeling someone is trying to call me
..think i may be getting a text
..or need to check what time it is (i dont wear a watch - cause im afraid the battery will stop working so i take the battery our everytime im not looking at it (found it useless))

- people baffle me - why dont you just give your eris back to the store, save yourself the 70-80 bucks a month and borrow your friends/co-workers phone when your in need to contact someone.

Grimster

It all boils down to education and even common sense.

My battery has not drained AT ALL in the past 12 hours. Not one notch of battery power has gone down overnight.

Only takes ONE second to turn on/off Mobile Network

You want to twitter (basically talk to yourself, like anyone actually reads what you post lolz) then simply turn on Mobile Network, tweet whatever you want to talk to yourself about, and shutoff Mobile Network. So simple people. It does not take anyone very educated to figure this out.

Want stocks? Same deal, turn on Mobile Network, view stocks, turn off Mobile Network. So simple....

Want internet? Same deal, turn on Mobile Nework, view internet, turn off Mobile Network...

Is anything "clicking" for you guys yet shall I continue....

Want Anroid Market? Same deal turn on Mobile network, browse or download app, turn off Mobile Network.

Want to watch YouTube? Same deal, turn on Mobile Network, watch YouTube, Turn off Mobile Network.

I understand some of you dont understand how technology works. I know you guys do not have an education in electrical engineering like I do but you have to understand leaving Mobile Network running all the time does nothing for you and leaves the Cell radio active for no reason which is what is killing you battery. If you dont understand WHY leaving Mobile Network on is killing your battery then all I can say is that I recommend getting an education in Electrical Engineering to understand what is going on.

Grimster

You dont need Mobile Network on to send and receive calls or txt msgs and more. Please get educated before posting again.

Last edited by Grimster; November 18th, 2009 at 08:02 AM.

Caddyman

again, do you need it to get emails? simple question

justjimjpc

I would suggest you use a more polite way to just say ...
" Leaving a radio on ... uses power " common knowledge ... like a light bulb ... many appliances today use power even when you turn them off....

This doesn't take a degree to understand ... not to state in clear terms and without being rude by indicating that people that may not understand might need an engineering degree ...

(At least this isn't rocket science !!!)

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OfTheDamned

Wow! You're still going on about this? I don't understand how you can be SO "educated" and so dense at the same time. I will try to break it down for you, once again and on a second forum.

It is great that you find yourself to be so wise and educated in the ways of the battery. It is great that turning all this stuff off on your phone works for you. It is great that you can get such an extended period of battery life out of your device. All that said, other people don't like the idea, don't want to do it or simply can't. They don't want to or can't turn everything off and stop the flow of information even for a couple of minutes. Everyone here bought a smart phone and most of us want/need that constant flow of info that it provides. Some of us need it to make a living and others need it to stay in touch with others (I'm not talking about sms or calls). Some of us need email to do our jobs. I actually use Twitter and Facebook as a part of my job and need to have those active constantly. Others may need another app that requires constant data. It doesn't have anything to do with a lack of education on our part, it has to do with need. You may be the all knowing God (in your mind) when it comes to batteries and electricity, but you don't know jack about people. Please, try to keep in mind that not everyone is like you. We all use this technology for different reasons and the technology fits different needs for us. If you can get by without a data connection for your day, then go for it. However, don't act like your situation is the same as everyone else's and that we are all just idiots because our needs differ from yours.

ryanc2

How did you get that to happen? Mine is always in 1X mode even though I am in a strong 3G area. Did you swap out with Verizon?

Needsdecaf

Ooooh, wow, you're so smart. You have an education in electrical engineering. Lets all bow down.

As was posted above, it's not about education, it's about desire / needs / wants. Do you think most of us didn't understand when you posted the first (or second, or third, or started your own thread) that maybe you were right, and that turning off the mobile network would save battery life? I think even the non-engineers of us here (BTW, I have a Masters of Engineering, thanks) could have grasped that subject. So since your engineering education has obviously killed all your common sense, let me spell it out as others have done:

NO ONE WANTS TO DO THAT.

Try sending an email without the mobile network on and see what you get. Hmm, a big fat error message that says "This function requires connection to the network. Please enable wifi or the mobile network."

So, if you need to get emails in a timely manner, you're hosed. Some people communicate actual useful information via email, you know? Like my wife saying: "running late, can you pick up our son?" Wow, she might be a little steamed if I said "sorry honey, I didn't pick him up because I had the mobile network disabled on my phone to save the battery life. I guess I'll have to go back out and get him." Or my boss saying "did you get my email about changing the meeting from 12:00 to 9:00? Yeah, that would go over really well.

