Need your opinion

[zetroc]

So I called VZW today to see if there is something wrong with my device. My phone will last me at the most 8 hours, and that's on an extremely good day. After questions, the rep said there isn't anything I am doing that should have the phone dying so quickly. And in all honesty, I am not. While at work I don't use it very much, so I would say average/moderate use.

He offered to have the handset replaced. And here is where Idk what to do.

Should I have them send me a new device, or should I keep mine? Will I lose out on giving up my AMOLED screen for a LCD? Will a refurb unit be worse than mine?

All your thoughts are greatly appreciated!!!! =]

 

[Old Member]

According to Verizon's policy, if you have an AMOLED display phone you should get one as a replacement, but not everyone has been receiving them when they are replaced.

Second, if you get it replaced, you will have the same issues. The phone comes with a 1300 mAh battery. My LG Dare had the exact same battery and it was a dumb phone. The dumb folks at HTC decided in their wisdom that it would be a good choice for a device of this caliber. Go figure. Also, it's a smartphone aka a hand held computer. Battery life will never be what you "hope" it will be. There are plenty of threads on battery consumption, after market batteries, etc so I won't go into that for you, just use the search function and the world is your oyster.

Finally, either the rep you were talking to was dishonest or completely inept at his/her job for not knowing these issues exist. They are very well known and publicized. Good luck. IMHO, I'd keep my phone if you are happy with it and figure out how to manage the power. I keep a charger at work, one in my car, I stay on Wifi when possible and turn off 3G when not using it. There are tons of other suggestions.

 

[Sean1208]

How do you use your phone, what apps do you have, do you stream music, surf the net, check and compose emails, use navigation? Without knowing how you use your phone, it's not possible to tell you whether or not 8 hours is "bad".

 

[Terabethia]

There are a TON of factor's that go into battery life and even then, the battery life on a smartphone with a 1300 mAh battery is never going to be wonderful.

8 hours with little use does seem low, but probably has nothing to do with the phone and everything to do with your settings. What are your screen brightness settings? What is your screen timeout? Do you have a lot of widgets? How often are your widgets updating? Do you have a lot of accounts syncing, and how often? Do you spend most of the day on 3G or on WiFi?

Also, have you looked into your app's to make sure that you don't have one keeping your phone awake?

 

[zetroc]

I have the following apps:
-Angry Birds
-ASTRO
-Barcode Scanner
-bTunes
-Chrome to Phone
-Engadget
-Facebook
-Foursquare
-GVoice
-Grooveshark
-Slacker
-Skype
-The Weather Channel
-Trillian
-TweetDeck
-Twidroyd
-Winamp
-Miscellaneous widgets.

The apps I use the most are FB, Engadget. I have 3 google accounts working with GMail. I sometimes use Grooveshark/Slacker, but usually have it connected to a power source (normally when I'm in my car). I sometimes use Trillian, and I mainly use the phone for SMS as well as Google Talk.

I'm not constantly browsing the net, I am not constantly steaming video or music, and don't usually use my apps on a regular basis. They are there, but I only use them from time to time, mainly when I'm bored, and not usually during the work day.

@Cincybearcatfan, I appreciate your comment. However, I have a problem with having to turn off my 3G and what not. I got a smartphone that is 3G capable for a reason. I think it is pointless to have a phone as capable as this, and have to monitor the data connection and so on. I recognize that this will have an affect on my battery, but 8 hours on a really good day? That's just terrible, no?

 

[Terabethia]

I have the following apps:
-Angry Birds
-ASTRO
-Barcode Scanner
-bTunes
-Chrome to Phone
-Engadget
-Facebook
-Foursquare
-GVoice
-Grooveshark
-Slacker
-Skype
-The Weather Channel
-Trillian
-TweetDeck
-Twidroyd
-Winamp
-Miscellaneous widgets.

