Database Develop

Battery Life any good

Hi,
I'm thinking of changing from the M3100 to the Kaiser.
Is the battery life any better as my phone with push email goes flat so quick.
Cheers.

What do you consider "quick"?
My TyTN II is running 24/7 with a constant 3G-connection, 5 minute interval for POP3-mail and Exchange-pushmail. I also call about 45 minutes/day and send out a few SMS.
Based on my experiences so far, my battery should last about 2 days before going to backup-battery. And I think that's decent enough for the usage I demand from this device (it also helps to have 4 chargers laying around in various places).

Getting ~ 18 hours with ActiveSync email push "As items arrive", 3G / HSDPA, around ~ 3 - 5MB data download per day, ~ 30 mins calls, light GPS usage. Not pretty but given the large featureset and speed of the device (e.g. data download) one has to make compromises. A larger battery design would have been nice but a charger at home and in the office and a spare battery when at neither one do the trick as well.

davidlucas said:
I'm thinking of changing from the M3100 to the Kaiser.
Is the battery life any better as my phone with push email goes flat so quick.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
In my case - rather light usage - it's roughly the same as with my previous Hermes, which means ~2 days when Auto (2/3G) mode, and ~3 days when on 2G-only mode.

Not so good on mine
I am very unhappy with mine, particularly compared with my Trinity (same usage pattern, but I get probably twice less battery).
- Listening to music on the speaker for 15-20 mins drops the battery from 100% to less than 90% (after a full night charge).
- Using GPS for 60 mins drops the battery by a 20-30%. These are not scientific measurements, but I am almost reluctant to use the device because of this.
It would seem, compared to other people’s comments, that my battery or device has a problem, so it might not be a good indicator.
Compared to Trinity (wm6), screen, performance, Bluetooth (no problems with SE DS 970) is a big improvement. Weight (190g) and size is not. Trinity felt very robust, particularly due to absence of keyboard.
Compared to Hermes, everything is much better.

Is the trinity 3G? If not, it's not a fair comparison.

Thanks for those answers.
Well I'm getting about 12 hours from my 3100 so it seems the Kasier is pretty good.

Battery 95% when started - GPS for 2+ hours + a few phone calls - battery 44%. Which I actually consider ok - GPS uses a lot of juice at the best of times. For long trips I will just use my external GPS receiver.

Most of the time you use GPS when you are in a car. Get a charger for in the car.
I have one at home, work and in the car. Works just great! Its a price to pay to be continuously online on a mobile phone, a price I am willing to pay. Just need to get used to charging even if battery isnt low.
I probably will buy a 2nd accu pack later.
If there's a Kaiser cradle that will be sooooo cool.

Battery is highly sufficient for myself.

Battery not too great for my usage patterns. 3G push all day and night, beam autoreceive off, bluetooth WIFI off. Lasts about 24 hours.
Just out of curiosity, what brightness/auto-dim/auto-off settings do you guys use?

i take my phone off the charger at 7am have push mail running and have band set to gsm. im down to 60% by 4pm with light use(30 min talk+15 min internet)
heavy use(1 hr talk + 30 minutes internet im down to 40%. subtract an extra 35-40% if i listen to internet music through BT for an hour while at the gym. when i use gps in the car i have the charger hooked up so no drain. i only use 3g when listening to internet radio watchin slingbox or surfing large pages. I dont think i could use this as a work phone without constantly chargin. at work im on the phone at least 3hrs a day.

Yep, Trinity is similar to TyTn I except no keyboard, but with GPS.
jamijam said:
Is the trinity 3G? If not, it's not a fair comparison.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse

For long calls, I rather use a normal phone than a cell phone. Because at work I am using a laptop, I got used to charge it when I am using my laptop.
What helps is change the brightness settings.

