[Stiens]

I am a new BB user (about 2 months). I have the Bold 9000, but I am finding that my battery only lasts a few hours. I will charge the phone during the night and by 10h00 the battery shows half even if I haven't made any calls! Is this normal? Is there anything I can do to extend the battery?

Stienie

[dictoresno]

being on a 3G network heavily taxes the phones battery. try switching your mobile network to 2G (EDGE) only. that will dramatically increase your battery life.

[Stiens]

Thanks will try that, will really miss the 3G though! Will I be able to purchase a battery with an extended life? If so, what do I ask for to make sure they don't just give me a normal battery?

Thanks for the help!

Stiens

[ST79]

It is not normal for a new device/battery.

Do you have apps running in the background? What OS are you on?

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[sandos]

What apps do you have running? If your battery is losing 50% in just a few hours (I'm assuming 10h00 means 10am) like that it probably has nothing to do with 3G. You've either got a bad battery or some battery draining apps running.

[dictoresno]

always make sure applications are properly closed and not just "suspended" and still running in the background. ST79, my phone had crappy battery life out of the box with no apps running. the only way to really cure it was to disable 3G for mormal use. you could always re-enable it when needed.

you can purchase extended batteries from different online retailers, Seidio makes respectable products. you can purchase their 3500mAh battery which is over double the battery capacity of the OEM one. however, it will increase the size and weight of the phone.

Innocell 3500mAh Extended Life Battery

[ST79]

@ dictoresno
I said "not normal" because he lost 50% battery (fully charged in the night) with no use. I agree that low signal strength can have adverse effect on the battery. Hmm.. The OP might be in a very low 3G area... Thanks for the clarification

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[Stiens]

Txs for all the help! I don't think I have anything running in the background(remember I'm a NEWBIE!!) How do I check? Also where do I check my OS? This is such a great phone, if I can just sort this battery issue!! I'm also going to test turing the 3G off and see if that makes a difference!

Stiens

[anon(767240)]

There are probably apps running in the background or you have a lemon battery.

I am on 3g all the time and I use the phone heavily but my battery will last me a day to a day and a half.

[dictoresno]

to get your OS, go to options > about. it will be the 3rd line down and say v4.6.0.xxx

to check running applications, hit the BB menu button and scroll to Switch Application. the only things open all the time that cant be closed are Phone, BBM, Home Screen, Messages and Browser. anything else open should be closed.

also, dim your backlight to 20%. i have mine like that in order to help conserve battery life. theres no need to have it at 100%.

[Stiens]

My OS is v4.6.0.162. I have now stopped all applications running in the background, switched my 3G off and switched my backlight to 20%. Will let you know if it helps!

Stienie

[dictoresno]

nice. just remember OS 4.6.0.266 is the most stable official release by Vodafone. might wanna consider updating. its alot better than the older OS's.

[zkyevolved]

I had some weird experiences, after upgrading to 266 I had horrible battery life. I used loader and reloaded the OS and then I had good battery life (which gets me through the day easily now, when before it would be dead by 4 pm!)

Hope that helps

[Stiens]

I would love to update the OS, but I'm having a problem with my Blackberry Desktop Manager - it just freezes on me when I try to update! Will try again!

Thanks for all the help!

Stienie

[qpop]

Do you know how to do it? You shouldn't be using Desktop Manager to update...
Grab the link in the sticky on the forum...follow the instructions - involves going to c:\ program files \ common files \ research in motion \ apploader
deleting the vendor.xml file, and using the apploader.exe that's in the above folder. Then you completely circumvent desktop manager and all the associated problems!

[timsmish]

I find on my bold that 4.6.0.237 gives the most battery life and I have tried them all...when I was on .167 my battery would also be dead in a matter of 2-3 hours....

[Stiens]

I have tried that, but then the apploader doesn't find any upgrade for the os!

[dictoresno]

I have tried that, but then the apploader doesn't find any upgrade for the os!

just manually download it from the Blackberry site, manually install via clicking on the .exe file. then open DM and it should see the update there when you click update applications. just backup the phone first since it erases everything. restore with the backup file when done, saves you having to set everything back up.

[Stiens]

Thank you for all the help - I have now also updated my software to V4.6.0.266.

Stienie

[anon(767240)]

Thank you for all the help - I have now also updated my software to V4.6.0.266.

Stienie

Is there any marked battery performance improvement?

[dictoresno]

Is there any marked battery performance improvement?

he wont notice it right away. but you will gain the most battery life by disabling 3G vs just an OS upgrade.

[jmore]

How are things running for you now Steins?

[efe-e]

Steins, I have the same problem. My battery life is not enough for my using. You said you upgrade your OS, does it improved your bat.life?

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[Stiens]

Hi all, I am very happy to report that I have seen an amazing improvement, and that is without disabling 3G. Took my phone off charge this afternoon at 15h00, it's now 21h30 and I still have 90% left! Thank you, thank you, thank you for all the help! You guys are great!

Stienie

[playboisoldier]

Hi all, I am very happy to report that I have seen an amazing improvement, and that is without disabling 3G. Took my phone off charge this afternoon at 15h00, it's now 21h30 and I still have 90% left! Thank you, thank you, thank you for all the help! You guys are great!

Stienie

So what you do ?