[jayman2]

upgraded my os to .81 last week. Now this week at work, I'm working on a.project that keeps me there 12-14 hours a day. I'm playing music through my bluetooth most of the day and I notice my battery drains quickly. Could this be a result of os upgrade? Also, do they make a heavy duty battery that lasts longer? Thanks in advance.

Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com

[amazinglygraceless]

2600 mAh battery
1500 mAh battery


I'm guessing that the OS is not the issue but the Bluetooth and
the music application.

[supertireguy]

There are a number of conditions that can create extra strain/drain on the battery.

* Incomplete initial battery charge.
All new rechargeable electronic devices contain instructions regarding the first battery charge. It's important for rechargeable batteries to receive a full uninterrupted (8 hours or more) charge to achieve full battery life and performance.

* Worn out battery.
Rechargeable batteries have a limited recharge cycle lifespan. After something like 1000 charges (guessing) all rechargeable batteries begin to lose capacity.

* Low signal strength areas.
When you're in a low signal strength area the phone pumps up the radio output and battery drain in order to establish or maintain a connection. If you're in an area lacking good cellular coverage sometimes it's best to turn off the radio function in order to save the battery.

* Heavy data usage.
You may be unaware of it but some BB applications are prone to hammering the data channel in order to send/receive data. Heavy data channel use equals heavy radio traffic which equals big battery drainage. The Blackberry XM Radio application for example makes heavy use of data traffic and will drain most batteries in less than one day. I've also noticed that when a BB application has trouble with login/password info the app might try, try, try and try again hammering the data channel without success during which time the battery takes a beating.

* Bluetooth.
When Bluetooth is turned on it creates an additional radio signal draw on the battery. Turn off Bluetooth when not in use.

* Zombie Application
Computers or smart phones, sometimes applications crash or go zombie. Sometimes when you try to shutdown a rogue BB application it might not really shutdown without a battery pull reboot. If a zombie application is running in the background and trying to access the data channel this can create a mysterious battery draw.

I think the standard Blackberry Curve battery capacity is rated at 1000mAh. There are some aftermarket battery options from Seido and others rated at 1500mAh and higher.