DInc First Impressions; Boxwave Frustrations; VZW Holster Case thoughts; Battery stuf

[kjarrett]

Got my DInc yesterday, ordered in store 5/14, shipped 5/28, arrived 6/1 (thank you, holiday weekend.) Charged it to 100% and started exploring. Went to bed last night with the battery around 40%, left it ON intentionally to run down, was at 14% when I got up, now down to 5%. Will let it die then charge while turned off.

Overall I am impressed. Love the feel of the phone (except the plastic back doesn't seem to be very durable.) It's VERY fast (I came from a Razr2 V9m) and the apps are great. Went crazy trying to set up Yahoo! Mail until I realized I needed to TURN OFF WIFI so it would authenticate. Soon as I did that, I was good to go. Used a few Twitter apps, love Hootsuite (I use that on the web) but it's unstable, so I'm using Twitter for Android and am happy with that. Have not used Friendstream yet. Created a Google Account just for my contacts, cleaned them up and had them ready when I activated the phone, everything came in clean. Call quality is excellent even with 1-2 bars, speaker sounds great. Controls are well placed. Overall it's clearly the best phone I've ever owned. Still have a lot to learn. Wish I'd had it over the weekend, I'd be a pro by now. :/

Boxwave screen protector: great item (got the non-glare one). Didn't know I needed a Clean Room to install it. Literally went from the factory plastic to the Boxwave and still managed to get dust underneath. Removed & cleaned it per the instructions, reinstalled, and now have EVEN MORE dust bubbles. I'll try again. The protector itself is awesome, love the matte finish it gives the phone, no fingerprints. Just a royal PITA to install (I guess they all are.)

Using the black rubberish VZW combo holster/case. The holster is okay but as others have reported the phone doesn't snap in very securely. Anyone with an active lifestyle had better keep it vertical or it's probably gonna slide out. The case has a really nice feel and offers some but not complete protection (exposed top & bottom edges), but it's fine for me for now. Pretty sure I'm going to get a Seido Innocase and see how it fits with the VZW holster, or, just bite the damn bullet and get the Seido holster as well. That is, unless Accessory One gets their act together and eventually sends me the CORRECT leather pouch I ordered. :/ At that point, I might have to go commando (just a screen protector) but we'll see. I do like how the VZW case makes it so the camera lens isn't touching anything when you lay the phone on its back. Decisions, decisions.

After reading the threads about the DInc charging system, I am now convinced that letting it stay plugged in overnight is unnecessary and I won't be doing that (though it is what I've done for every cell phone I've ever owned). The charging cable even tells you to disconnect when done charging. Also, the factory charge time is ~ 4 hours according to the cable (presume that means with the phone OFF.) Was thinking about getting more batteries to swap out when needed but the flimsiness of the rear cover is giving me pause. I do NOT want to be popping that thing off every other day. So I am probably going to use a single battery, maybe a Seido 1750 at some point, and will be "topping it off" most of the time, maybe run it to zero once a month & recharge to keep the battery calibration right, just like I do with my Macbook Pro.

Hope this helps someone ... overall it's a great phone and it has already changed my life (I was reading email this AM in the bathroom, yay me.) More to come as I get up to speed with it.

Thanks for all the great info you all have shared here!

-kj-

p.s. Apps ... running just a few, ATK, Battery Left, Evernote, Google Earth, Google Googles, Skype Mobile, etc. Lots to learn...

 

[Proph]

on the battery thing, i leave mine plugged in all night long and i have done that since i got it. the first 2 weeks the battery drained pretty quick, the last 2 weeks the battery is lasting alot longer with the same stuff turned on. i guess the batter does have a calibration or "break in" period because the difference is very noticable. however do be careful there are a few apps that just suck battery, navigation is a big one. it ate 20% of the battery in about 35minutes.
i do need to get a charger for work because the siriusXM app is awsome but it eats about 10% every hour it is on.

 

[IcedTC]

on the battery thing, i leave mine plugged in all night long and i have done that since i got it. the first 2 weeks the battery drained pretty quick, the last 2 weeks the battery is lasting alot longer with the same stuff turned on. i guess the batter does have a calibration or "break in" period because the difference is very noticable.

Good call. I did the exact same thing. At first I was like wow this battery doesn't last 5 hours and now a few weeks later...it's holding a very good charge. I go from 6am until 10pm with average use and stil lhave about 15-20% charge left.

Granted, on heavy use I have a USB charger at my office, but I think a battery swap is overkill. I keep mine on all night (screen off but powered on) and have only powered my phone off about 5 times total.

Give it a few weeks and I think you'll see the same thing. It's a phone...regardless of how amazing it is, to have to battery swap daily or turn it off (i mean completely shut off) each night is insanity.

BTW congrats!

 

[carlbettag]

There has been MUCH said about batteries, so I will keep this very brief.

Top suggestion: get an external battery charger & a spare battery. Keep the spare charged, and swap it into your phone every morning. Easy, fast & gets rid of the millions of 'charge your battery better by plugging in your phone XXX way' techniques floating around.

Second suggestion: switch to 1500 MaH HTC batteries. They fit just fine.

Third suggestion: charge the battery that came with the phone (1300 MaH), cover the contacts with a post it, throw it in your bag and - voila! Spare power for several hours. These batteries seem to stay charged for months...

Last suggestion: turn on 3G, bluetooth (if you use it). Turn off GPS & wifi. Turn off or sync infrequently your non-critical services. For me, exchange is on constant push but everything else syncs only every couple of hours.

This gets me excellent battery life and hopefully has some good ideas for others.

 

[Smudgie]

I have always kept my Incredible charging all night. What is the problem with doing this?

 

[kjarrett]

I have always kept my Incredible charging all night. What is the problem with doing this?

Not a problem per se but since the phone stops charging once it reaches 100% so there is no benefit to leaving it plugged in, that's all.

 

[kjarrett]

There has been MUCH said about batteries, so I will keep this very brief.

Top suggestion: get an external battery charger & a spare battery. Keep the spare charged, and swap it into your phone every morning. Easy, fast & gets rid of the millions of 'charge your battery better by plugging in your phone XXX way' techniques floating around.

Second suggestion: switch to 1500 MaH HTC batteries. They fit just fine.

Third suggestion: charge the battery that came with the phone (1300 MaH), cover the contacts with a post it, throw it in your bag and - voila! Spare power for several hours. These batteries seem to stay charged for months...

Last suggestion: turn on 3G, bluetooth (if you use it). Turn off GPS & wifi. Turn off or sync infrequently your non-critical services. For me, exchange is on constant push but everything else syncs only every couple of hours.

This gets me excellent battery life and hopefully has some good ideas for others.

Thanks, I plan to go with a 1500 at some point, but don't like the idea of pulling the back off the phone every day. I do like the idea of having the OEM as an even partially-charged spare when needed. Now to find a decent inexpensive external charger that's not some POS...

-kj-