Palm M100 Games Free
17
Dec0
Dec0
Lets start off with the battery itself. It comes in an unassuming plastic container, and is roughly twice the size of the stock battery.
I like the This side down on the back of the batterykinda funny.
Moving on to the back cover.
As you can see, its pretty thick, but it is definitely needed to accommodate that big battery.
The rubberized coating on the cover is great, it feels good in your hand and, once installed, gives you a more secure feeling when holding the Pre. With the stock cover in place, the Pre always felt like a slippery bar of soap in my hand, and I was always very careful handling the phone out of fear I might drop it, but with this cover in place, it felt way better. The extra thickness makes the phone easier to grab and handle. Another advantage is that I no longer get sweaty/slippery hands while texting. I live in Florida where humidity is always a problem, and it didnt take long for my fingers to start sweating while typing with the Palm back cover on, making it a bit more difficult to hold on to the phone.
Installing the battery and the cover is a breeze. Just take the old cover off, yank out that tiny battery, put the 2600 in, and stick the new cover on. It snaps into place easily and securely and matches the Pre perfectly.
So how difficult is it living with the new, fatter Pre? Well, it does look a little less sexy now, but really, how many people are really that concerned with how attractive their phone looks? The significantly increased battery life is well worth the slightly less attractive look of the phone, especially since it comes with the above mentioned benefits of making the phone easier to grasp and eliminating the sweaty fingers while typing syndrome caused by the slick stock cover.
Here is a nice little comparison shot with the 2600 battery installed together with the stock battery and cover.
And here is another comparison between a normal Pre and the Seidio 2600 battery enhanced Pre.
With the cover installed, the Pre loses none of its balance while typing. My Pre was a bit creaky while typing with the original cover in place, but the new cover totally eliminated any creaking, I was very pleasantly surprised. The added weight of the battery isnt much of a bother either, if anything it makes the Pre feel like a more solid device, especially since the Pre is now easier to handle due to the grippy back cover.
My Pre really never had a problem with it shutting down when slamming the keyboard shut, and that didnt change with the 2600 battery installed. Depending on your phone, your mileage may vary, but mine has been perfectly fine.
Your Pre will definitely feel different for a day or two, but to me, the added weight and size were all positive things, and handling my friends Pre makes mine just feel that much more solid in comparison.
A final observation about the cover, the phone didnt feel nearly as hot as it did before. Whether I am surfing, playing games, watching videos or making calls, the phone just feels a lot cooler compared to before, just another benefit from that cover!
ADDED: The cover does not work with touchstone charger yet, but from what I have observed in other threads in the Forum, Seidio is working on a version that will work with the Touchstone, hopefully they will comment and confim this soon!
I always put my Pre into a horizontal case and avoid putting it into my pocket by all means. So far I had been using the old case that came with my Sprint Touch, but the added thickness of the battery cover was too much for that old case to handle. I was able to squeeze the phone in there, but the lid would not close all the way. Thankfully Seidio made a horizontal leather case for the fat Pres, and I must say, I love it!
The leather feels very nice and the case is solidly constructed. It is the perfect size for the bigger Pre and it slides right in without any problems. No hard pushing required, just line the phone up and it drops right in securely, without being too lose while inside the case. The cover has a pretty strong magnet.it closes with a satisfying snap sound as soon as you let go of it, and it holds the door closed securely. I also like the cutout at the bottom of the case, it makes lifting up the phone with your middle finger possible so that you can grab the phone with your thumb and little finger, nice touch! Overall, I really like this case, now we need some more color choices!
Ok, lets get down to the nitty gritty, the reason why we get a bigger phone to begin with, battery life!!
I charged the battery for the full recommended 8 hours. There is no way that you can charge the battery in the Pre without the Pre being on (turns on automatically as soon as you plug it in), and since I dont have a stand alone charger, charging it while in the Pre was my only option.
I kept a bit of a log day by day (using the Memos app).
Day 1:
Got a late start, removed the phone at 11 AM.
