Theory about poor battery life...

[ghostwriter]

It seems that no matter what people do, they still get poor battery life. Is it possible that a phone that is constantly searching for service would drain its battery quickly?

I live in two locations: home and school. When I'm at home, I get pretty solid service from Verizon, and I also get good battery life. It lasted me around 24 to 36 hours there, which is great. When I go to school, it seems as if the service is poor. The phone is constantly searching for service. I, in turn, get fairly bad battery life. Around 12 hours. Not so good.

Could this be the source of people getting varied battery life? Would constantly searching for service/3G drain a battery fast?

 

[Ataranine]

I think it's more a UI problem than the battery. You're right, when the phone is searching for signal, it's using more battery. The UI bug makes the bars go all over the place and also when I send or receive an SMS, my signal drops from 3G to 1X...then it goes back to 3G. So I'd say that takes more battery also.
I'm sure the Friday update will solve most of the issues.

 

[Chopstick2U]

In most locations around me, VZW customers don't have that problem. But you are correct that searching for a signal is murder on a phone's battery. I'd say you have solved your own problem, but I doubt it applies to most other people. Poor coverage is definitely not the only cause of this phone's battery woes. Still... might help someone who has tried everything else.

If you're in an area with spotty coverage, you could disable 3G via HTC's "Mobile Internet" widget, leaving your Eris with basic call and MMS services.