Hi. I am trying to adapt free and commercial version of bandswitch and commmgrpro to work with kaiser to be able to switch between 2G and 3G with one click and a few seconds so save batterty. Because a unknown reason the system that works in Universal, Athena and Tynt doesnt work correctly with Kaiser and Soft Reset is required. I will keep you reported.
Dani

danielherrero said:
Hi. I am trying to adapt free and commercial version of bandswitch and commmgrpro to work with kaiser to be able to switch between 2G and 3G with one click and a few seconds so save batterty. Because a unknown reason the system that works in Universal, Athena and Tynt doesnt work correctly with Kaiser and Soft Reset is required. I will keep you reported.
Dani
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
it's very fast if you use phone configuration... you set to GSM or AUTO, and in a few seconds you have 3G o GPRS connection..

laapsaap said:
For long calls, I rather use a normal phone than a cell phone. Because at work I am using a laptop, I got used to charge it when I am using my laptop.
What helps is change the brightness settings.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The power it requires to lit the Screen, the less light the less power needed. Thus making the battery last (a bit) longer

pepeto2001 said:
it's very fast if you use phone configuration... you set to GSM or AUTO, and in a few seconds you have 3G o GPRS connection..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi pepeto.
Yep, you are right, but you ve to go to phone/menu/options/band.....And this system doesnt allow to go to 3g, for example, for 10 minutes and then automatically switch back to 2G if you forgot to do it...
Its easier to do one click in today plugin....At least in my case because I ve to switch many times per day.....
Dani

Touch Diamond Battery Problem

Hi, I just got my diamond 3 days ago and it seems to be having some battery problems, even when on standby it drains very fast, how long should the diamond last on a single charge (on standby, talk time, with wifi, or bluetooth) is there a benchmark to compare with.

the battery is just 900mha, like Nokia N95, so it is a bit underpowered, I suggest you to activate all energy saving tips through the program "Advance Config" and if you don't use/need UMTS & GPRS just fix your phone to don't discover automatically GPRS (always through Advance Config) and to GSM band (setting > phone > band), these reduce battery consumption.
bye,
davide

thanks, I'll try that, but even when not in use, the battery drains 20% to 30% per hr. tried it 3 time, same result, doesn't even reach 4 hrs of standby time

really strange... in any case your battery should go better after some cycles, wait at least 2/3 weeks before care

It's because the battery (like so many other aspects of this phone) sucks.
I got the new extended battery but that's useless too. It comes with a new cover for the phone but the battery itself is just twice as fat, so you end up with a 'sleek' phone that has a hunchback sticking out of it very awkwardly.

yep, I don't like the new battery, it makes a different phone

I have followed most of the battery saving advice that the usual programs can set up for you. I would say my phone, if its *just* standby can go 24 hours with just losing one "pin" on the battery meter. That means no calls, no peeking at the screen, no sms or otherwise communication. Since its hard to do this I have just tried 24 hours. If left on true standby I would say the battery would last for days.

I have a car charger and plug the Diamond into it while driving and in the office it sits in a cradle, at least I do not have to look for it under a pile of documents when it rings. Plus it serves as a fancy clock too!
The battery bar goes rarely below 70% while not plugged in.
3G and WiFi are extremly power hungry so do not expect hours of entertainment while they are on.
Fat battery is a bad road to take, I remember old Axim X51v (also HTC) with a 2.2Ah battery, it was like a brick. It is better to have a couple of small batteries rather than one big one obviously unless you want to play games on a transatlantic flight or go hiking for a long weekend.
One thing to remember is that your runtime grows faster than the battery capacity which is caused by the fact that at a slower rate of discharge the battery has a higher capacity, so if the 1350mAh battery is not too big it may be a worthwhile choice, I would expect the runtime to go up by between 75-100%. I just wonder how much longer will it take to charge and also you can say goodbye to most of the protective cases.
CD

Buy a solar panel for mini usb and glue on the back of the diamond, then you will have infite standby time when left in the sun

leemrvnt said:
Hi, I just got my diamond 3 days ago and it seems to be having some battery problems, even when on standby it drains very fast, how long should the diamond last on a single charge (on standby, talk time, with wifi, or bluetooth) is there a benchmark to compare with.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What rom do you have? maybe it needs updating?

