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Should I jump ship?

SecretSexyNinja

Well-Known Member
My dilemma is not with Android, but the Dinc. I absolutely love Android and will definitely be staying on Verizon and with a Droid phone. I have, however, had the Incredible since launch day. I love pretty much everything about this phone, except the battery life. I really cannot stand the constant need to be near a charger for fear of my phone dying. Should I buy the Verizon extended battery for another $60 and deal w the clunky bulk or get the Droid X or Samsung Fascinate. I think i can get a good price for this phone on eBay w it being an original in mint condition and there still a shortage. What should I do? Is it too early to go for the Samsung? I will miss HTC Sense.
 
Have you tried rooting and a UB Hydro kernel? That gave me about 4 to 6 extra hours of battery life. Less if I push it to go to 1.15GHz often (I have the OC one). My dinc now lasts the whole day with no problem.

-Nkk
 
it all comes down with personal preference... yes battery sucks but this phones lighter and smaller than all the rest at the cost of a smaller battery.. the samsung looks great but hey it doesnt have sense which is why i bought this phone... i hate the dx bc of size and motoblur only... so i say play with them and see.. i have learned to save my battery by turning internet off when not using it and im still on the 1300 stock battery and making it in a day
 
You will be able to get Sense on any phone if it is rooted. Most phones have Sense ROMs.

Have you taken ALL the measures to maximize battery life? List them and we'll see.
 
I've had the Seidio 1750 since I got it for my Eris. It makes all the difference. I'd say at least try a bigger battery. If you don't like it, you can sell it with the phone.
 
I don't understand all of these battery issues people are having. I have the stock battery 1300MAH, use my phone regularly throughout the day for the web, email, phone calls, games, etc. I easily get 14 hours of use out of it. Just recharge every night and everything is okey dokey! Have you pinpointed what applications are draining your battery life? Is your phone going into sleep mode when it should? Have you made changes to settings on your phone to preserve battery life? Did you bump charge? Lots of things can help before you decide to give up a wonderful smartphone! I wouldn't trade mine for anything right now.
 
I tried the 1300mAh battery, but got the Seidio 1750 and haven't regretted it at all. I get through my days, even living in a bad coverage area. Can't wait for the EVDO extender to be released.
As for the OP question, I won't be jumping ship.
 
I've got the Verizon extended battery and with pretty moderate use I can get 2 days easily.

Also, the "bulk" you mention isn't really noticeable. There's a thread in the accessories forum describing how to dremel your case to fit the new battery cover. If you consider the thickness of your case and ignore covering your battery like the thread shows, you don't notice any increase in width than compared to if you had a case covering the whole phone with stock battery cover.

My phone fits easily into my front jean pockets.
 
Give the 2150 a shot (They have a 30 day return period).

It has honestly changed the way I use my phone. Battery life is phenomenal and the bulk really isn't noticed.

Best money I've spent since getting this phone...
 
I haven't been obsessed with preserving battery life but I have disabled friend stream, set all widgets, weather and other app updates to no sooner than an hour or two. I have the screen brightness set to 10% and only bump it up if im in direct sunlight. I don't use aim or anything that I could potentially leave open. Gv is disabled on start. Anything crucial I am missing?

Thing is, I'm a bit of a power user. I travel all over the US for work. I've probably been in 40 different states in the last two months. I am constantly making calls, sending and receiving emails, texts, attachments etc. I use the browser a lot for sites I work on as well. Using any phone a lot will certainly drain it more quickly. It just seems this is really really the case w this phone. I'll never go back to a BB but I could get through a day on one charge. Maybe the extended battery is the best option? I did hear Droid x has decent life. I can definitely wait for 2.2 to see if it makes a difference. I have been able to make it work this long.
 
I love the extended battery, personally. I checked out the Droid X, and as someone who is also a power user, the first thing I noticed is that I can't reach the entire screen with my thumb if I only use one hand to hold/type/manipulate the touch screen. The screen is just too damn big on the DX.
 
I don't understand all of these battery issues people are having.

The issues depend on their usage and their location/signal.

If they are in a weak signal area, the battery will suck down fast because the radio is constantly searching for a cell tower.

I get 1/2 the battery life on the weekdays compared to the weekends. At work, my phone is always searching for a signal. On the weekend, at home, I get a solid 3-4 bars.

In terms of usage, the OS/Sense is not fully optimized. I've compared my DINC to other Android phones thru the SDK logger. In the logger, I can see HTC software constantly launching background services like bluetooth and wifi sniffers when they are clearly turned off. Also, the HTC camera doesn't fully shut down when you exit the app. To me, this clearly sloppy programming. Hopefully 2.2 and the OTA updates fix all these little glitches.
 
If you state yourself you are a "power user" I wouldn't exactly jump ship yet. I agree with the other posters of saying wait until 2.2. You also don't know in comparison what the Fascinate will last, plus quite frankly it doesn't look as visually pleasing PLUS bing... REALLY? The X I would say, if you have the larger hand, and can deal w/o sense I've heard some really great things about it.

