[eShawpm]

My 700p with the standard battery(1800 ma) would **** out after about 10 hours of use (email on EAS Push, texting through the day, and 1 hr of phone calls). With the extended battery (2400 ma ~ $40) it would make it a day and a half with light phone use otherwise ~ 18 hours was the max.

My Pearl isn't exactly a batter power house however, I easily get two days out of it working personal emails, surfing, phone calls, and BB messenger. On my Curve from work (BES), data only, I easily get 4 to 5 days off of a charge. No way you are going to get that kind of performance off a Treo unless your usage is extremely light and you get the mondo extended battery.

[jhood25]

Nope, thats the shortcut for Switch Applications. Offhand I don't recall the shortcut you're looking for.

Well I'll put it like this...

Is there a way to see what programs or apps I am running?? I don't want to be running the browser when it's in my pocket. Is there a specific way to close apps for good, as i said before i usually HOLD in the back swooping arrow key in (which in the booklet I read is a shortcut for CLOSING the browser), or i push the black berry button (left of the trackball) then scroll down to close...

I'm starting to think i was spoiled by the treo's battery with only txt usage and then a LG the V phone with the extended battery. For a regular phone that thing had awesome battery life, and for as much txting as i did it was amazing. And i txt A LOT!

P.S- I pulled the battery to maybe solve the problem because from reading a lot of posts it helped for some people, but after i pulled it an hour glass came up and spun for a couple of mins... Is this normal???

I sound like a sycophant but you guys are really helpful, i don't know what i would do without this site. I already converted a regular cell user to a Blackberry (possibly two) and two blackberry users to this site, they now read it on a regular basis. Im in love with this thing and i feel like I'm at the tip of the ice berg.

[John Clark]

It will always take a minute or two to boot up a BB after removing the battery. This is normal.

From the home screen push the Menu key (left of trackball) and select "Switch Application." This will show you what is running. There are 5 apps you can't get rid of: Messages, Phone (Call log), Browser, BBMessenger, and Home Screen. The rest (unless you have loaded other applications) can be closed. Usually pushing the escape button (right of trackball) will close apps. Some 3rd party apps require you to do Menu >Close or Exit.

Hope this helps.

[jhood25]

Thanks,

That makes me feel a little better, cause every time i pull that shortcut up i see the browser icon and i hope its not RUNNING per say.

I haven't downloaded any 3rd party apps yet so nothing else could be running.

[PavementPilot]

Coming from a PPC/Cell (UTStarcom 6700) to the Pearl, I find the battery life very impressive on the Pearl. The amount of text, messanger and calls, aswell as time wasting playing games all day, and then a quick charge in the evening gets me thru the night (unit on and sitting on night stand) and thru the next day.

[Huckleberry]

I pulled the battery to maybe solve the problem because from reading a lot of posts it helped for some people, but after i pulled it an hour glass came up and spun for a couple of mins... Is this normal???

I've experienced this, too. I think it took about 2-3 minutes, though it seemed longer. From what I've read here, it seems to be normal.

Just adding to the two cents tip jar on this thread: I'm also experiencing excellent battery life with the Pearl. This is the first phone I've had in years that does not require daily charging. I work in a tall building, where my phone is constantly in search of a signal; an infamous drain on the battery. However, despite that strain, and with many calls, emails, and browsing, my battery life was only down to 20% after nearly 72 hours.

[PavementPilot]

Huckleberry, a quick short charge daily, 20 minutes or so, will extend your battery life overall. Li-ion batteries do not like to be deep cycled. They live better on short charges.

[Scrap]

There are some power saving tips in this pdf file, just go to page 203 I believe it is...:

BlackBerry Search Results

[Blackbeard]

What do you like better about the pearl?

Sorry for the delay. The Pearl is a lot smaller, has a better camera with flash, better video camera, better internet surfing capabilities (I'm not an expert but the browser seems faster and I can pull up websites like espn that my Treo would "time out" on), and the best part is it has instant email. Now I know the newer Treo's have Direct Push email but my company only supports Blackberry for this feature so that wouldn't work for me. Also, the calendar and contacts are updated instantly and wirelessly on my desktop as soon as I type them into my BB. Very nice.

[Blackbeard]

The battery life on every Treo I've seen is terrible. I get 5 days from my 8800. I use it for data only, no phone calls.

My experience with Treo's was different. The battery lasted longer, BUT I use the BB a lot more. I would argue they would last about the same amount of time if they were used the same.

[jhood25]

Went to the verizon store today to replace the battery, luckily i know a guy there who hooks it up and he didn't hassle me about it. But heres my story.

I charge my phone the night before a snowboarding trip and its at 100 percent when i awake. My girlfriends who got the same phone 3 days ago has not charged it since the first full charge, so her phone was prob around 40 percent. We get to the mountain and both stick our phones in the same exact locker at the same exact time with no usage or apps running (neither of us have any 3rd party apps) and by the time we pull it out around probably 1:30 my phone is at 35% and so is hers????? Get out of the place by 4 maybe 5 o'clock and my phone is blinking low battery and hers is still at 35%???? Then still with no usage other by 7:30 my phone is dead.

So i got on my horse went to the store ready to bust some skulls, but was finally handled by my buddy. ( I've been kicked out of the verizon store before, but thats a long story). So i got a new battery and depending on how this works determines whether i keep this phone. Im a little upset as of now with the performance of the battery, i love this PHONE but that was ridiculous today.

Sorry needed to vent to the only people who care lol, my girlfriend sure don't.

[corymcnutt]

Sorry needed to vent to the only people who care lol, my girlfriend sure don't.

