is this bad for a cell phone battery

violent31601 · #1 (**permalink**) 10-22-2008, 03:48 PM

to slowly kill the battery everyday. Every day I use my phone at work to play music and I kill it (sometimes even plugged in, only with internet radio) it still dies cause it cant keep up with charging and playing my music at the same time.

is my battery going to not last long doing this?

sdafasdlkfj · #2 (**permalink**) 10-22-2008, 03:55 PM

Batteries have a certain number of cycles that they can undergo. But its not the end of the world because contrary to what most people think, life goes to around 80% capacity after around 400-500 discharge cycles.

tg1.0 · #3 (**permalink**) 10-22-2008, 09:59 PM

See the following webpage:
http://www.batteryuniversity.com/partone-16.htm

On this page, it says:
Manufacturers rate the lithium-ion battery at an 80% depth of discharge. Repeated full (100%) discharges would lower the specified cycle count. It is therefore recommended to charge lithium-ion more often rather than letting it discharge down too low. Periodic full discharges are not needed because lithium-ion is not affected by memory.

(This website, BTW, is an excellent resource for all kinds of battery information.)

**indagroove** · #4 (**permalink**) 10-23-2008, 01:56 AM

Dude, it's not the playing music that's killing your battery, it's the data streaming that's required of internet radio.

If you were really just playing music, you would get much much more battery life out of it.

sn0b0ard · #5 (**permalink**) 10-23-2008, 02:47 AM

I know this sounds kind of odd, but the best way to get good battery life out of your battery (Lithium Ion) is to charge it before it goes completely dead. Charge the phone whenever you feel like it (75%, 60%, 50%) etc... It is actually good for the battery to do it that way.

gbwatkinss · #6 (**permalink**) 10-23-2008, 09:13 AM

Think about the worst case scenerio....say your battery totally dies after 400 cycles. That's over a year. By that time, how much will an aftermarket battery cost? Maybe $10 on eBay? Personally, a year from now I probably won't have the Diamond...hopefully I'll be using the Touch HD or Diamond 2, or something like that lol....I wouldn't worry about it.

CNeufeld · #7 (**permalink**) 10-23-2008, 09:40 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by violent31601

to slowly kill the battery everyday. Every day I use my phone at work to play music and I kill it (sometimes even plugged in, only with internet radio) it still dies cause it cant keep up with charging and playing my music at the same time.

is my battery going to not last long doing this?

What charger are you using for this? AFAIK, the included AC adapter should be able to provide enough power (1A) to keep the unit running, regardless of what you're doing. But a USB connection, in particular, one connected to only one USB port, may not provide enough juice (USB ports are rated for 500mA, or half as much as the AC adapter). You can get dual port USB cables that may work for you instead.

Clint

violent31601 · #8 (**permalink**) 10-23-2008, 10:42 AM

thanks guys

quarky42 · #9 (**permalink**) 10-23-2008, 02:25 PM

many usb ports on computers don't even provide 500mA. Just depends on the computer. You could try a powered USB Hub. Make sure the powered hub has a power supply with a high rating.... 1A = 1000 mA

violent31601 · #10 (**permalink**) 10-23-2008, 02:45 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by quarky42

many usb ports on computers don't even provide 500mA. Just depends on the computer. You could try a powered USB Hub. Make sure the powered hub has a power supply with a high rating.... 1A = 1000 mA

is there a way to tell how much your usb port is putting out?