[Alva]

Got my blackberry replaced the other day, was still having issues with the battery draining quickly with hardly any use. I decided to try the .101 OS upgraded. After a successful upgrade I noticed a big difference in battery life. I guess that was the issue all along....

Now I'm currently downloading the more recent OS upgrade .109!

Thanks guys!

[mafungu]

Originally Posted by Deep88

Has anyone noticed that the battery drains faster when you keep it in the leather pouch it came with as opposed to not?

i have noticed the same thing... phone in pouch 1 day battery life... phone out of pouch 2 plus days of battery life.

[M3_berry]

Originally Posted by M3_berry

I think you have a very valid point. I asked my wife (she uses the 8900) and it turns out that while in the original pouch, the phone acts strangely. The screen lights up by itself... while no one touches the phone, so no wonder the battery goes down. I am not sure if this is due to a buggy OS or to having a pouch which is simply too small (putting pressure on the side keys). I took it out of the pouch, we'll see how it does over the next few days.

I promised to report back: 3 days later my battery life is now at 15%. At the date of my previous post (Jan. 07) I started with a battery at 90%. So overall, not bad at all.

In my case, the original leather pouch turned out to be one of the problems causing the battery drainage.

[drewnyc]

me too - the firmware helped loads on battery life, but the leather pouch still drains the battery much quicker.

time to fix that RIM???

[YMark]

How is the leather pouch the culprit? Is it because it causes a weak signal?

[gian]

Heat or maybe the orientation of the phone in the pouch? Might sound daft but with my Palm Treo 680 I used to notice that having it in my chest pocket upside down while at work drained the battery very fast. The orientation part is probably just my imagination though :P

[TheBigNewt]

Originally Posted by drewnyc

me too - the firmware helped loads on battery life, but the leather pouch still drains the battery much quicker.

time to fix that RIM???

Maybe buy one the real RIM leather pouches rather than the pleather one that comes with it. My wife's OEM Curve pouch is nowhere near as nice as the one I bought for my pearl from RIM, not even close. I don't think it's leather at all. Maybe the magnet isn't in the correct place so the phone screen goes off and on unknowingly and wastes the battery?

[dan37_123]

Hi,
I too experienced poor battery life with my bold.
I think there is a bug/problem with "GPS-Location On" variable. It seems to me that, by default, the battery keeps scanning for GPS signal, and i assume there is bug. So i turned the option to "location -off". The battery life went way up, allmost twice.

I guess some of you guys who are more techie with GPS can verify it.

thanks
Dan

[Nils JK]

Originally Posted by dan37_123

Hi,
I too experienced poor battery life with my bold.
I think there is a bug/problem with "GPS-Location On" variable. It seems to me that, by default, the battery keeps scanning for GPS signal, and i assume there is bug. So i turned the option to "location -off". The battery life went way up, allmost twice.

I guess some of you guys who are more techie with GPS can verify it.

thanks
Dan

I cannot agree with that. I have GPS-Location always on, and my battery acts the same as with turned off.

[jirelok]

Hey guys.

I did the .114 upgrade on Sunday morning and was able to last on a full charge up until this morning with battery life indicator in the yellow. This is with moderate use of calls, SMS, BBM, and a couple apps. Backlight at 10s, WIFI off, and a rubberized skin case (if that matters...). Got fed up and charged it again today. Will try to go for a 3 test sample to be fair.

That said, I'm wondering what you guys think about the new Seidio Extended Battery for the Curve 8900/Storm 9530 - BASI16BBX6. It's 1600mAH compared to the standard 1400mAH battery, and the claim is 15% more juice. Would it be worth it? I have to admit I'm very tempted.

Thanks.
J.

[cheerybear]

I bought my first BB last week and have been generally pleased and had to charge often because I was playing around lots. Last night I charged it fully and at 10:30 pm turned the unit completely off. It's been off ever since. It's now 3:40 the next day and it has used about 20% of my batter life. What would be running that would cause battery to run down when the unit is completely off.
Betty

[TheBigNewt]

Originally Posted by cheerybear

I bought my first BB last week and have been generally pleased and had to charge often because I was playing around lots. Last night I charged it fully and at 10:30 pm turned the unit completely off. It's been off ever since. It's now 3:40 the next day and it has used about 20% of my batter life. What would be running that would cause battery to run down when the unit is completely off.
Betty

Nothing is running when the unit is off. Therefore you have a defective battery. End of story. Get a new one.