My advice...get a new girlfriend; any girl that doesn't have sympathy for another person's BB woes can't be a real "friend", lol!

[jhood25]

Haha she only cares when her clock is off by 6 hours or her phone isn't ringing the way she wants lol... She makes me look like a pro.

[jslim1]

I got my 8130 a couple of days ago, and I noticed that my battery was lasting no more than 6 hrs. I was about to go to the sprint store for help, when I read a post on this forum on how not properly closing programs leads to poor battery performance.

The problem was that I was opening programs and hitting the end key (red phone icon) instead of closing them properly. To properly close a program hit the menu key (key to the left of trackball) and select close from drop down menu. So I had a bunch of programs running in the background sucking up battery power.

Caveat: Messages, Call Log, Home Screen, and BB Messages will always be running in the background unless they are removed from your device.

Once I closed them and was careful to close programs no being used, my battery easily goes two days without charging. Thanks for all your posts. They do make a difference.

[Skywalker#CB]

I'm new to my BB Pearl, only about a week, but I've not been able to get the thing to hold a battery charge at all. For example - after reading through the posts, I made sure last night that I had no "extra" applications running in the background by closing them out properly. I reduced the brightness on my screen and shortened the backlight time. I plugged it in when I went to be last night and took it off charge about 7 am this morning. It has been in standby mode all morning, and by 9:30 am, it's down to 75%. Doesn't seem right to me that it should have lost 25% doing nothing in 2.5 hours. Any thoughts for a newbie?

-G

[corymcnutt]

A couple other things you might check for...Under Options-Advanced-GPS-GPS Services...do you have 911 Only or Location On? Having Location on constantly transmits a signal, thereby using more of the battery. Also, what about BT? Do you have BT on (Blue Light Flashing) and no headset? I notice if I have it turned on, but I am not using my headset, my battery goes down faster...I think the BB may be "searching" to pair up with a headset. If I have my headset paired to it, the battery lasts longer. I experimented when I wasn't using my headset and by going into Manage Connections and turning off BT, my battery lasted longer. Just a thought.

[Gadgetgeek]

I plugged it in when I went to be last night and took it off charge about 7 am this morning. It has been in standby mode all morning, and by 9:30 am, it's down to 75%. Doesn't seem right to me that it should have lost 25% doing nothing in 2.5 hours. Any thoughts for a newbie?

Are you are in a weak EVDO area??.. If so, the battery will drain quite fast, as the device is constantly struggling to aquire and hold the EVDO signal which draws on the battery. Keep tabs on your EV indicator, if its not solid and you see it disappearing & reappearing, that is the prime cause of your rapid battery drain.

[Skywalker#CB]

I always seem to have a strong signal, as I've tried to notice it. However, I performed a battery pull halfway through the day yesterday, and recharged it. I've had it off the charger for about 2.5 hours today, and it's holding a 100% charge now, so maybe that solved it. I'll monitor it and post how it goes....

Thanks everyone!

[james.boycott]

I agree the battery life sucks. I've found that doing a battery pull once in a while helps. Not sure why, but every few days, the battery will drain rapidly for no reason. The battery pull seems to stop it from draining so much. Im a bit disappointed. You have a phone with all these features (internet, TV, etc) but if I use any of them, my phone is dead in no time. I'm thinking of switching to one of the newer Palm Treo units. I've heard from people who have those that battery life is great. Also, the Windows system from what I have seen is much better than BB. I have a friend who has the iphone and the internet capability is unreal. BB doesn't even compare.

While I'm not that jaded, I had the same mysterious rapid draining issue last night on my 8130:

- battery 90+% charged when I go to bed
- battery 100% empty when I woke up seven hours later (turned off, won't wake)

I'm quite sure that I was not running any apps in the background. I live in Ottawa, which has a good EVDO signal. The battery is about 5 weeks old. [update: i received about 20 emails, about half of them with attachments, if that matters]

Has anyone else had this issue?

[Scrap]

Yes, I have that exact same problem now....in fact, I've noticed that every time I plug my BB in after work the next day...(cuz I only use in the evenings or on the weekends), that my phone is recovering from a reset cuz the battery went completely dead!?!?.....I only have 4 apps running, which is browser, call log, home icon, and messages.....data and gps is off, background light is even set for only 15 seconds with no dimming. I would like to know exactly how to check if u have 3rd party apps running??if thats the case, but other than that im gonna try setting my phone in standby mode and see if that will be any different????

[jhood25]

If you look back i was complaining about how bad my battery life is but it has to do with service. At home i would have 3 bars sometimes 2, and sometimes with and without EVDO so I'm guessing it was constantly searching. Now that I'm up at school and apparently have a verizon tower on my roof i get perfect service 24/7. I can now go close to 2 days without charging (i dont). Its pretty insane what a different it makes.

[ryanokrant]

Using any Blackberry smart case will considerably increase your battery life. One should have come with the phone.

[TEPBBMGR]

The battery will drain much more quickly when the phone is in an area with no EVDO (mobile broadband) coverage. In areas with EVDO the battery will last a few days. Check your service provider's website for a map of EVDO coverage in your area.

[BBGRORAM]

yo. battery life saving tips: turn backlight to only 10 seconds in keyboard/screen settings of option profile. use the Alt+back button to browse open programs and menu-close them. You have to manually close all programs or else they run in background. turn backlight down. make sure bluetooth is not running all the time. i had to get a new blackberry cuz i thought battery life sucked. with my new one i charged it overnight for about 12 hours the first charge and now it's holding good charges for about 2 days or so with light/medium use. 1 day plus a little for heavy use.