Free Battery Upgrade! OMG! WTF!

[onthefence]

***Sorry for the double post Mods, but I thought this was worthy of being in the T-Mobile G1 and News forums. If you must delete one of them I will not hold it against you.***

My coworker just called in a threatened to switch to a Blackberry because of the horrid battery they threw in here. And the T-Mobile Rep said that they were getting ready to ship out free "higher" capacity battery upgrades to all G1 users.

They said that this was due to a defect HTC found in the battery that was causing it to drain too fast. Me thinks that is another way of saying "shit, they're on to us, we knew we should have put a high-capacity battery in there and now we really have to respond to save this device from total demise." The battery really has been the achilles heel if there is one.

So, hopefully noone went out and bought the high-capacity battery.

I've been off the forum for awhile so hopefully this is still news. couldn't find it in any other posts.

 

[happyface_0]

That's awesome if this is true. But I bought mine unlocked from eBay, so I might be out of luck!

 

[Loomis2]

I'll believe it when I see it on my doorstep.

 

[Miss Spicy McHaggis]

this would be quite awesome. i just got into the yellow and i'm charging it here at work. i never get to the yellow at work!

 

[noonehereyet]

***Sorry for the double post Mods, but I thought this was worthy of being in the T-Mobile G1 and News forums. If you must delete one of them I will not hold it against you.***

My coworker just called in a threatened to switch to a Blackberry because of the horrid battery they threw in here. And the T-Mobile Rep said that they were getting ready to ship out free "higher" capacity battery upgrades to all G1 users.

They said that this was due to a defect HTC found in the battery that was causing it to drain too fast. Me thinks that is another way of saying "shit, they're on to us, we knew we should have put a high-capacity battery in there and now we really have to respond to save this device from total demise." The battery really has been the achilles heel if there is one.

So, hopefully noone went out and bought the high-capacity battery.

I've been off the forum for awhile so hopefully this is still news. couldn't find it in any other posts.

It would be nice if it were true but I doubt it.... If it was they would have had to issue a press release or send notification to all those who purchased the phone through them so we would be expecting it.... they won't just send something to you and say "SURPRISE" we hope you like it... if they were going to do that they would have sent all pre ordered G1 owners like myself the headphone jack when it became standard to ship with all the new ones being sent now... But if they do send me one I'll buy you a beer.....

 

[drustvold]

If anyone needs me i'll be sitting by my mailbox.

 

[Windchill]

I just got off the phone with Tmo. I asked about this specifically and they had no clue what I was talking about. They then switched me to another department and again they had no clue. After being switched around a few times I am of the opinion this is one of those great rumors. I am not saying that it is for a fact false, just that I dont really believe it is true. However....if you complain to tmo about your battery, they will send you a new one and you get to keep your old one. I was told that they are aware of the fact that the battery does not last long but that HTC was not willing to do anything about it. So who knows, maybe there will be a high capacity battery coming out but I would not hold my breath.

 

[noonehereyet]

It would be nice if it were true but I doubt it.... If it was they would have had to issue a press release or send notification to all those who purchased the phone through them so we would be expecting it.... they won't just send something to you and say "SURPRISE" we hope you like it... if they were going to do that they would have sent all pre ordered G1 owners like myself the headphone jack when it became standard to ship with all the new ones being sent now... But if they do send me one I'll buy you a beer.....

I was curious so I logged on to T-mobile and did the user chat... here is what I got....

Please wait while we find an agent to assist you...
All agents are currently busy. Please stand by.
An agent will be with you in a moment. Thank you for your patience.
You have been connected to Matthew O.
C E: hello?
Matthew O: Hi C, my name is Matthew O. I see from your notes that you would like to know if we have any plans to improve the battery life of the G1 before you purchase an extended battery.
C E: correct
Matthew O: Okay, let me have a look through our database to see what I can find. If i can't find anything for you I will transfer you to our tech department, as they would obviously be more knowledgeble regarding this issue.
C E: Well I do not need help in prolonging the life I already know what I need to do to extend it...
C E: however this limits the functions that I would like to use because they put to much of a drain on the battery like gps, wifi etc...
C E: I have another question as well since I pre ordered my phone I was not given the adapter for 3.5 headphone jack.... do you have plans to send them to all pre order g1 owners who did not receive them?
Matthew O: No i know; I see from your notes that you know full well what to do to extend the battery life. I'm looking to see if the battery life issue will be addressed in the future. However, I have been unable to locate any informaiton about this except a technique which has been found to improve the battery life
Matthew O: There are no plans for that at this time, although this may change in the future. You would receive a communication.
C E: so basically if I want longer battery life I either need to buy an extended battery or shut off certain aspects of the phone...
Matthew O: Well essentially yes, as obviously some applications are more memory and processor intensive than others, and the battery can only deliver so much. However, what have been found to increase the battery life is fulling charging it, draining it until it shuts of on its own, fully charging it until the LED is green and leaving it plugged in for an additional two hours and then repeating this process one more time.
C E: thank-you for your help

 

[slave1]

However, what have been found to increase the battery life is fulling charging it, draining it until it shuts of on its own, fully charging it until the LED is green and leaving it plugged in for an additional two hours and then repeating this process one more time.
C E: thank-you for your help

He's talking about "Memory Effect". I thought modern batteries didn't suffer from it

 

[Windchill]

He's talking about "Memory Effect". I thought modern batteries didn't suffer from it

I was under the same impression about the memory.