So instead of harping on the rest of us being technological philistines, consider someone else's situation before taking the high and mighty approach.

Anything clicking for you now?

Yes, your point about the internet and facebook and all that has some validity. But you can't get email without the mobile network and for some of us, email isn't a luxury.

Caddyman

You must spread some Reputation around before giving it to Needsdecaf again.

Dreamliner

email...thats just that silly thing that young people do, right?


LOL

I got a phone for someone who constantly shuts off the internet capabilities of there phone:



It doesn't have color, but thats just a silly feature that drains battery. I mean, look at all those buttons you get...amazing!

Howie

haha, I had that phone years ago along with many many others ...like these between '94 - '96. Oh the memories....

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Grimster

I will explain this one more time...

There is only ONE cell radio in your phone.

Your phone has 214 mins of talk time. During these talk time mins the exact same radio is used as when you have the "Moble Network" on. This means you have alittle over 3.5 hours of usage of heavy data transfer.

When you have "Mobile Network" switched on you are basically using "talk time" mins since the cell radio is powered on.

Point is.... "talk time" and "Mobile Network" (aka your data connection) time are the SAME THING becuase they use the same radio. This is common knowledge in the cell phone world.

How ANYONE bought this phone thinking there was some kind of magic network connection that does not use battery power is laughable.

Last edited by Grimster; November 18th, 2009 at 11:11 AM.

Dreamliner

My phone came with pixie dust

Caddyman

right and wrong, total talk time is not equivalent to total mobile connection on time, not even close.

gmail is pushed to your phone, therefore the gmail server tells you phone there is new mail. it takes seconds to get that mail, this happens whenever you get a email. So if you get a astounding 100 emails a day, that would be equivalent to 100 seconds a day of talk time.

other services that use mobile connections are not "always on" if you open browser and load a page, that load time is using "talk time" but when the load is over it is done and off of talk time.

this goes for any app that uses mobile connection, they are not always on and always using your battery or "talk time"

basically when you see the 3G symbol in your notifications pain and it shows the up/down arrows, that is uing "talk time" or the mobile connection. sit and watch it for a bit, you will see it is not always on, or even close to always on.

get educated im giving this out, free, all day Grim

Last edited by Caddyman; November 18th, 2009 at 11:13 AM.

Grimster

Again you simply dont understand that the radio is ALWAYS on and in contact with Verizon network. Your radio is constantly sending "alive" signals and information to maintain data connection. There is ALOT more going on than you know. Also as I said before you have 214min of heavy data transfer before your battery goes dead. Battery lasts for a day or two with the "mobile network" on becuase its not transfering heavy data all the time but.

The radio is still powered on and constantly sending "alive" signals and other information to Verizons network to maintain data connection regardless if any apps need the connection or not. This is what people simply dont understand.

Again you only have 214 mins of heavy radio usage. Turn the radio off when not needed. IMO the Eris actually gets GOOD battery life considering how long you can have "Mobile Network" and the cell radio powered on.

Education is key to understanding. Dont blame the phone becuase you dont understand whats going on.

Last edited by Grimster; November 18th, 2009 at 11:28 AM.

Grimster

I would also like to add that my battery meter has NOT moved at all in the past 12 hours since I have had Mobile Network off. Not even one notch....

Yes THATS how much power you will save!

Caddyman

Im not gonna get in a pi$$in match with you, I have worked and hacked cell phones, modded and admined cell phone forums, and worked with technicians for many years.

although turning your mobile connection off might save you some battery, it is not neccessary, required, suggested, or merited in any way.

Your advice is not sounds advice, it is bad advice. period. end of discussion. If turning the mobile connection off on your phone is the only way to be happy with battery life you should stop telling everyone to do it and start writing the manufacturer to tell them there is something very wrong with their smarthphone QC.

There is an ignore list feature of the forum here, I encourage everyone to put it to good use.

Last edited by Caddyman; November 18th, 2009 at 11:37 AM.

Grimster

Simply too funny!!!! There is NOTHING wrong with the phone. They CLEARLY stated 214min of talk time. How do you not understand this yet???

acipollo

Wrong. The radio ALWAYS pings the network every 2 to 3 seconds unless the radio is shut off. If you turn the mobile network to off, it will ONLY check for calls and txts, but it WONT check for email, updates, etc..

And evdo data usage is much more of a battery hog minute for minute compared to when you are actually making a call.