Either way, make your decision, and don't make any data changes because Big V is definitely changing from the $30 plan unlimited to set amounts of data usage for set amounts of cash just like ATT. You are grandfathered in if you are already on contract, if not you might be wishing you had.
 
I haven't been obsessed with preserving battery life but I have disabled friend stream, set all widgets, weather and other app updates to no sooner than an hour or two. I have the screen brightness set to 10% and only bump it up if im in direct sunlight. I don't use aim or anything that I could potentially leave open. Gv is disabled on start. Anything crucial I am missing?

Thing is, I'm a bit of a power user. I travel all over the US for work. I've probably been in 40 different states in the last two months. I am constantly making calls, sending and receiving emails, texts, attachments etc. I use the browser a lot for sites I work on as well. Using any phone a lot will certainly drain it more quickly. It just seems this is really really the case w this phone. I'll never go back to a BB but I could get through a day on one charge. Maybe the extended battery is the best option? I did hear Droid x has decent life. I can definitely wait for 2.2 to see if it makes a difference. I have been able to make it work this long.

I purchased the extended battery about 10 days ago. Hacked out my Verizon face-in phone case/clip combo to accomodate the battery with a razor knife. Phone feels great with the new battery and looks fine with the hacked out back. Took a couple of days for the charge to "figure out" the battery capacity, but now I'm getting two full days (roughly 40 hours) on a single charge, including phone activity (> 5 hrs), navigation (> 2 hrs), and constant internet use, though I'm usually near a Wifi point, so I believe that saves some battery vs. before. With the original battery, I was "orange" by about 2PM after taking it off the charger at 7AM, to give you some idea of the difference.

Just be sure to give the extended battery a couple of days (and it won't hurt to actually get it into the red, which it will prematurely for the first 1-2 days). Browse around: you should be able to get this battery from Verizon for 25% off, making it a more palatable $45. I don't think you'll regret sticking it out with the Dinc.
 
The issues depend on their usage and their location/signal.

If they are in a weak signal area, the battery will suck down fast because the radio is constantly searching for a cell tower.

I get 1/2 the battery life on the weekdays compared to the weekends. At work, my phone is always searching for a signal. On the weekend, at home, I get a solid 3-4 bars.

In terms of usage, the OS/Sense is not fully optimized. I've compared my DINC to other Android phones thru the SDK logger. In the logger, I can see HTC software constantly launching background services like bluetooth and wifi sniffers when they are clearly turned off. Also, the HTC camera doesn't fully shut down when you exit the app. To me, this clearly sloppy programming. Hopefully 2.2 and the OTA updates fix all these little glitches.

And to think that I thought I was the only one having this problem. I upgraded to the Seidio 1750 and while I can drain it on weekdays (see mrspeedmaster's post), I can't drain it on the weekends unless I spend the entire day glued to my phone (at which point my Xbox and wife get jealous).

As mrspeedmaster mentioned, if you are in an area with no signal, the phone will eat energy trying to find one. Turn off the radio and you're set. To think that the X or any other smart phone is going to battery life that is heads and tails better over the Inc is an illusion (or maybe delusion?).
 
Okay, thanks! I'll see how 2.2 manages and also try an extended battery before i jump ship. I do love the phone. In the meantime ill see how people like the Fascinate and X in case 2.2 doesn't help and i can't stand the battery. Either way, i love that we have options!
 
Okay, thanks! I'll see how 2.2 manages and also try an extended battery before i jump ship. I do love the phone. In the meantime ill see how people like the Fascinate and X in case 2.2 doesn't help and i can't stand the battery. Either way, i love that we have options!
don't bother with the extended battery. It's not worth the bulk. Get the $15 1500mah htc touch pro 2 battery from the seller bidalles on ebay. I got it and it was a significant improvement. It will definitely last you a whole day if ur stock battery didn't. The 1750mah seido battery is good too but it's $40 and the build quality will be hit or miss. Some people report better performance with the htc touch pro 2 batter.
 
Samsung has ******ed bing search. That ruins it for me.

Ugh, I hate bing search. My username has nothing to do with Microsoft; rather it's a play on my last name*. I'm a Google fanboy since the days of GMail.

*Actually, I'd been stalking bing.com to buy it for years, and when I saw the previous older had sold it to some small Microsoft office in Colorado I emailed them asking if they had plans for it, or if I could buy it from them. No reply, but a multi-million-dollar ad campaign spelled "no" pretty hard. Then they refused the "bing cashback" when I bought my iPhone 3GS, ripping me off $100. I hope bing search dies.
 
people saying they wont get the Samsung b/c or bing is being stupid it is just bloat ware like city id it can be remover when rooted... it looks like a really great phone... dont let the bloatware make your decision
 
To think that the X or any other smart phone is going to battery life that is heads and tails better over the Inc is an illusion (or maybe delusion?).

No, its not an illusion or delusion. Those other phones may have better cellular radios; hence their better battery life.
 
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