Droid X and verizon says TASK KILLERS

[Syv3n]

Well I have given the X 6 days and at times I love and dont want to give it up then it freezes up like my old Eris or it lags or the battery life just sucks and I want to give it up lol..I called Verizon about the battery life today the guy told me to use a task killer and I told him I didn't want to and that I have several people that say not to he said well use a task killer for 2 days and if your battery life doesnt get any better call me back ill send you a new Droid X..So I am going to try that out.

 

[CaptainObvious]

I've come to the conclusion: there is no such thing as a smartphone with battery life that will satisfy everyone. This is why i always carry another one

 

[NKT]

Just curious, what is your battery life like?

 

[Theeulogy]

Well I have given the X 6 days and at times I love and dont want to give it up then it freezes up like my old Eris or it lags or the battery life just sucks and I want to give it up lol..I called Verizon about the battery life today the guy told me to use a task killer and I told him I didn't want to and that I have several people that say not to he said well use a task killer for 2 days and if your battery life doesnt get any better call me back ill send you a new Droid X..So I am going to try that out.

Holy cow that is one big run-on sentence.

Seriously though I did not kill task yesterday morning and was at 30 % when I got home from work, today in that same time I am at 80% after killing tasks first thimg this morning. Both time I charged over night and had similar data usage.

 

[novemberwhiskey]

I'm going to ask for a new battery too. My battery life is nothing like what other people and review articles suggest.

I am definitely going through the same thing. I have a love-hate relationship with my DroidX. When it works well, I love it. But I have lags, hiccups, and I have had to restart and pull the battery on this thing.

I hope many of my problems will be fixed in Froyo.

 

[butthead007]

I'm going to ask for a new battery too. My battery life is nothing like what other people and review articles suggest.

I am definitely going through the same thing. I have a love-hate relationship with my DroidX. When it works well, I love it. But I have lags, hiccups, and I have had to restart and pull the battery on this thing.

I hope many of my problems will be fixed in Froyo.

Smartphones always hog more battery than a normal phone. What you really need to do is optimize your phone to work for you. Turn off things you are not using cause android is always hitting the internet.

A task killer can help but it is not a panacea. I know ofthedamned would be pissing all over my facebook wall if she had that info (she can PM me for it) but they do help. They do NOT fix all. Any Unix sys admin will tell you the ability to kill errant processes is a critical function. The task killer does that (if you have root you can drop to the terminal and do the same thing with the kill command) but many people don't understand how task killers work. They are a quick and dirty method to free up memory, that is all. They do not do anything beyond that. So when everyone recommends that you need one, not necessarily.

The droid x ships with a better battery than the eris and incredible (both have a 1300 mah while the droid x has a 1540 mah) so you should get more.

Really, go in and optimize your phone. If you don't know what settings to adjust, ask. I pound the crap out of my phones and I get great battery life on the Droid X.

Of course if you're looking for great battery life and simplicity, there is always the knack

 

[jbhumph]

I know many people stand firm on one side of this issue or the other. I downloaded ATK right away cause that's what I was told to do (this is my first android phone). After reading on the forums here, I deleted it for a few days. I received worse life from my battery so put ATK back on it. Now my battery life is making me very happy.

Everyone has their own opinion. Give each a try and see what you think

 

[itype2slo]

It seems like there are several sources more knowledgeable than some dude at Verizon that tell you task killers are a waste... and let face it, if the apps are designed well why do you need one? This isn't windows.

 

[benjiedude]

actually stopped using my task killer 2 days ago and found that my battery life has IMPROVED. That's right...I'm getting about 2.5-3 more hours out of it

 

[ckochinsky125]

the x has a task killer built in it was discussed in another thread

 

[jpease]

I was getting random reboots and the screen would freeze once in awhile. I took it to the vzw store they installed auto task manager and I have not had anymore problems since.

 

[itype2slo]

I was getting random reboots and the screen would freeze once in awhile. I took it to the vzw store they installed auto task manager and I have not had anymore problems since.

So the question is, what is causing it to freeze? The is like saying my car is overheating, so whenever it gets hot I just turn it off and let it cool down instead of fixing the bad radiator. I am not trying to bust on ya, but I just don't see the logic. I work for VZW and see this tactic used everyday... nothing more than a band-aid.

 

[yojoe600]

ATK are the devil... but if you are using just system panel you will be fine... since it can close apps you want to close without running all the time like ATK's

 

[EKG]

Reading OTD's posts in the eris forums on task killers....i will never get one now

 

[Stealthman]

Really, go in and optimize your phone. If you don't know what settings to adjust, ask. I pound the crap out of my phones and I get great battery life on the Droid X.

