Battery life using phone to surf?

[brendonwp]

I've been using my phone as a replacement modem at home. GPRS connection seems to really draw the juice out of the battery. Even though the Motorola V3 charges through the same cord that data transfers through, I still need to charge the phone for a couple of hours after connecting to the Net for a while.

My phone is nearly two years old, so maybe the battery is just on its way out in any case, but I don't like the idea of buying a phone to use as a modem because of this. It seems like a recipe for killing the battery quickly.

What is the general experience out there - no problem, or is it an issue?

Thanks!

[ajax]

Same here. I have 2 6680's. I bought a sopkombuis battery (R30) for the data phone which I keep on the charger permanently.

Maybe charge the phone when you are surfing. I think if you are using more than 100 MB per month, a data card is probably a better option.

[AirWolf]

Hi i'm using a V1050 as a modem since the time i got it a year ago. It doesn't charge when connected to the pc. The battery life has shortened noticably though :(

[diabolus]

3G/GPRS/WIFI etc use quite alot of power. On my old Jasjar if i'm surfing on 3G it draws the power out of it in 3-5 hours.

Basically you should count those activities under "talk time" . All phones usually have a "talk time" and "standby time" rating for batteries. So now working on that, how long can you talk nonstop before battery goes flat...

[ld13]

Got a SamsungX600 few months ago... it gives me 6-7 hours of active GPRS usage till the battery dies. The phone cannot charge while connected to the PC.

[Sony_3G]

I am using a sony v600 and this is the stats::

Connecting to laptop via bluetooth on gprs only i get 3-4 hours
Connecting via usb i get 6-8 hours. sepends on netwprk strength etc

[Napalm]

Motorola v3x's Data cable is very nice. Cause that single cable (USB) acts as Datacable and Charger at the same time. So basically u plug it in and can surf for as long as you like. (V3x only supports GPRS and 3g)

[brendonwp]

Thanks guys - seems like it does work the battery over.

@ajax
I'm close to 100MB now, so I need another option.

I'm in Centurion, and the metro is making WiFi available - can't see it at the moment but at R180pm for 1GB I'll hold on in hope a bit longer..

http://billing.neology.co.za/?_page=product_cat:t_Multi%20Column

[Edwe]

I use my i-mate JAM as a modem on a daily basis (class 10 GPRS only). It charges through the USB data cable and battery level actually increases slowly while I surf the net. I haven't connected my phone specifically to charge it for about 4 months now.

The battery life hasn't dramatically decreased since I bought the phone more than a year ago, but, to tell the truth, it wasn't brilliant to begin with and rarely lasted more than a couple of days.

[Boodles]

I've got my old samsung d410 which i've never had a problem with battery usage/life. I've been using it for the last 2 years and I can stay on the net for hours and hours and its still fine.

I use PC internet alot (via phone), everyday. The phone charges whilst on the net and has never run flat whilst surfing.

Thumbsup for my phones' battery.

[victorlebza]

The best way is to surf while charging the phone if you're at home, especially if you're using bluetooth. No questions about it.

[Boodles]

I use data cable.

[AirWolf]

The best way is to surf while charging the phone if you're at home, especially if you're using bluetooth. No questions about it.

My data cable plugs in over the charger port on the phone so I can't charge my phone while surfing:(

[Boodles]

my data cable has a connection half way on the cable itself - and this is where it gets charged from.

[victorlebza]

My data cable plugs in over the charger port on the phone so I can't charge my phone while surfing:(


Maybe you should start connecting via Bluetooth or a Data Card.

[piranha786]

Datacard eats the laptop battery, so I guess there aint any way to stay wireless for more than 3 hours

[Sony_3G]

well my laptop battery only lasts me 2 hours so i dont have the prob of phone batt running out first