How do you decide that the battery needs charging?
 

I wanted to see how long my N900's battery would last so I didn't charge it even when the GUI indicator showed it to be nearly empty. It carried on working for quite a long time before it really was empty.

It makes me wonder if some people are assuming their battery is nearly dead even when it isn't?

Re: How do you decide that the battery needs charging?
 

It's bedtime... it's charging time. N900 and I recharge together.

Re: How do you decide that the battery needs charging?
 

I noticed this too, battery used till last bit green, used some more then left 5 hours used some more and still it did not run out, thought it was very weird.

Re: How do you decide that the battery needs charging?
 

This is the thing, I wonder how many of the complaints about battery life should really just be complaints about the indicator?

Obviously a lot of people on here are monitoring battery life more reliably using alternative methods, and they would know how empty the battery is.

But perhaps some more casual users are putting too much faith in the desktop battery indicator?

Re: How do you decide that the battery needs charging?
 

i use the shell commandline

Re: How do you decide that the battery needs charging?
 

Might be intentional on nokia's part to try to extend the operational life of the battery.

Lithium Ion's do better if you don't discharge them all the way so much.

But to answer how I decide that the battery needs charging:
If the n900 is on, and near a source of power, it needs charging :) .

Re: How do you decide that the battery needs charging?
 

I just charge mine up every night while I'm asleep. Also have a car charger, so top it up when I'm driving.

Re: How do you decide that the battery needs charging?
 

I charge mine up overnight every night, just like with every other smartphone I've ever owned. Great thing about owning lots of HTC phones, the n900 has FANTASTIC battery life & doesn't double as a pocket warmer like my Touch Pro does :p

Re: How do you decide that the battery needs charging?
 

Yep, best to top em off. Deep Cycle == damage to battery.

Re: How do you decide that the battery needs charging?
 

Sorry, maybe I should have been clearer. My point with this thread is this:

Some people were talking about having to charge their N900 several times a day.

Were all of these people actually seeing the battery go to zero, or were some of them just assuming that the battery was close to zero because the indicator said so?

As I said above, and squirreluk apparently saw it too, the desktop indicator seems to go down much more quickly than the actual battery does. Even when the indicator implies that it's empty, you can actually get quite a lot of use from the battery (or at least I can).

Re: How do you decide that the battery needs charging?
 

i need to charge my phone when i start getting the empty battery beeping... the lowest green level on the desktop indicator might last 5 min as it may last 2 hours... it depends on the usage at the time... its "proportional" to the use u make of ur phone...

Re: How do you decide that the battery needs charging?
 

Nightly charging is probably best, unless you need to sooner with heavy use. Don't discharge more than necessary, as it is not required with Li-Ion (and could possibly be detrimental). I personally have yet to get a low battery indication - even with battery.charge_level.percentage at 1% and battery.reporting.current in the low double digits (although this was in the first few drain/charge cycles so calibration was probably somewhat off).