I am using the Customised Comms manager and that's made a massive difference, basically 3G, Bluetooth and WiFi are off unless I need to use them.
I charged last night for the first time in 3 days, making calls and playing around in between

Utking said:
Buy a solar panel for mini usb and glue on the back of the diamond, then you will have infite standby time when left in the sun
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
that idea is awesome !!!

zetlaw said:
that idea is awesome !!!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
want one!!!

i get about 1.5 days outta my battery....
only running on 2g with light sensing on 20 or more sms a day with maybe an hour of phone calls all up.

i'll copy-paste my answer from an another thread:
using yr phone in a place where the reception is not good will drain yr battery faster.
i can add (there is a relation) that the level of radiation that any phone is emitting it is also higher when reception it is not strong enough. i've seen it demonstrated yesterday. entering in yr car double the level of radiation, in an elevator the radiation increases 10 folds! yr phone tries to connect and that's energy consuming and radiation emitting (electromagnetic).
i guess that you bought yr phone not too long ago. i know it sounds strange but after a few cycles yr battery's life is going to improve and i am not the only one to observe it.
don't stop the charging when the battery icon is full. i learned using a wall charger with LED (red for charging, green for charged) that after diamond's icon said 100% the charging continues for at least 30 minutes more (the led was not fully green but was blinking red-green).
from my experience u can use all power management option from shap's advanced configuration without loosing yr connectivity. i can not tell u what those option are but after using all i can tell that diamond's battery life improved.
with only 2G and some e-mailing downloading and checking this forum a few times my battery last for 1.5 days. of course their is also 1-1.5 hours of phone calls.
don't expect yr battery to last if you are using yr diamond as an entertainment center (movies and mp3) or as a battery only powered GPS navigator. i am using my GPS in my car always connected to my car charger.

I'm thinking about buying something like that to solve the problem :
http://usb.brando.com.hk/prod_detail.php?prod_id=00333

Blazeitup123 said:
What rom do you have? maybe it needs updating?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi
Rom 1.37.707.1
Radio 1.00.25.03
I'm not yet sure what the problem was, but it has something to do with the sim card that I'm using, the sim stop receiving signal and I tried another sim. The battery life improved and now It last more than a day.
thanks,

battery life
leemrvnt said:
Hi, I just got my diamond 3 days ago and it seems to be having some battery problems, even when on standby it drains very fast, how long should the diamond last on a single charge (on standby, talk time, with wifi, or bluetooth) is there a benchmark to compare with.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well what can I say about it..... I'm totally new on this forum but this site is greeeat!!!!! Anyway - I have Diamond about 3-4 days, I had the same problems as most of us: overheating, battery life, ActiveSync on every 5 mins.... I just couldn't stand thoughts that I spend £250 on such a crappy thing until I found this site
What I've done was: install HARDSPL, then changed Radio from 1.00.25.05 to 1.08.25.08 using CustomRUU and changed ROM 1.93 onto cooked ROM: [WM 6.1] NEW SWIFTBL WWE DIAMhttp://forum.xda-developers.com/newreply.php?do=newreply&p=2460083OND ROM V7.5 (FULL & LITE VERSIONS) - CE OS 5.2.20755 (Build 20755 AKU 1.4.0) - FULL VERSION, then installed Regedit as well, done some additionall tweaks like Better Power Management (changing registry HKLM) - basicly - adding all tweaks that u can find on the internet and..........my Diamond is a real Diamond now I've spend 3 hours listening to my mp3's, then running wifi at home, playing etc.. and my battery life went from 100% to about 80% - all during all day using ...

elmumiomarek said:
Well what can I say about it..... I'm totally new on this forum but this site is greeeat!!!!! Anyway - I have Diamond about 3-4 days, I had the same problems as most of us: overheating, battery life, ActiveSync on every 5 mins.... I just couldn't stand thoughts that I spend £250 on such a crappy thing until I found this site
What I've done was: install HARDSPL, then changed Radio from 1.00.25.05 to 1.08.25.08 using CustomRUU and changed ROM 1.93 onto cooked ROM: [WM 6.1] NEW SWIFTBL WWE DIAMhttp://forum.xda-developers.com/newreply.php?do=newreply&p=2460083OND ROM V7.5 (FULL & LITE VERSIONS) - CE OS 5.2.20755 (Build 20755 AKU 1.4.0) - FULL VERSION, then installed Regedit as well, done some additionall tweaks like Better Power Management (changing registry HKLM) - basicly - adding all tweaks that u can find on the internet and..........my Diamond is a real Diamond now I've spend 3 hours listening to my mp3's, then running wifi at home, playing etc.. and my battery life went from 100% to about 80% - all during all day using ...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
could u explain more, with the links to the progs u used? i'd really use this info
thx

I am getting about 48 hours (I probably talk less than 30 minutes in that time). Using default x04ht rom on diamond with radio 1.00.25.05 (just flashed to 1.08.25.20 and getting about the same). Charge every day isn't bad, but every 1.5 to 2 days for a device like this; no complaints.

