Display eating up battery - please advise

[hdavuluri]

Hi,

I have been trying to extend the battery for my HTC Inspire 4G by following the tips on this forum. But I don't know what to do about the display (4.3" LCD screen), other than decreasing the brightness (set at 10%).
The battery usually dies in 5-6 hours of moderate usage and every time the culprit is Display (consumes 80-90 % of the battery).

Any thoughts / advise on this issue?
Are there any battery-friendly wallpapers or themes I can use ? Will rooting the phone make a huge difference?

 

[Shamanic Enzan]

Keep that brightness down, turn off auto brightness, and lock your phone, don't let it time out, unless you have some insanely low timeout increment. Don't use live wallpapers.

I went from 6 hours to 11 keeping my brightness to what I needed to see.

EDIT: If you really really really need to be out of reach of a power source for a while I reccommend considering an extended battery, might add 2-4 hours of life per charge, as well as just extra batteries to carry around, along with another charger such as: http://www.duracell.com/en-US/product/instant-usb-charger.jspx for moderate use or: http://www.duracell.com/en-US/product/powerhouse-usb-charger.jspx for sweet holy hell use.

 

[pazzo02]

I got one of these from Amazon. It will give you 2 full recharges from dead. Definitely worth it if you have no other charging options.

Amazon.com: New Trent iDual-Port Pack IMP50D 5000mAh External Battery Pack and Charger for iPad2, iPad, iPhone 4G, 3Gs 3G (AT&T and Verizon), iPod Touch (1G 2G 3G 4G), Motorola Droid Phones, HTC Android Phones, Blackberry, Kindle DX, Samsung Galaxy S

 

[chestvrg]

I just ordered and extended battery from Seidio rated at 1300mAh, not much difference than the 1230mAh the phone ships with, but is a 70mAh increase in battery power.

 

[Shamanic Enzan]

I got one of these from Amazon. It will give you 2 full recharges from dead. Definitely worth it if you have no other charging options.

Amazon.com: New Trent iDual-Port Pack IMP50D 5000mAh External Battery Pack and Charger for iPad2, iPad, iPhone 4G, 3Gs 3G (AT&T and Verizon), iPod Touch (1G 2G 3G 4G), Motorola Droid Phones, HTC Android Phones, Blackberry, Kindle DX, Samsung Galaxy S

How does it work? Do you charge it as well then take it with you? How big is it? I might get one of those for when I'm running Anime Conventions or on the road.

 

[Shamanic Enzan]

I just ordered and extended battery from Seidio rated at 1300mAh, not much difference than the 1230mAh the phone ships with, but is a 70mAh increase in battery power.

Let's do some quick math, assuming that the mAh directly affects battery life (Which it should but this should be taken with a grain of salt)

The original poster was getting 5-6 hours of charge out of their 1230 mAh battery, lets assume 5.5 hours is a good number.

5.5 * 60 = 330 minutes

330 minutes/1230 mAh = 0.2682926829268293 minutes per mAh.

Multiply that by 70 (the difference in mAh with the extended battery) and you get: 18.78048780487805 extra minutes of power.

Obviously my theory is wrong or the battery doesn't add that much juice. (My previous 2-3 hours was from anecdotal evidence).

 

[rocketry876]

Keep that brightness down, turn off auto brightness, and lock your phone, don't let it time out, unless you have some insanely low timeout increment. Don't use live wallpapers.

I went from 6 hours to 11 keeping my brightness to what I needed to see.

EDIT: If you really really really need to be out of reach of a power source for a while I reccommend considering an extended battery, might add 2-4 hours of life per charge, as well as just extra batteries to carry around, along with another charger such as: Duracell Instant Charger | Portable USB Charger for Cell Phones, iPhones, iPods, and More for moderate use or: Duracell Powerhouse Charger | Portable Charger for Mobile Phones, iPods® and Other USB-Powered Devices for sweet holy hell use.

Why do you want to turn off auto-brightness and not let it time-out? Wouldnt doing that increase battery life? (I'm not challenging what you said in any way, just curious)

Also, while were talking about batteries, is it bad for the battery to charge it when it isn't dead or near dying? I heard that you only want to charge it when the powers almost completely drained. And is it bad to unplug it and use it before its fully charged?

 

[Shamanic Enzan]

Why do you want to turn off auto-brightness and not let it time-out? Wouldnt doing that increase battery life? (I'm not challenging what you said in any way, just curious)

Also, while were talking about batteries, is it bad for the battery to charge it when it isn't dead or near dying? I heard that you only want to charge it when the powers almost completely drained. And is it bad to unplug it and use it before its fully charged?

Turning off auto brightness will stop it from trying to adjust and waste more battery power, and in stead of timing out just lock the phone.

 

[pazzo02]

How does it work? Do you charge it as well then take it with you? How big is it? I might get one of those for when I'm running Anime Conventions or on the road.

I don't take it with me every day, so on a day I'm not taking it, I plug it into the charger when I leave the house. It doesn't come with it's own charger, but charges with the Inspire charger (or any charger from the devices it supports). It does come with a USB cable and adapters for mini and micro. It's a little bit smaller than the Inspire, so it fits in a pocket nicely. I've even actually had it in my pocket and plugged into my phone on my belt holster. It's a definite must if you know you're going to need your phone for an extended time without access to a power outlet.