 

[Shoo]

I was under the same impression about the memory.

Very sad. Apple updated their firmware to improve battery live and continuous update the firmware.

Tmobile and Google could care less.
I have call and complained and all they tell me is shut everything off...!!!
What is the use if i can enjoy my phone?

You are down to 50% of the battery in 2 hours... that's on standby.
There is a serious problem and we as users have to come together the way iphone users did

All i here on this forum is it is fine...just plug your phone to charge all the time.
That is ridiculous.

 

[dkaufman1]

If anyone needs me i'll be sitting by my mailbox.

Comment Win!

 

[freedomflyer]

Memory with Lithium-Ion batteries is non-existent. The memory effect with NiMH and NiCd batteries can be pretty bad, especially if you use your phone to 50% of its capacity and then recharge every day.
I will say, though, that you can lose overall battery capacity by deep-discharging your battery on a consistent basis. Lithium-Ion batts really don't like to be at a low voltage level, so if you have the choice to not go into the "red zone", it would be smart not to.

 

[DarkTLRrider]

From the research I have done on this is that the battery itself does not so much build a memory, it is more an issue of calibrating the internal battery meter of the phone. For instance it says the battery is at half when really it is still at 3/4. This is accomplished by letting the phone die even though it is screaming to be plugged in. Basically you let the phone see what a dead battery looks like and by charging it to 100% and continuing to let it charge at least 2 hrs more it now knows what a full battery looks like. Therefore it will more accurately report the battery condition. Seams to have worked for me to a certain extent however I am still killing the battery by the time I get home. It is frustrating when I go out after work and people want to see my new phone and all it does and the thing is almost dead or dies while the play with it. I am asking for an updated battery from www.fommy.com for Christmas. The reviews state you can get a couple more hours out of it. If anyone already has one post up what you think about it.

 

[noonehereyet]

He's talking about "Memory Effect". I thought modern batteries didn't suffer from it

you and me both but thats what he said... so..... figured all should know the BS that they feed you when they don't have an answer....

 

[Deleted User]

Very sad. Apple updated their firmware to improve battery live and continuous update the firmware.

Tmobile and Google could care less.
I have call and complained and all they tell me is shut everything off...!!!
What is the use if i can enjoy my phone?

You are down to 50% of the battery in 2 hours... that's on standby.
There is a serious problem and we as users have to come together the way iphone users did

All i here on this forum is it is fine...just plug your phone to charge all the time.
That is ridiculous.

Apple iPhone has been around much, much longer than the G1 has. People just need to be patient, on top of that, the holidays are coming and like me, people hardly work during these times

 

[lkosova]

I had issues with my battery and tmobile sent another one out in like 2 days and yes it is better, so at least I have a back up.

Yes, if you are not using it then shut it off and turn it on when you need it. My battery life went from like 4 hours to like two days now at least. I don't charge it everyday any more either.

I don't use the g3 either. I am in a big market and the g2 setting is fine and cell towers in Chicago work great and this really makes a big difference on the cell life.

Larry

 

[Loomis2]

The battery on my G1 would usually last me from 8-9am until around 6pm before I absolutely HAD to charge it. For the past three days I haven't had Twidroid running in the background and now it lasts from 8-9am and at midnight it is around 25%. I was amazed how much of a difference that one little application makes in battery life!

 

[DarkTLRrider]

Very sad. Apple updated their firmware to improve battery live and continuous update the firmware.

Tmobile and Google could care less.
I have call and complained and all they tell me is shut everything off...!!!
What is the use if i can enjoy my phone?

You are down to 50% of the battery in 2 hours... that's on standby.
There is a serious problem and we as users have to come together the way iphone users did

All i here on this forum is it is fine...just plug your phone to charge all the time.
That is ridiculous.

Have you tried what I posted in the post above about letting it die and then fully recharging it. 50% in 2 hrs is pretty extreme unless you have the screen set to never shut off or something crazy like that.
There is an option for an upgraded battery here at www.fommy.com I am getting one for Christmas hopefully.

 

[Mrqwebb2]

I spoke with a tmobile rep about this battery and they said it won't be until next year and the battery hasn't even been made yet.(not sure what that means)