Battery Life

Hi Guys
I work in the IT dept of my company and ive got the job of supporting all our WM devices. (97% of them are the HTC Tytn II/Kaiser)
i get moaned at alot about this things and the main thing is the battery life is p*ss poor! All they run is active sync to pull in emails as they arrive and then the usual phone call, but yet the battery still wont last a day.
Does anyone know of any tricks or tweaks i can do on the devices to make them squeeze out every last drop of battery life?
cheers

Yeah, if you can get Advanced Config installed on their phones, fire it up, go to the right soft-key "Menu" option, and in there should be a Comm Manager selection. Pick it, and in the panel that comes up check on teh 3G button. Then, close out of Advanced Config and let it reset the phone. When the phone comes back up, go into the Comm Manager and there will be a new button to turn 3G on and off. Turn it off. If all they're doing is phone calls and pulling down emails, the Edge connection should be more than sufficient. I've also noticed improved battery life by leaving bluetooth turned on all the time (I now it's counterintuitive and could be a placebo effect, but I swear it makes a difference for me.) I can get well over 2 days on Edge connection with the stock battery using these 2 tricks.

splash08 said:
Hi Guys
I work in the IT dept of my company and ive got the job of supporting all our WM devices. (97% of them are the HTC Tytn II/Kaiser)
i get moaned at alot about this things and the main thing is the battery life is p*ss poor! All they run is active sync to pull in emails as they arrive and then the usual phone call, but yet the battery still wont last a day.
Does anyone know of any tricks or tweaks i can do on the devices to make them squeeze out every last drop of battery life?
cheers
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If they don't have them already, you may want to have car chargers installed in the company cars of those with TyTN IIs. As for settings yes disabling HSDPA or even better going back to just plain GSM rather than 3G will help battery life (although also slow down any internet connectivity). You could also try turning down the screen brightness as this has a major effect on battery life but then they'll probably all complain the device has p*ss poor screen visibility (especially in bright sunshine - so if you're in the UK this won't be an issue )
If these suggestions don't work then I think the best plan will be to make it as easy as possible for them to top up charge during the day, perhaps with desktop cradles as well if this would encourage charging. I sometimes need more than one battery charge in more than a day (I've even used up all of my spare battery charge as well on a day involving lots of GPS navigation on foot) so yes these things do normally use lots of battery power if you have all the bells and whistles running and no charging occuring. Make sure wifi is left off on the TyTN IIs unless it's actively being used at the time.
Which ROMs are they using - all HTC official? There are reported differences in battery consumption depending on the ROM version used.

cheers for that guys
I will give both of your suggestions ago, next time i get one of the tytns in front of me.
I have the advanced config for the HTC diamond would that work on the tytn? if not where would i get that from?

Is it just me or are we being left with the sour taste of "Why should we have to compromise on the performance of the device to get 2 days battery life out of it?"

Unfortunately " push " email kills an already suspect battery. Activesync and your media net ?, edge? or 3G remains connected all the time . I had to go from " when they arrive" to " check every 30 minutes " for email or else my battery , even with minimal use would not last past 5pm.
I really miss my Blakberry in this respect. My Tilt does everything and everything for me, and does so on battery power. I guess if it just made phone calls the battery would last for days.

i agree denco, all the HTC WM devices ive ever had, they've had a load of functions but the battery is all very weak! whether or not that is something to do with HTC or WM i dont know, but its very annoying and just something we have to live with as my company signed a 2 year contract with Orange in March so there is nothing we can do!