 

[pazzo02]

Also, while were talking about batteries, is it bad for the battery to charge it when it isn't dead or near dying? I heard that you only want to charge it when the powers almost completely drained. And is it bad to unplug it and use it before its fully charged?

That practice is left over from the old NiCad and NiMh batteries. Lith Ion batteries don't suffer from memory effects. You can charge it whenever and for how long you need to.

 

[Shamanic Enzan]

I don't take it with me every day, so on a day I'm not taking it, I plug it into the charger when I leave the house. It doesn't come with it's own charger, but charges with the Inspire charger (or any charger from the devices it supports). It does come with a USB cable and adapters for mini and micro. It's a little bit smaller than the Inspire, so it fits in a pocket nicely. I've even actually had it in my pocket and plugged into my phone on my belt holster. It's a definite must if you know you're going to need your phone for an extended time without access to a power outlet.

I just plug USB cables into my xbox

 

[rocketry876]

That practice is left over from the old NiCad and NiMh batteries. Lith Ion batteries don't suffer from memory effects. You can charge it whenever and for how long you need to.

Thank you...that cleared up a lot. also, just reading around, I heard that if a li ion batttery completely discharges that its ruined. Does that mean that if my battery goes down to 0% because I'm not able to charge it till I get home that my battery is ruined?

 

[anon(4144202)]

If you're using your phone moderately and only getting that much usage something else is wrong. Double check all your apps you downloaded and the ones that came stock. Check to see if they're not connecting to the internet constantly. I leave my display at right under 50% and no auto dim and mine lasts all day. I unplug mine at about 6:30 in the morning and I still have about 50 or more by 8:00

 

[nutt_case]

If you're using your phone moderately and only getting that much usage something else is wrong. Double check all your apps you downloaded and the ones that came stock. Check to see if they're not connecting to the internet constantly. I leave my display at right under 50% and no auto dim and mine lasts all day. I unplug mine at about 6:30 in the morning and I still have about 50 or more by 8:00

I agree. Mine is on auto dim with moderate use and lasts at least 8 hours.

 

[hdavuluri]

Thank you all for your advice.

Keep that brightness down, turn off auto brightness, and lock your phone, don't let it time out, unless you have some insanely low timeout increment. Don't use live wallpapers.

I went from 6 hours to 11 keeping my brightness to what I needed to see.

EDIT: If you really really really need to be out of reach of a power source for a while I reccommend considering an extended battery, might add 2-4 hours of life per charge, as well as just extra batteries to carry around, along with another charger such as: Duracell Instant Charger | Portable USB Charger for Cell Phones, iPhones, iPods, and More for moderate use or: Duracell Powerhouse Charger | Portable Charger for Mobile Phones, iPods® and Other USB-Powered Devices for sweet holy hell use.

I got one of these from Amazon. It will give you 2 full recharges from dead. Definitely worth it if you have no other charging options.

Amazon.com: New Trent iDual-Port Pack IMP50D 5000mAh External Battery Pack and Charger for iPad2, iPad, iPhone 4G, 3Gs 3G (AT&T and Verizon), iPod Touch (1G 2G 3G 4G), Motorola Droid Phones, HTC Android Phones, Blackberry, Kindle DX, Samsung Galaxy S

I guess an external charger is the only feasible solution to the battery issue, since I've tried all other software recommendations. So now the problem becomes which portable charger to get? Both the duracell and trent chargers have good reviews, but trent seems to offer more mAh for the same price (2000mAh vs 5000mAh).
For a cheap option, the Motorola P790 ($10 ; 1700mAh) seems to be a good bet. Any thoughts on it?

Motorola P790
Amazon.com: Motorola P790 Portable Charger: Cell Phones & Accessories

Other suggestions would be most welcome.

 

[clintrojan]

Have you tried using Juice Defender?

 

[mikegentile]

Has anybody tried the cheap Desire HD batteries sold on ebay for $5? They are listed as 1800mAH batteries that fit both the Desire HD and Inspire 4G. That would be a 50% increase over stock battery for the Inspire. Just curious.

 

[chestvrg]

Has anybody tried the cheap Desire HD batteries sold on ebay for $5? They are listed as 1800mAH batteries that fit both the Desire HD and Inspire 4G. That would be a 50% increase over stock battery for the Inspire. Just curious.

Where is the link to these batteries?

 

[mikegentile]

I do not see the ones I saw the other day. But there are these now on ebay.

1600mAh Standard Replacement battery for HTC Desire HD | eBay

1800mAh Andida battery for HTC Desire HD | eBay

 

[pazzo02]

I do not see the ones I saw the other day. But there are these now on ebay.

1600mAh Standard Replacement battery for HTC Desire HD | eBay

1800mAh Andida battery for HTC Desire HD | eBay

I tried one of those. They're nothing they claim to be. From what I've exprienced they're about the same as the stock battery. I did order this one:
Amazon.com: ProdiCell Premium 1600mAH Slim Extended Battery for HTC Inspire 4G, Surround, and Desire HD: Electronics
but when it arrived it was the wrong battery in the package. Still waiting for the replacement.