[TheBigNewt]

Originally Posted by jirelok

Hey guys.


That said, I'm wondering what you guys think about the new Seidio Extended Battery for the Curve 8900/Storm 9530 - BASI16BBX6. It's 1600mAH compared to the standard 1400mAH battery, and the claim is 15% more juice. Would it be worth it? I have to admit I'm very tempted.

Thanks.
J.

Doing the math it'sonly 14.2% more mAh than the OEM, so I'm skeptical as to how much difference it would make. Seidio extended batteries aren't known for being inexpensive. I think my 8100 model was $40 with the slightly bigger door (plus shipping). It was 30% more juice (1200 vs 900 mAH EOM) and I really like it, but 14% more cowbell, I don't know. Maybe for $15 I'd go for it, not much more. I hate charging batteries all the time. Drives me nuts.

[Deep88]

Originally Posted by cheerybear

I bought my first BB last week and have been generally pleased and had to charge often because I was playing around lots. Last night I charged it fully and at 10:30 pm turned the unit completely off. It's been off ever since. It's now 3:40 the next day and it has used about 20% of my batter life. What would be running that would cause battery to run down when the unit is completely off.
Betty

What OS are you using?

[stylesx]

Mine also goes about 3 days tops with full charge but i must say that the 8320 curve was superior is battery life then then 8900 by far, on my 3rd day with the 8320 i would charge it for the sake of charging it but i still had a 1 quarter left of battery but on my 3rd day with the 8900 i have to charge it as it will be in the red/orange

Thank you

[rifleman]

I have to see about the theory regarding the leahter case. My battery lifeis also severely compromised right now. I had about half battery at 10:30 AM. Granted I get MASSIVE amounts of emails and txt messages, this should not be the case. Tomorrow, I will not use the case.

I only use the case because Seidio has not released their skin for it yet.

[Osprey]

Hi - here are my experiences re: battery life and the dreaded fake leather pouch:

Got my new 8900 2 weeks ago (via Carphone Warehouse UK). Asked supplier for new battery and new pouch after 3 days due to poor battery life. After several more days, concluded that the pouch was at least partly to blame, as I always switch phone off and leave in pouch before bed - one morning I came down and nearly half the battery charge had drained ! I have switched off WiFi and dimmed the display etc, so it's not that.

Interestingly, I noticed that the biggest drain of all was leaving it switched off, in pouch, in proximity to my PC. I am no physicist, but I suspect magnetic fields.

I have also read much about improved battery life with new OS. Mine came with .101, I gather some people have downloaded .133 with notable improvements.

So, it could be a combination of the battery, the pouch (definitely dodgy) and the OS that are at fault. But this is my 4th BB and the battery life is the worst of all - and I am a light user. There is much about this on all the other BB forums.

My best suggestion if we want RIM to fix this is to send comments directly to them (as a new member I am not allowed to post addresses yet so please close the spaces to make the correct address): bb suggestions @rim . com. Also let the networks know.

[TheBigNewt]

Don't forget the biggest battery drainer of all: Radios. Seeing as how the 8900 has one radio that other units didn't have=GPS I suspect that radio has something to do with people's worse battery life. The mysterious pouch I cannot explain except for testimonials from people who tossed it out and got better battery right away. IMO changing the OS doesn't directly improve battery life, it may indirectly alter radio use by either the GPS or WiFi somehow. Of course the improved screen will negatively affect battery life, but how much is anyone's guess.

[nigletsyz]

watching about 8 mins worth of videos on youtube drained my battery approx 10%. I'm on the latest OS.

could it be a bad battery?

[rifleman]

Well, over 300 emails since 0800 and multiple pictures, WiFi and use has drained my battery by 2:45. WOW! I have to see how this goes. I think this new processor and screen is propbably draining it much faster then before. I don't think its the battery. Maybe the next official OS build will improve it. Right now using .133 is probably also partly to blame.

I guess its time for a Seidio extended battery.