Made just a few calls, very light usage, by 2 PM battery still at 100%
6:15 PM, battery at 76% after heavy web usage, a few phone calls and texts
Did a bit more texting and played that stupid blackout game for a bit, battery landed up being at 65% when I put it back on the charger at 1 AM! Not bad for the first charge!
Day 2:
Again, day started at 11 AM
One longish phone call, 15 text messages, about 6 mins of YouTube, and the battery is at 87% at 2:30 PM
3 PM I enter an area with poor Sprint coverage. No calls, just texts and some surfing.
Left the poor coverage area at 7 PM, used Navigation for 15 minutes
7:30 PM, back in poor coverage
Did a few calls and some texting, nothing really crazy
9 PM, out of bad coverage area again, battery at 64%
Did some more surfing, texting and some YouTube.
Ended day at 4 AM with the battery at 45%
Day 3
Off charger at 1:20 PM (It was a Sunday!)
Did a bit of texting and some surfing
At 84% start listening to MP3s for 1.5 hours, battery now at 77%
Went to bed at 2:20 AM, battery at 72% did not charge the battery over night
Day 4
By 2:15 PM the next day, without charging over night, and after doing some talking and texting, battery at 53%
Enter bad Sprint area at 2:15 PM
More average texting and some surfing, battery at 33% at 5:25 PM
Leave bad Sprint area at 6 PM, battery at 30%
Go to bed at 3 AM, did some light usage, battery now at 23%
Day 5
Phone off charger at 9 AM
Light browsing and 10 phone calls, by 11:45 AM phone at 92%
Turning on AIM during the day for the first time
2:46 PM at 80% after a few calls, texts, and taking some pics and some browsing
5 PM more browsing, picture taking and a couple of calls, 73%
9 PM more texting, some MMS and browsing, 65%
2:36 AM, did 2 more calls, phone back on charger with 55% left
Day 6
Off charger at 8 AM
Heavy texting and calls with some browsing, battery at 74% at 3:35 PM
Rest of the day fairly average usage
3:35 AM back on charger at 56%
Day 7
Off charger at 8 AM
Enter weak Sprint area at 10:30 AM (battery at 96%) and stay there until 8 AM, roaming almost the entire time.
Did a lot of surfing and watching videos on WiFi, but not many phone calls. By 4 PM battery at 60%
Leave bad Sprint area at 8, do some more texting and two more phone calls.
Back on charger at 2 AM with 23% left.
I think I wasted my money buying that Sprint car charger because unless I plan on going on a 10 hour trip using navigation, I dont think I will ever need it again. The last day was really a rough one with the phone roaming almost the entire time. Add to that the fact that I was surfing a lot AND was watching one 26 minute video, and you cant help but walk away impressed by this battery! I still do have that car charger in my car, just in case I need to use Navigation for an extended period of time. But for daily use, even as a power user, this battery will easily make it through a busy day. For me it even made it through two days of normal usage.
I really cant say enough good things about this battery. It feels great not having to worry about your battery while browsing and playing some games. I can leave AIM running all day now (although I dont use it that much) which I was afraid to do before with the standard battery.
In conclusion, the combination of the bigger battery, the grippy back cover, and the leather case is something every Pre owner should consider. I dont want to sound like a broken record here, but I really have nothing negative to say about the bigger back cover. No more sweaty/slippery fingers while texting, no more creaking, and it makes the phone easier to handle and feel cooler. Of course the one big problem with this cover still exists, and I had problems with it too, and thats the issue with the flash. Some people say that they had no issues with the flash over exposing pictures, and even Seidio themselves had a hard time recreating it, but I definitely have that issue and I can only take pictures during the day in good lighting conditions. However, I will not mark that against Seidio, because they listened to their customers and are busy designing a new cover which they will send out free of charge to anyone that asks for it.
All in all, the battery and the case make a great combination for the Pre. I can only highly recommend every Pre owner looking into upgrading their phone with this product.
Sorry this was so long, but I am a wordy kinda guy. I hope everyone found it informative, so please post your opinions and questions!
Manny