Well, I doubt that it is Windows Mobile; ok, to be correct: WM has gotten more powerful with each new version, got even more and more graphical additions, just like Vista compared to XP. For sure this needs much more horse power and, in fact, processor and RAM are increasing. However, HTC barely increases battery capacy as well - might it be because of size / weight proportion or other reasons - I don't know!
I had the MWg Zinc II for a while and the battery life (1500mAh capacy) was amazing. However, audio / network reception quality was a joke on that thing.
Thankfully, there are HIGH CAPACY and EXTENDED BATTERIES available for the HTC's. They make your device look funny but surely increase your battery life as well.
I am (still) willing to sacrifice battery life for quality; arranging my life by having a car charger and also a 2nd battery with me when on the go. Hopefully HTC's batteries will evolve and have higher capacy in future devices.

Kaiser battery life
I am not an expert at this. I also was unable to keep a battery operational for half a day until I did a hard reset, and brought it back to stock ATT 6.1. Then used the phone without email for a day and noted no excessive battery drain. (70% at end of the day) Kaiser tweak added, with the “Disconnect after” parameter in the Data (GPRS/EDGE/HSDPA/WIFI) set to 1 min. Added the MS Push to my Exchange server, and only use the single email account. No appreciable battery drain. (68% at end of day)
The only thing I have NOT enabled yet is the ATT Navigator. Will add Google Maps and see if it messes with GPS chip. I have read and experienced the GPS draining my battery, even after turning it off, within a couple of hours.

splash08 said:
cheers for that guys
I will give both of your suggestions ago, next time i get one of the tytns in front of me.
I have the advanced config for the HTC diamond would that work on the tytn? if not where would i get that from?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
In the advanced config, there are also settings for "Power management", make sure there is enabled in all of them.

Starfury said:
Is it just me or are we being left with the sour taste of "Why should we have to compromise on the performance of the device to get 2 days battery life out of it?"
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Nah, considering the EEEpc I have gets about 2 hours battery max, and I can do a stack load more on the TyTnII than on the laptop, I', pretty happy. I had aan old Nokia that would go for 2 weeks without charging, but for a high end, gps enabled windows phone, 2 days is amazing.
@ splash08 : you can also try upgrading to the new 1.70 radio found in the kaiser rom thread, seems to give me less drain. Also, you can buy larger capacity 3rd party batteries.. maybe thats the best soultion.

GPS (Telenav) causing my battery drain
Since my last post on the 27th, I have had ZERO problems until I used the Telenav on Friday evening the 5th. Since then can only get about 4 hours out of the battery before it drains completly and that is with ZERO use. I have uninstalled Telenav and done multiple power down, but stilll draining. Looking for a way to turn off the GPS before I do a hard reset.
GPS had no issues with google maps and no battery problems.

ive now tried all those suggestions but non have really made a dramatic increase. I thought i cracked it at one point, over a weekend my phone last from saturday all the way though to monday night! but then i realised that saturday and sunday is off peak so the push/pull function was set to every 60mins! As soon as i got back to work during the week the device would last just over one day, on emails only.
i think i may have to look into getting the extended batteries or maybe changing all the devices for a none HTC device, as they seem to have a weak batteries (but i think this may be the last resort at it will cost a lot ot change all the devices)

Almost a month since I upgraded from Touch to Diamond ...

... and I just LOVE the Diamond. I always thought the Diamond's just a VGA version of the Touch with GPS built in, and hesitated for a while before I decided to go for the upgrade. Almost a month since the upgrade and I can't even imagine myself going back to the Touch.
I love the Diamond for ...
- beautiful VGA screen
- great form factor, fits perfectly in hand or pocket
- 3.5G is FAST ... especially considering I'm coming from a EDGE machine
- The 535MHz processor may be under-rated when running the bad ass TF3D2 interface, but its speed advantage shows in other apps say, like TomTom when alternative route calculation is required
That said, on the other hand ...
- battery life sucks. This is the first phone since ... man ... the Nokia 6190?! when I actually carry a spare battery with me. I setup the Diamond to check email once every 30 min, and keep it to EDGE for email, use 3.5G only with Opera, do very little web browsing, and my battery still can't make it through a 10 hrs day without giving me low battery warning before I get home.
- Compared to the Touch, which had Talk / End / Camera buttons on top of the D-pad, the Diamond loses yet another hard button in the camera button. I use AEB+ to get more functionality out of my hard buttons, but still I wish there's at least the camera button. OTOH, I don't know about others, but I almost NEVER use the back button. I thought it'd be somewhat useful if it gets you back to the last webpage when browsing the web ... but it doesn't. It gets you back to the last app. Worse, the Home and Back buttons cannot be remapped, or controlled by AEB+.
- The Diamond looks stunning with the piano black finish but the whole phone is a finger print magnet. I think I'm developing an anxiety disorder rubbing and cleaning my phone every chance I get these days.
- The phone heats up quite a bit after a number of resets, or after browsing the web for a while. It gets hot enough I wonder if I'd burn myself leaving it in the jeans pocket.
- The combination of heating up and poor battery life makes it a BAD navigator. If I use turn GPS on and leave the phone running TomTom with screen turned on all the times, the battery hits low battery level within an hour. However, if I plug the charger in, the battery overheats (40C or higher) within 30 min to a point either it stops charging, or resets itself.
All in all, I love my new phone! I think it's a great phone, and most of the shortcomings don't bug me much ... but it'd be great if the battery life and the last point about using it as GPS can get addressed.
Any suggestion?

