1. dan01's Avatar
    ive recently bought a curve 8330 and did the whole full charge and drain to 0% once but now im hearing thats a bad idea so can i get some advice on that?

    also is there any way to change the radio so that it stops working at 0% instead of when it turns "low battery"?
    10-02-08 08:51 PM
  2. bx2md's Avatar
    well i charge my batt when it dies out ..obviously
    lollol but i just believe that anyway you charge you batt does not affect the bb
    10-02-08 09:41 PM
  3. whatscrackin_tom's Avatar
    I try to keep mine charged whenever possible.

    Since, when it dies completely, it takes forever for the BB to turn on fully, going through the security checks and all.
    10-02-08 10:29 PM
  4. bx2md's Avatar
    I try to keep mine charged whenever possible.

    Since, when it dies completely, it takes forever for the BB to turn on fully, going through the security checks and all.
    lol lol yea it does but have you started a pc with vista ...oh my
    10-02-08 10:32 PM
  5. dan01's Avatar
    so even if i charge everyday the battery life isnt affected?

    for example if i charge it when its around half full the battery memory doesnt limit itself to that much?
    10-03-08 12:41 AM
  6. fatboy97's Avatar
    Battery manufactures are getting better, and none of them are perfect... I don't think it will hurt to charge it when it's half full or totally drained.... I hate it when I leave the house and can't charge it again until I get home (I should buy another one for work)... so I usually charge it at night when it's around half just in case I have to use it a lot the next day.
    10-03-08 09:18 AM
  7. Duvi's Avatar
    It's actually a good idea when you first get a device to drain it down to 0% and recharge until 100% for the first few charges. This is another way to calibrate the battery so when you feel your battery power is dying quicker than normal, you go back to 0% to 100% charging. I don't think it hurts it if you charge it when the battery has not exhausted.
    10-03-08 09:28 AM
  8. jenaywins's Avatar
    I have actually heard that it is being figured out that draining the battery to 0% and then charging is a bad idea, even when you first purchase your device. It is always a good rule of thumb to top off your battery whenever you have the chance to.

    As far as your second question, there is no way to change the fact that your radio shuts off at 15% battery life. The phone does this in order to save what precious battery life there is left, allowing you to still text and email.
    10-03-08 09:36 AM
  9. Duvi's Avatar
    Also, turning the brightness down is another good way to improve battery life.
    10-03-08 09:41 AM
  10. digital_cataclysm's Avatar
    From something I found while doing research on BlackBerry devices (before I bought my first BB last week).
    As written by Mark Rejhon:

    Max The Battery Life Of Your New BlackBerry


    * Modern BlackBerrys come with Lithium-Ion batteries, or "Li-Ion' for short.
    * Some older models used Nickel Metal Hydride batteries, or "NiMH" for short.

    Li-Ion battery are best kept topped up regularly. A battery that has been left flat for a long time will benefit from being fully-charged and then fully discharged a couple of times, but there is no advantage to doing this to batteries in regular use.


    If you are a new BlackBerry owner, or an old owner experiencing low battery issues, read through these tips:

    1. You DO NOT need to break in the Li-Ion BlackBerry battery. On BB Models 71xx, 81xx, 83xx, 88xx you will be using a Lithium-Ion battery. These do not require "conditioning" as you might have experienced with other cell phones and batteries.
    Note: Don't get in the habit of fully discharging the battery every time -- to prevent wearing it out -- lithium batteries can be damaged with excessive deep discharges like a car battery can be.... When breaking in the battery, make sure you keep it plugged in long after the battery says it is fully charged (i.e. overnight), you really want to trickle-charge your BlackBerry to top-off your battery.
    2. Lithium batteries LOVE to be topped-off. In regular use, plug it in whenever you have the opportunity. This will also help keep the battery life maxed out for those days you really need long battery life.
    3. If you are constantly starved for battery power, avoid continuously realtime software such as BBToday software; it uses a lot of battery power.
    4. Is your BB constantly searching for a signal, such as in an office building or other low-signal area? Searching for a signal will drain a battery quite quickly. If you must conserve the battery, turn the wireless or radio off.
    5. What is running in the background of your BB? There are commonly 4-5 applications that will ALWAYS be running (Messages, Phone, BBMessenger, Homescreen, and the Browser; there are others such as BeamBerry and MyAlarm which will also run). Make certain that the browser is NOT on an active webpage (say with animated radar or another live webpage such as a news website constantly updating to the current news, but rather only to the bookmarks page). Close any other applications that do not need to be running (like the camera or a game).
    * Press Alt + Escape (the key to the right of the trackball on trackball models) to bring up the Application Switcher. Scroll through that list to see what is running in the background.
    6. Keep your Bluetooth turned off when not in use.
    7. If you use JiveTalk, Verichat or other instant messaging software, leave it running in the background or quit it when not in use. Also, stay logged off the networks you do not use much.
    <em>
    * In JiveTalk > Preferences, there is a setting "Battery Save Mode When Idle". Make certain that is checked.
    * Keep Verichat running in the background when it is not in use. This puts the software in a low-power state by reducing the frequency of contact-list refreshes (signoffs/signons/away mode/etc) Using fewer instant messaging networks also saves battery power. For example, if mainly use MSN and AIM, log off the ICQ and Yahoo networks.
    8. When using your BlackBerry, make sure you keep the backlight turned low or off whenever possible (rather than bright mode). A backlight setting of 60%-80% is wise.
    9. Many BlackBerrys have an extended battery available, such as at www.seidioonline.com. There may be an extended battery product for your specific BlackBerry product.
    10. There's the novelty factor of using a BlackBerry for the first time; we tend to play with them much more heavily at first. So your usage may normallize after you get used to it. You might expect the first two to three days for the battery to discharge quicker.
    11. If you haven't bought a BlackBerry yet, you should be aware that the GSM/GPRS BlackBerries have the longest battery life. Battery life is longer on GPRS BlackBerries than the CDMA and iDEN BlackBerries.
    12. Phone calls made on your BlackBerry is the biggest consumer of battery life. If you make lots of phone calls for hours, then your battery life can be extremely short. Making phone calls in areas of weak reception will also use up more battery power.
    13. Consider a car power kit, or an office charger/cable. That way, you have more opportunities to top-off your BlackBerry battery.
    As noted earlier, it's always a good idea to top-off the battery in a BlackBerry anyway, even if it's not almost dead. It is not necessary to follow the age-old advice of using up the battery before charging, and can wear out modern lithium-ion batteries if done on a constant basis.
    14. Your battery may be defective or worn out. Compare your battery life to other people using the same model of BlackBerry.
    If you have been using your BlackBerry for a long time, it may be time to replace your battery. If you purchased your BlackBerry as used, you may want to replace the battery with a new one. For best battery life, it is generally best to use genuine brand-name batteries rather than inexpensive aftermarket batteries.
    15. Occasionally, it may be a BlackBerryOS issue if you are having unusually short battery life all the time. Early versions of BlackBerryOS on the 7100 tended to use a lot more battery life than newer versions of BlackBerryOS. Upgrade to a newer version of BlackBerryOS.

    Source: blackberryfaq
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    10-03-08 01:14 PM
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