The apps I use the most are FB, Engadget. I have 3 google accounts working with GMail. I sometimes use Grooveshark/Slacker, but usually have it connected to a power source (normally when I'm in my car). I sometimes use Trillian, and I mainly use the phone for SMS as well as Google Talk.

I'm not constantly browsing the net, I am not constantly steaming video or music, and don't usually use my apps on a regular basis. They are there, but I only use them from time to time, mainly when I'm bored, and not usually during the work day.

@Cincybearcatfan, I appreciate your comment. However, I have a problem with having to turn off my 3G and what not. I got a smartphone that is 3G capable for a reason. I think it is pointless to have a phone as capable as this, and have to monitor the data connection and so on. I recognize that this will have an affect on my battery, but 8 hours on a really good day? That's just terrible, no?

Well... it might be terrible and it might not... we know your apps now but still no real idea of how you use the phone.

And you don't have to turn off 3G, but it is a good idea to use WiFi whenever it is available. It is a lot easier on the battery and it won't "dumb down" the phone at all.

Again... how often do you have all of those widgets syncing? And how often do you have those 3 GMail accounts syncing? Those things can be battery killers and I highly recommend keeping the syncing to a minimum or just turning it off altogether and only syncing manually when you need to.

Is your GTalk constantly running on the phone or do you just turn it on for a couple minutes when you need it? That program is pretty well known for being a battery killer. Same with your Trillian.

 

[dragonsamus]

what is your up time and awake time? with the 1300 mah battery my awake up is usually around 4 hours at max.

 

[zetroc]

Hmm, Trillian only runs when I open it, and I always sign off when I am done with it, and that's not that often.

My emails do sync frequently, however Idk what the interval is... they are google accounts that I access through the gmail app... how do I check the frequency?

GTalk is always signed in. My widgets I mentioned are not data widgets, so no syncing goes on. Just like a coin flip widget, sand clock, battery meter. Nothing that should be pulling my data.

 

[zetroc]

@dragonsamus, my Up Time is 17:10:42 and my Awake Time is 5:46:48

 

[euph_22]

Install system panel, and see if anything is using alot of cpu or network.

 

[patsfan1130]

Doesn't sound to me that you are experiencing anything everyone else has. I agree with you, you have a smart phone...dumbing it down makes little sense to me. so IMO..because of this HTC blunder, the only option is to buy an extended battery. I am sporting a 2150 and there has been no looking back. With my current ROM I can go 2 days without a charge. Keep your phone

 

[Old Member]

@zetroc I never said anything about "dumbing down" your smartphone. Your question was about extending battery life and if you should or should not get a new one. I answered your question, NO IMO you should not. Your Dinc sounds like it works just like every other Dinc on this forum. It's battery is lucky to last 8-10 hours of moderate use. My suggestion to use Wifi instead of 3G is not a "dumbing" suggestion, it is a power saving one. Feel free to leave both or either on for all I care. Do me a favor though, before you post a question that's been addressed literally dozens if not hundreds of times on this forum, use the search function.

 

[zetroc]

@Cincybearcatfan, I apologize if any of this got you worked up. With all due respect, since we are clarifying things. First, please refer to my response to you regarding the 3G vs WiFi comment. I made no indication of you insinuating that this would dumb down the phone. I simply said that with a phone as capable as this, I shouldn't have to manage it with respect to connections and data consumption (though I understand the implications these may have on battery performance). Furthermore, if you read my original post, I did not ask about power management suggestions (though I appreciate every comment on this thread) as I am well aware of the search feature of this forum and I have read plenty of threads on the matter. I posted to ask other members' opinions on whether or not I should take the replacement unit. Please make sure you know what is being discussed before you post such a rude response.

 

[Old Member]

So I called VZW today to see if there is something wrong with my device. My phone will last me at the most 8 hours, and that's on an extremely good day. After questions, the rep said there isn't anything I am doing that should have the phone dying so quickly. And in all honesty, I am not. While at work I don't use it very much, so I would say average/moderate use.