Please let us know how to optimize for best battery performance

 

[Helicrewchief]

I had the exact conversation with my Verizon rep today as well. She told me the same. To install a task killer. I told her no from the research on here. For me the cons outweigh the pros. She also asked of I had a anti-virus on the phone as well. Which I do, she then said to remove it and come back in a few days that the anti-virus can be a battery hog.

This was at 1 and the phone was unplugged for 3 hours by then I was at 60% with light use. A few texts,1 phone call, and 1 you tube video. 10 hours later I am at 50% with moderate use for about 5 hours. Lots of texts, emails, web browsing, facebook, and a few you tube clips.

Im not saying it is the anti-virus maybe a combination of things I have done in the past couple of days trying to squeeze out some extra juice. My settings now are: smart mode, data turns off during off peak and peak times after 15 minutes, brightness is on auto, email is set to be pushed or retrieved every hour, and Facebook and Twitter is set to be retrieved every 4 hours (even though I check it every couple of hours and manually refresh them.)

 

[Helicrewchief]

Duplicate post.

 

[Amaroth]

Please let us know how to optimize for best battery performance

This.

 

[OfTheDamned]

lol

I somehow become a part of every task killer thread.

The key, as others have said, is to optimize your phone. Any multitasking smartphone will get bad battery life if things are constantly running. While a task killer is a down and dirty way of stopping things from running it isn't a real solution. Everyone needs to look at their apps and their usage. If you are on the phone playing, talking, surfing, etc. a lot then your battery life will suffer. The same will happen if you have apps that are constantly trying to update or sync. Look at the settings for your apps, are any of them trying to update every hour? Are you backing out of apps or using the home button? Some of the things you will need to do adjust on your phone and some things you will need to adjust with yourself to get the most out of the phone.

 

[Steven58]

i have so much with atk. i had to do a total reset after using it. i do not use atk anymore and itruns great

 

[Syv3n]

lol

I somehow become a part of every task killer thread.

The key, as others have said, is to optimize your phone. Any multitasking smartphone will get bad battery life if things are constantly running. While a task killer is a down and dirty way of stopping things from running it isn't a real solution. Everyone needs to look at their apps and their usage. If you are on the phone playing, talking, surfing, etc. a lot then your battery life will suffer. The same will happen if you have apps that are constantly trying to update or sync. Look at the settings for your apps, are any of them trying to update every hour? Are you backing out of apps or using the home button? Some of the things you will need to do adjust on your phone and some things you will need to adjust with yourself to get the most out of the phone.

OTD, I had the Eris back in November and then around April(?) when the Incredible came out I had bitched about my phone so many different times they gave me an early upgarde to that. I have read your Task Killer posts and even experienced myself that they do not work..

But like I said I was getting better battery life on my Eris and Incredible than I am the X, when I called to report this they told me to use a Task Killer and call them back. I will try what they suggest and call them back with my results, which I do not expect to be any better.

My battery life is horrible compared to other users and compared to other Android phones I have had in the past year..I woke up at 10am and by Noon I was down to 60% and I only sent 2 texts and browsed my Facebook on it in that 2 hours, I know this is not natural.

I understand from prior smart phones and Android phones the battery life isn't going to be AWESOME but I expected a lot more out of this phone from all the reviews and insight on the battery..granted I may just have a dud battery or a dud phone and that is why I called Verizon.

Like I said I consider myself knowledgable when it comes to Android because I have had 3 Android phones already so I know how to tweek it without using a Task Killer but this phone isn't co-operating.

 

[all3n_y]

I find it strange that people are complaining about the battery life with the X. Coming from the original Droid, I can say that the X lasts a whole lot longer than the Droid ever did. For example, my X is FINALLY on 20% and that is because I didn't charge it last night. But then again I am using a task killer and I use it often. It is very beneficial to use one. Without one, you can rest assured that your SMART phone will surely die quicker than anticipated.

 

[jpease]

So the question is, what is causing it to freeze? The is like saying my car is overheating, so whenever it gets hot I just turn it off and let it cool down instead of fixing the bad radiator. I am not trying to bust on ya, but I just don't see the logic. I work for VZW and see this tactic used everyday... nothing more than a band-aid.

you are right. However, this is my 1st android phone and I don't know much. So obviously the learning curve is above average and I am on the lower end of the hockey stick.

Said that, do you have any advice on how to identify the issue? It would be welcome.

 

[JNoble]

lol

Are you backing out of apps or using the home button? Some of the things you will need to do adjust on your phone and some things you will need to adjust with yourself to get the most out of the phone.

What is the appropriate way to get out of an application, if not backing out or using the home button, and why is that? Hopefully I'm not the only one who could use the information.

Thank you

 

[jpease]

ATK are the devil... but if you are using just system panel you will be fine... since it can close apps you want to close without running all the time like ATK's

what are ATK's?