Needsdecaf

Please explain how to use this feature before I go bananas listening to this mis-information being foisted upon us all.

Caddyman

As an admin myself I kinda broke my own rules and was mean, I apologize.

It is not nice or appropriate to annouce who is going on your ignore list, I'm sorry.


ignore list options are here decaf.

http://androidforums.com/profile.php?do=ignorelist

in the usercp link, on the left menu, bout half down.

Howie

Correct. Every (I believe it's) 3.5 seconds the radio will "ping" the tower and say "I'm here" to check for new voice calls to ring through and for SMS. At that same time it will verify that the data network is available. It is done simultaneously and takes milliseconds, therefore doesn't make a drastic effect on battery. What does is the other data features the user may be running (Weather widget, gmail sync, email polling, etc). Because the voice and data both use the same radio chip it doesn't "double dip" on energy drain.. it's the apps.

But Grim, believe what you wish. I'm glad that works for you and you're happy with your results/situation.

Shame shame, Now I'm gonna ignore you Just kidding

Last edited by Howie; November 18th, 2009 at 12:32 PM.

mcbtrain929

This information will help me in that I have the internet at home (with a bigger screen obviously), and I'd rather surf the next on the computer than my phone. So, I can turn off the mobile connection when I'm home and hopefully some better battery life will be the result. But I do agree with the overall feeling that the way Grim delivered this information was pretty unnecessary.

Grimster

Your battery life will TRIPLE. I still have 60% battery life after almost 2 days now and I have been using the phone for a few calls, mp3 player, browsed the web a few times, played around with home screen setups, TXTing, ect.

People are throwing away thier battery life for no reason by leaving Mobile Network on.

Last edited by Grimster; November 18th, 2009 at 05:36 PM.

morrobaybum

I came from a BB too and the battery life was amazing but that is one thing BB's are really known for. In my experiance the Eris can have a pretty decent battery life if you take the right steps. I have everything running with the exception of GPS and WIFI and I use my phone and ton seeing that I work in a cell phone store and I get a good full day out of the charge. These new phones multitask like crazy and the battery dies alot faster because of that. But just like any phone if you dont watch whats running in the backround the battery will die.

CalifJewls

My Eris came with a charger thingy and I even bought an extra charger thingy for my vehicle so that when my battery is low, I simply plug it in! It's been workin' for me for years now!

wildgoose

I am actually doing exactly what Grimster is doing, and get quite decent battery life out of my Eris. This won't not work for everyone, but if you are in a situation where you phone is running low on battery, and you are no where near a charger, turn off "mobile network" is an attractive option. A working phone is much better than a dead phone, even if it only does voice calls (and sms).

The on-demand usage won't work for everyone. It's a bit troublesome. You have to turn it on/off as needed. So you have to judge whether the extra battery life is worth your effort for doing so.

But for me, it makes perfect sense. When I am at work, I am ALREADY on the computer, with full internet access. When I am at home, I also have full internet access, so I don't really need my phone to on the net 24x7 sucking away battery doing pretty much nothing. When I do need to use it to look up something, check email, etc, I just turn mobile network on. It just takes a few seconds for the phone to catch up to the latest email, etc, and while it's doing that I am already check stock, weather, etc.

So for me, it's a no brainer. I get the smart phone for the ability to access internet anywhere, especially on trips or when I am outside. Knowing my phone will have battery when I need the internet access in those situations is FAR more important to me than having it pull email/data every 10 minutes.

Howie

But, in both locations you can keep it on the charger so it doesn't drain as it is. I keep the USB cable with me at all times so at work I can just connect to my PC and play music

Grimster

That sucks. Who the heck wants to worry about thier battery every 10 mins when you dont have to...further more you are missing the point here. You will be letting the radio drain the battery for no reason.

wildgoose is spot on and actually understands whats going on here.

Last edited by Grimster; November 18th, 2009 at 07:40 PM.

CalifJewls

Oh Grimster, no one is missing the point here and everyone "understands" whats going on, if it works for you then have at it, but don't tell everyone they are not intelligent for choosing not to do as you do!

Needsdecaf

You really just don't get it do you.

Please stop characterizing everyone who's leaving their mobile network on as uneducated buffoons.

We all get what you are saying.

Some choose not to do it.

You are entitled to your opinion. Stop forcing it upon people. What you are saying does not work for all lifestyles. It is good that it works for you, and we all understand that it WILL reduce battery drain. But again, not everyone wants to have to deal with that.

Thank you.

Last edited by Needsdecaf; November 18th, 2009 at 08:50 PM.