little info, you can remap the back button with aeb+ the button is called "ok" in aeb+, if i remember correctly.
only the home button cannot be remaped..

Also update your Radio. My battery used to be exactly like how you mentioned until i updated it to the Radio v1.13.25.24 (Blackstone) found here:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=470306
Make sure you read the instructions of updating the Radio VERY CAREFULLY or you'll brick it.
Since updating the Radio ive noticed a significant improvement not only in battery life but also other things like my phone connects to 3G faster and also my TomTom gets a fix within 10-20 seconds. (before it was more like sitting there for 1-2 minutes before getting a fix).

I also recently upgraded from my beloved S710 to this one since the S710's display broke after it fell out of my pocket.
Being used to the S710's great battery life, the TD was surely a bit disappointing. Apart from that, it really is a cool device.
Regarding TomTom take a look at this thread: http://forum.xda-developers.com/archive/index.php/t-412321.html . It describes how to reenable the dim feature. Unfortunately, TomTom doesn't allow the background light to fully switch off but at least dimming it enhances battery life.
I tried one or two radios and made the best experiences with v1.00.25.05 using T-Mobile (Germany). Fast GPS fix and stable signal, good battery life, great voice quality.
To enhance battery life, I also disabled 3G and used all the other tweaks of Advanced Config Tool. Bluetooth seems to be a battery drainer, so I only use it for ActiveSync.
Having BT/WiFi deactivated, my battery lasts about 3-4 days with medium usage. When listening to music or navigating, much shorter.
Did you condition your battery by fully unloading and reloading it several times?

GPS for Hiking

I'm hoping some Diamond users can help me with some questions I have.
I use memory-map os software and have been usinng it on an ipaq ppc. The ipaq has just died on me so I need a new device and rather than carry two gadgets around with me it seems to make sense to buy a smart phone. This has to be a windows device to run memory-map and the Diamond 2 seems to be the best such device in my price bracket.
The questions I haven't so far found an answer for :-
1)How long does the battery last for while using gps? Most users seem to use their gps for road naviagation in the car so don't have a problem with this but I will be using it for hiking.
2)Can the display be turned off while using the display to extend battery life?
3)How quickly does the gps obtain a fix?
TIA
Alan

Hi Alan,
I have been using GPS software with my Diamond for the last year and have mixed feelings about it.
TomTom Navigator 7 - works great - almost immediate fix - highly recommended. Works as well as a dedicated car GPS except screen is smaller.
PathAway GPS 5 with SoftMaps maps. Works fine - sometimes slow to get a fix - track log to .GPX file unreliable, you never know if it works or not and cannot rely on it because of that. Nice Pocket Mode where the unit is in sleep mode with GPS on.
GPSCycleComputer - great freeware application - live track upload to crossingways.com - I use it a lot to measure distance, speed, and build .GPX track logs to geocode my photos. I have not used it with maps.
The Diamond/GPS system has 2 problems IMO:
Problem 1: reliability. When in the field, you have to rely to your GPS and, IMO, this is not possible with my Diamond. It is too easy to hit a button accidently and disable the software. I tried different lock applications to no avail - I cannot be 100% sure, like with my Garmin GPSMap 60 CSx. Switching to another application - like phone, voice recorder or camera - and coming back is also often a problem.
Problem 2: battery life. It is possible to turn off the screen to improve battery life but you can never be sure it will resume back on - unreliable.
My Diamond is the North American unlocked version and has a 1340mah battery. Here are 2 examples of battery life:
GPSCycleComputer
Set to read GPS every minute
Set to send track to crossingways.com every minute
Set to register a .GPX track file
Phone and internet ON
Screen off
Battery life: about 4 hours
PathAway GPS 5
Screen ON 25% Pocket mode 75%
Set to register a .GPX track file
Phone and internet ON
Battery life: 2 to 3 hours
Conclusion:
In car use with TomTom: fine
Field use: as a gadget and a toy: yes - as a reliable tool to find your way back if you get lost: definitely NO. However, it is fun to use.
Regards
Jules

