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Comments on: Looking for a silver lining for iPhone 3G's dismal battery life

One CNET editor struggles to get his iPhone 3G to last for a flight from California to Minnesota, then considers the bright side of his iPhone's pitiful battery life: Layovers and their associated airport outlets now have a certain appeal.

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by b_baggins August 7, 2008 6:31 AM PDT: Buy a battery extender, like this:

http://www.techgadgets.in/peripherals/2008/06/double-iphone-3g-battery-life-with-mophie-juice-pack-3g/; Like this Reply to this comment


by mattpoll August 7, 2008 6:56 AM PDT: Jason, what's the silver lining here? You're telling me you can go all kinds of cool things, well that's what a smartphone is supposed to do! While I'm no fan of multiple devices, this is one of the big reasons I will not consider an all in one device for PDA/Phone/MP3. What's the point if you can't do your work or leisure activity 80% of the way through a coast to coast trip? I mean for a 5 hour flight that's only 3:45 - 4 hours of use. If your device can't hack that, it's a dark cloud, not a silver lining.; Like this Reply to this comment


by itymon August 7, 2008 9:09 AM PDT: ...then get a Blackberry Curve 8330. You had to know that the iPhone 3g's battery life would be a disappointment before you bought it.

I have a flight from NJ to NM tomorrow, with a layover, and I'll enjoy the fact that once I land, I will be able to send that picture I took in the air, to all my friends phones. A little something called MMS....; Like this Reply to this comment


by n25philly August 7, 2008 9:26 AM PDT: silver lining? How about a good excuse to get a real phone instead of an iphone?; Like this Reply to this comment

by pgoss August 7, 2008 9:29 AM PDT

upgrade the software and your battery life will be much improved...not to the extent that it will outlast a BB, but unless you do a lot of email on your berry, the iphone is far superior... no contest... I had been a bb user for a very long time and was looking forward to the day there was no need to carry an iPod and a berry.. the BB internet experience is primitive (that's kind) and the ipod and sms messaging is super in the iphone.. email is great if you aren't doing 100's a day.....I've figured out how to send pictures as well.... think Google.

Like this Reply to this comment


by pgoss August 7, 2008 9:52 AM PDT: scratch the picture sending... must have been dreaming again....; Like this


by texan1977 August 7, 2008 10:23 AM PDT: What silver lining? If anything this article would steer a person away from the iphone, if a device can't last the duration of a flight then that is just pathetic. First off Jason says that the battery life if ALMOST not worth having the iphone then goes on to say the battery life is unacceptable for a mobile device. Well then what's the point of the article?; Like this Reply to this comment


by Agras August 7, 2008 10:51 AM PDT: There's definitely something wrong with your iPhone. I go days without charging mine...; Like this Reply to this comment


by sting7k August 7, 2008 10:56 AM PDT: I don't now what everyone's problem is with their iPhone's, but the battery life on mine is at least as good if not better than my old one. So far today I have played maybe 2 hours of games while sitting in my lab waiting for incubations, sent a bunch of texts, gotten emails, and used various 3rd party apps to get some news and scores, had 2 phone sabre duels, checked out several rss feeds which then needed safari to see the full story/article. This was all done on wifi and a little bit of edge, my usage time stands at ~5.5 hours right now and my battery is 2/3 full.; Like this Reply to this comment


by indianabeck August 7, 2008 11:32 AM PDT: I got this thing http://richardsolo.com/index.asp?PageAction=VIEWPROD&ProdID=264

I needed a travel charger anyway and this is a battery and charging cable.; Like this Reply to this comment


by steve5200 August 7, 2008 11:40 AM PDT: When I saw the title of the article I really thought that there would be some sort of tip to extend the battery life. Seriously, what is the silver lining?; Like this Reply to this comment


by annaspec August 7, 2008 12:36 PM PDT: The battery on my iPhone 3G won't last "days," unfortunately, but in the last month-ish it's averaged 1 full day with heavy use (lots of texting, checking my e-mail, playing games, safari) on 3G and Wi-Fi as well as Edge, and 2 days if I'm not doing much with it besides the occasional e-mail check and phone call. What I've found is that if you only charge the battery part-way (as you did at the airport), the charge will not last nearly as long as it does if you let it charge fully. So, while there may still be something wrong with your battery, I'd try that strategy before proclaiming it dismal and giving up.; Like this Reply to this comment


by MastaShake1138 August 7, 2008 12:42 PM PDT: There is no silver lining. It was just a hook to make you believe that for maybe more than once, a "journalist" at CNET would write something positive about Apple.

