16 2A. Device Basics

3. When you have finished charging, slide the switch
on the charger to the DC IN 5V position to conserve
energy.
Extending Your Battery Life
Active applications, backlight levels, Bluetooth, and
GPS use all contribute to draining your battery. The
following is a list of helpful tips that can help conserve
your battery’s charge:
䢇Reduce your backlight on time. See “Changing the
Backlight Time Length” on page 51.
䢇Turn Bluetooth off when not in use. See “Turning
Bluetooth On and Off” on page 99.
䢇Turn Wi-Fi off when not in use. See “Turning Wi-Fi On
and Off” on page 122.
䢇Turn GPS off when not needed. Most applications
using this function will periodically query the GPS
satellites for your current location; each query drains
your battery. See “Location Settings” on page 53.
䢇Do not wait until your battery is completely depleted
before charging your device. Repeated complete
discharging and recharging can reduce the storage
capacity of any battery over time.
䢇Turn off Automatic application sync. See
“Synchronizing Accounts” on page 53.
䢇Add a Power Control Widget to your Home screen to
deactivate features such as Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, GPS,
and synchronization and to reduce the screen’s
brightness setting.
䢇Check running services and close any unnecessary
applications. See “To view and control currently
running services:” on page 62.
Note: After use, make sure you slide the switch to the
DC IN 5V position to prevent battery drain.
It will take much longer to charge the device using the
battery charger than with the AC charger. If you need
the use of your device right away, replace the original
battery with a fully charged battery when your primary
battery becomes discharged.
Tip: You can also charge your battery by plugging the USB
cable into your computer. Simply plug the smaller end of
the micro-USB cable into the micro-USB jack on the
charger and plug the other end into a free USB port on
your desktop or laptop computer. Charging through USB
will take twice the time as the wall charger. Charging from
a computer will take about twice as long as the electrical
outlet.