Jgobeil said:
Hi Alan,
I have been using GPS software with my Diamond for the last year and have mixed feelings about it.
TomTom Navigator 7 - works great - almost immediate fix - highly recommended. Works as well as a dedicated car GPS except screen is smaller.
PathAway GPS 5 with SoftMaps maps. Works fine - sometimes slow to get a fix - track log to .GPX file unreliable, you never know if it works or not and cannot rely on it because of that. Nice Pocket Mode where the unit is in sleep mode with GPS on.
GPSCycleComputer - great freeware application - live track upload to crossingways.com - I use it a lot to measure distance, speed, and build .GPX track logs to geocode my photos. I have not used it with maps.
The Diamond/GPS system has 2 problems IMO:
Problem 1: reliability. When in the field, you have to rely to your GPS and, IMO, this is not possible with my Diamond. It is too easy to hit a button accidently and disable the software. I tried different lock applications to no avail - I cannot be 100% sure, like with my Garmin GPSMap 60 CSx. Switching to another application - like phone, voice recorder or camera - and coming back is also often a problem.
Problem 2: battery life. It is possible to turn off the screen to improve battery life but you can never be sure it will resume back on - unreliable.
My Diamond is the North American unlocked version and has a 1340mah battery. Here are 2 examples of battery life:
GPSCycleComputer
Set to read GPS every minute
Set to send track to crossingways.com every minute
Set to register a .GPX track file
Phone and internet ON
Screen off
Battery life: about 4 hours
PathAway GPS 5
Screen ON 25% Pocket mode 75%
Set to register a .GPX track file
Phone and internet ON
Battery life: 2 to 3 hours
Conclusion:
In car use with TomTom: fine
Field use: as a gadget and a toy: yes - as a reliable tool to find your way back if you get lost: definitely NO. However, it is fun to use.
Regards
Jules
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Thanks for your reply Jules. That is very helpful. It sounds like the Diamond will not do the main job I want it for then.

Memory Map with hTC diamond
Works very well on Diamond. Quick GPS fix. Battery life not great as in most GPS phones. I just have the map loaded & use as necessary. I would not be without it. Also works very well with tom Tom & Garmin XT.

Like you, i used MM on an ipaq and now use it on the HTC. The big adavantage over the HTC over the ipaq is that you can switch it to standby to conserve battery power and it will immediatly come back to life with gps signal.

ahardie said:
Thanks for your reply Jules. That is very helpful. It sounds like the Diamond will not do the main job I want it for then.
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You should know that there are extened batteries for diamond that take the battery life to really high values. I posted a review of a 3000 mah Mugen battery here http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?p=3447797#post3451845 (read the posts after that as well, for instance this one) ... it is a huge battery but well worth if you are looking for something for "in the field". There is also a Mugen 2000 mah version and an official HTC 1350 mah version. The Mugen ones are *very* high quality, don't confuse them with the cheap chinese/asian crap that are all over ebay or the internet.
I've never had the problem with the screen coming back on when I don't want it and I use GPS Cycle Computer all the time. You switch off the screen from the GPSCC interface and it stays that way (unless someone calls you or you power it on from the power button, of course).

Thanks for the replies. Very helpful.

Last but not least - in my hikes i don't look constantly at GPS - I prefer the views, so only sometimes I check my position on track crossing, or when I'm not sure of my position.
GPS fix - flash better radio, and you will have instant fix (outdoors), try 1.15
Switching off - just use the sleep button. It will switch the gps off.
Good luck!