Now, I'm no Apple fanboy, I don't even own an iPhone. I just think it's ridiculous how incredibly biased they are about everything and anything Apple. They're trying to hard to mold this negative image, and it seems hold them to a much higher standard than anyone else. I don't think anyone has ever complained this much about a single manufacturers' product ever, which is also surprising since I think Apple has some of the highest customer service ratings.

Actually, CNET, if you fact-checked and read your own article, earlier, out of all the 3G smart phones currently available, the iPhone 3G has the SECOND BEST battery life, with a Nokia smartphone sliding in first.

But of course, they won't mention that. Or the fact that alot of the other 3G GSM smartphones have battery life just as low. Keep piling it on, guys.; Like this Reply to this comment


by saltage August 7, 2008 12:48 PM PDT: From http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/silver+lining

Main Entry: silver lining
Function: noun
Etymology: from the phrase ?every cloud has a silver lining?
Date: 1871

: a consoling or hopeful prospect; Like this Reply to this comment


by bigmc6000 August 7, 2008 1:31 PM PDT: Well it is a silver lining! They aren't talking about pRon again! Woo - at least they are writing about stuff that's interesting - good or bad. What I will say is that you must not have charged your battery fully before leaving the house or else you were doing some amazing surfing and push e-mail non-stop for hours. As annaspec said - you should charge the thing the whole way and then try it. I have a SERIOUSLY hard time believing that your casual use of the phone caused your battery to die in 3 hours. I only have an EDGE one (which has now gained "cool retro" status since it seems like everybody and their mother has a 3G one) but I've NEVER run the battery out on mine and we're talking about the same airplane mode and I was playing more intense games than solitaire (Super Monkey Ball, MotoRacer, Enigmo, and Hold 'Em).

So yeah, just plug it in when you go to bed...; Like this Reply to this comment


by gregorysreid August 7, 2008 2:33 PM PDT: Unfortunately, the beautiful large iPhone screen is a battery hog. (Screen size is a major factor in notebook battery life, as well). I have the BB 8330 (3G) from Verizon and the battery lasts for at least two days of hardcore use, but the screen size is 1/2 of your phone. I guess you need to choose what is important: Battery life or screen size/resolution. For me, extended functionality on a single charge outweighed look/feel. An airport is a terrible place to be without a charged cell phone. (Especially one where you can't swap a fresh battery for a dead one)

Also, it seems like ATT's version of 3G requires more power than Verizon's version, for some strange reason. Perhaps not, I don't know.

I didn't see an extensive 'Silver-Lining' in your article.; Like this Reply to this comment


by keithianw August 7, 2008 5:15 PM PDT: Have you tried watching the video of that guy who also works at Cnet with the tips on how to save the battery life (all of which I knew already using common sense). If you manage the functions properly by turning off those things you arent using and changing a few settings (like brightness and push email), you can easily have the battery go the entire day. Ever since making these adjustments, I usually at least half full by the end of the day, so I think this article is ridiculous.; Like this Reply to this comment


by StevieD377 August 7, 2008 7:31 PM PDT: its funny how the only people that i've ever heard bash the iPhone are those who don't own one. Sure we don't have MMS....but the rich e-mail application helps. Keep your Blackberry and continue to search for those little things your phone can do the iPhone can't...and I'll keep on surfing the web, watching youtube, playing video games, watching movies....on my iPhone.; Like this Reply to this comment


by ayoung45 August 7, 2008 9:23 PM PDT: With 3G turned on whenvever I use data, and edge when on standby, I get about two days out of my iphone 3G through normal usage.; Like this Reply to this comment


by make_or_break August 7, 2008 10:31 PM PDT: Your silver lining = grasping at straws.; Like this Reply to this comment

by cmpbllman9 August 7, 2008 11:31 PM PDT

Its how your charging it. If your battery is at half let it drain all the way. If you keep re charging the battery before it completly goes you start to shorten the life. The more you do that, the less battery life it is going to have. Its all in the chemistry.

Like this Reply to this comment


by wireframed September 15, 2008 2:49 AM PDT: Nonsense. Read up on this new-fangled battery tech called "Lithium Ion". It came out a few years ago, and basically it's main advantage is there is no longer any memory effect. (Or at least nothing a full cycle once every couple dozen charges won't fix).

In fact, while Lithium Ion still has a limited number of charge-cycles before capacity starts to diminish, a partial drain only counts as that, a partial cycle. So if you drain your battery to 2/3rds capacity, it counts as 1/3rd of a charge-cycle.

To put it succincly, Li-Ion LIKES shallow charges.; Like this