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30 of 32 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Battery Life & Coverage: Factual Details for Your Review, September 26, 2001
By A Customer
01-22-2002 Update: Still love it. Internet Edition. Regular Duracell AA Battery lasts a minimum of 10 days, and up to 3 weeks. Note: you CAN choose your preferred "reply-to" email address [at least with Earthlink].This review is prompted by several comments here about battery life. My RIM 950 Internet Edition arrived just prior to the national WTC debacle. First, I installed the supplied (Duracell) AA battery and allowed time [5-6 hours max] for it to recharge the internal li-ion battery; that back-up internal battery is what ensures that data will not be lost if the AA battery drains. Immediately following that initial charging, I used the "status" command, under "Options", to determine that battery strength was then at 86%. During the week of September 10th, I pulled, quite literally, hundreds of web pages into the device, via the free trancell.com service; I was assisting a friend, who had a loved one on floor 94 in the first tower struck, to locate pertinent information. I also exchanged much more e-mail than would ordinarily be the case: my cell phone did not work at the time, and land-line phones [Connecticut] were also of little use during the heat of the crisis; but the RIM worked fine throughout. Let me be clear here-- that Web-concentrated researching was virtually round the clock until Friday morning, when I had read enough to understand precisely where the plane struck [between floors 91 and 96], and its implications. Note that prior to purchasing the device, I researched it thoroughly for about 2 months, both here at Amazon.com and at the message boards at rimroad.com, as well as throughout the Net generally. Thus, I understood that employing certain steps would prolong the 950's battery life. Accordingly, I made it a point to keep the device upright at virtually all times, as opposed to laying it down on a desk or the like; and, set the auto-off feature to turn off on weekdays between 2 and 7 a.m., and weekends between midnight and 10 a.m. Despite my profoundly heavy usage during week one, the battery initially installed had dipped only to 33% by the 7th day of use. Nonetheless, I started out with a new battery on that day 7. During the 2nd week, each day I received at least 3 selected news headline packages, each of which typically involved my follow-up requests for about 5 or so full-text articles. I also exchanged, on average, about 30 emails daily. By day #14, that 2nd battery was at 52% strength. In short, I now see that folks were correct at rating battery life at 1-2 weeks, on average, for the "950". To the contrary, the 850 [which uses a different network] is well-known to be a battery hog, typically offering only 2-3 days of battery life, regardless of battery conservation attempts. ...I continue to use my Casio E125 for PIM-related data, although the RIM has this feature as well. However, I did import my Outlook contacts into the RIM's address book; thankfully, that too proved to be a no-fuss, no-sweat procedure. I use the RIM for virtually all e-mail tasks these days, and also to secure- automatically- daily updates of particular web pages, news, stock quotes, instant messaging, etc,-- all such services being free offerings from various 3rd parties [see rimroad.com "General" board for details]. I remain pleasantly mystified by the sheer intuitiveness of the device. Indeed, I seldom use my notebook [desktop replacement] for email anymore, and I've noticed that when it comes to "surfing the web", I'm more inclined to employ the RIM-- it's simply easier and quicker, all the way around, thanks to the stripped down plain text involved. My primary pre-purchase concerns focused on coverage and battery life. Now, my singular regret is that I didn't learn about or purchase this device earlier. The battery life is incredibly good, and in-house coverage puts my cell phone to shame. In terms of comparative signal strength in-house, my cell typically hovers between 2-3 bars; the RIM, 4-5. You need only 2-bar strength to transmit via the RIM. Try a conversation with a 2-bar strength cell phone, and you'll quickly develop the ability to create multi-syllabic cuss words! In closing, while I fervently believe that everyone has a right to voice an opinion, I do wish the "it's great/lousy" remarks were coupled with the FACTUAL DETAILS giving rise to the conclusions stated. I've tried to do so here, so you'll better understand why I recommend, withOUT reservation, that you grab the 950, yesterday!
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