He offered to have the handset replaced. And here is where Idk what to do.

Should I have them send me a new device, or should I keep mine? Will I lose out on giving up my AMOLED screen for a LCD? Will a refurb unit be worse than mine?

All your thoughts are greatly appreciated!!!! =]

@zetroc I never said anything about "dumbing down" your smartphone. Your question was about extending battery life and if you should or should not get a new one. I answered your question, NO IMO you should not.

@Cincybearcatfan, . . . Please make sure you know what is being discussed before you post such a rude response.

Seems like I answered your question. Where's the problem? If you don't like a rude response, don't post a rude response.

 

[zetroc]

I couldn't agree more. Thanks for all your feedback.

 

[NightAngel79]

@dragonsamus, my Up Time is 17:10:42 and my Awake Time is 5:46:48

If that is reflecting battery life since last unplugged then it is pretty good imo. As previous poster said 4 - 6 hours awake time is as high as you will see in most cases, depending on HOW you use the phone. I got 55ish hours on a charge once or twice (1300) but barelt used my phone at all during my off days, think i had almost 4 hours awake, and that most mostly reading in night mode (black back round).

 

[Triska]

Second, if you get it replaced, you will have the same issues. The phone comes with a 1300 mAh battery. My LG Dare had the exact same battery and it was a dumb phone. The dumb folks at HTC decided in their wisdom that it would be a good choice for a device of this caliber. Go figure.

Cindy, are you suggesting that I technically could put my Dare battery in a Dinc? Hmmmm. I have two Dare batteries. One is from LG and the other says, "For L VX9700."


ETA: The interesting thing is the originally battery is 1050mAh and the replacement battery that I got from Asurion is 1100mAh. I suppose those won't work, huh? Bummer!

 

[Old Member]

Cindy, are you suggesting that I technically could put my Dare battery in a Dinc? Hmmmm. I have two Dare batteries. One is from LG and the other says, "For L VX9700."


ETA: The interesting thing is the originally battery is 1050mAh and the replacement battery that I got from Asurion is 1100mAh. I suppose those won't work, huh? Bummer!

First it's CINCY as in CINCINNATI not Cindy, second, no I'm NOT saying that you can put your Dare battery in your phone. I'm saying they put the same mAh battery in both phones. Our Incredibles are hand held computers that clearly needed a bigger battery. You weren't serious with that question were you?

 

[dragonsamus]

@dragonsamus, my Up Time is 17:10:42 and my Awake Time is 5:46:48

Sounds like your battery life is normal.

 

[Triska]

Oops! I thought I typed Cincy. Sorry! I was using my Dare to post, so it was just the normal typo that I have often. I just retired my Dare as I got my Dinc today, so it shouldn't be a problem again. I have made some interesting typos because of the auto-correct feature on the Dinc already though.

I took your statement as your Dare battery and Dinc battery was the exact same battery as those were the words you used. Yeah, I took it literally. DOH! It totally shocked me that they had the same battery and it was inconceivable to me that they would be interchangeable, so I guess I was semi-serious when I asked it as I really wanted to be sure that I wasn't misunderstanding you. I don't do well with showing humor on a messageboard. LOL!

 

[FramCire]

Verizon sent me a new battery when mine was lasting less than 8 hours. The new one gets me a few more hours of uptime and I have the less potent battery completely charged as a backup.

Considering how short my laptop battery life is, I think the phone battery is decent.

Also, I wonder why people dont bring cords with them and charge every time they can! Lithium battery is better off being charged frequently.

 

[paulmz]

During the first week of owning my Incredible, I found that battery life of the stock 1300mAh battery was seriously lacking.

I immediately purchased a Seidio Innocell 1750mAh Slim Battery. It definitely lasts at least an extra 30% longer and it doesn't require a new back cover because it's the same exterior size as the stock battery.