[phungy]

After reading Mike's review (SanFrancisco) on Seidio's extended battery for the 8100, I just had to purchase one for myself.

Color Matching:
I'm not the picky type so the shade of black of the battery cover is slightly different from the Pearl itself. Also the finish of the battery cover was made to prevent fingerprints unlike the OEM battery cover. Like Mike, I placed an invisible skin on the battery cover for better grip.

8100 Battery Cover Latch Poorly Built?:
The speaker holes makes the volume project a bit more loud and clear. The cover is perfectly cut out and had no troubles snapping it into place. I noticed that a few members have complained that pushing up on the cover leaves a 1-2mm gap. If you try that with the OEM cover, it does the same too. So it's not the fault of Seidio's battery door but the built of the Pearl itself.

Battery Life:
I too was shocked (in a good way) that Seidio had used Japanese cells for the extended battery. I have not charged the extended battery yet. Current status is at 51% and it has been 3.5 days so far with 100% brightness, BT on for about 2 hours, talk-time for about 7 hours and about two hours worth of games/taking pictures. So far very impressed with the battery life as Seidio claims the performance will improve after 5-6 charges! I'm expecting the battery will reach (near) 0% by Sunday night.

Bulky?:
Again, pictures are deceiving. Though the extended battery looks like it adds bulk, it does not. It's still easy to slide in and out of my pocket. (I apologize that the pictures are at the end of this long post as I'm having trouble with my ftp server).

Weight:
I know I'm not a scale but I really can't tell the weight difference between the OEM battery and Seidio's extended battery. As Mike had already weighed, the extended battery is less than 1 ounce heavier for 250% battery capacity than the OEM (2400mAh vs 900mAh).

Downside?:
I can't use my rubberized case

Conclusion:
Highly recommend the extended battery. Who knows when you'll be without a charger for a few days, possibly even a week? Even when hiking or camping. Add the Energizer Energi-To-Go and you can camp out for at least two weeks! Who knows, maybe Seidio will have a special for BBF members or even a group buy.

out of

[wickcity]

Good post. I'm waiting for the extended battery from Seidio to come out that will still fit in my 3 cases(including Seidio holster) and the Seidio desktop charger. With these accessories being so new, I can't eat the cost for a new extended batter that will not fit my current accessories.

[phungy]

Originally Posted by wickcity

Good post. I'm waiting for the extended battery from Seidio to come out that will still fit in my 3 cases(including Seidio holster) and the Seidio desktop charger. With these accessories being so new, I can't eat the cost for a new extended batter that will not fit my current accessories.

I know what you mean. My rubberized case isn't serving its purpose anymore and is just collecting dust on my desk :(

[seidioseidio]

Originally Posted by phungy

I know what you mean. My rubberized case isn't serving its purpose anymore and is just collecting dust on my desk :(

Seidio is considerig to develop the skin case for the extended battery.

[Tixxx]

Originally Posted by seidioseidio

Seidio is considerig to develop the skin case for the extended battery.

Cool, can't wait!

[seidioseidio]

For those who have received Seidio blackberry 8100 extended battery, can you provide some feedbacks on battery life ?

[freemantle]

Originally Posted by seidioseidio

For those who have received Seidio blackberry 8100 extended battery, can you provide some feedbacks on battery life ?

I received mine on Thursday Night, and charged it for the eight hours that was in the instructions. And I used it all weekend for e-mail and text, along with the phone. I am happy to say that as of this morning at 5 am it was still 3/4 full...very impressed.
The new battery cover fits very tight and has stopped the muffled sound that I used to get fro the OEM one.

[seidioseidio]

Originally Posted by freemantle

I received mine on Thursday Night, and charged it for the eight hours that was in the instructions. And I used it all weekend for e-mail and text, along with the phone. I am happy to say that as of this morning at 5 am it was still 3/4 full...very impressed.
The new battery cover fits very tight and has stopped the muffled sound that I used to get fro the OEM one.

Let us know how many days it lasts between charges

[seidioseidio]

Seidio is working on the battery door for Cingular 8100. The Tmobile battery door is slightly darker than the Cingular one.

[drex3]

any idea on availability date for cingular version??

[freemantle]

Originally Posted by seidioseidio

Let us know how many days it lasts between charges

I charged it last night...

[Tixxx]

Originally Posted by seidioseidio

Let us know how many days it lasts between charges

My second charging started yesterday at 5:30am and I am at 78% now.

[BBAddict8100]

Originally Posted by seidioseidio

For those who have received Seidio blackberry 8100 extended battery, can you provide some feedbacks on battery life ?

I used my battery since Friday morning and finally had to charge it last night before going to bed. I was really impressed because I'm such a heavy user before I would have to switch batteries in the middle of the day, so to go 4 days without charging is awesome. There is on little quark that puzzles me, while doing my test, I would do ALT-RACE to see the actual battery percentage, I know on Friday at 6:00 am it was 100% which is ok cause I had just taken it off the charger, but I checked it before going to bed at 11:00 pm and it still said 100% so just out of curiosity I removed the battery waited 30 seconds put it back an then it had dropped to 85%, thought my battery showed full, but thats ok. Anyways the whole thing is that it didn't update the percentage if I wanted to know I had to remove the battery for a few seconds then check ALT RACE and I would see the battery percentage. Just wondering if anyone else is experiencing the same thing. The battery itself is draining and charging fine and it way more power than I thought, I am very happy to have purchased it.

[SanFrancisco]

Originally Posted by BBAddict8100

Just wondering if anyone else is experiencing the same thing. The battery itself is draining and charging fine and it way more power than I thought, I am very happy to have purchased it.

My understanding from years of using cell phones is that the indicators are at best imprecise estimates.

In other words, one cannot and should not rely on them to accurately indicate the actual power remaining.

As a testament to the inaccuracy of the Pearl's battery indicators, try this. In voice dialing say "check battery." Take note of that. Then do the <alt> <race> and check the <battery level>. The look at the home screen's battery graphic. All will be different.

I did the above and voice dialing said "75%" alt race said 85% and the battery graphic indicated about two bars [the graphic is not meant to be anything more than a quick reference].

I did think it interesting that the voice statement was 10% off from the percentage indicator in the <options> <status> or <alt race> percentage. Where is the voice indicator getting its info from?

[backbeat]

If an individual software gauge was written to measure in 5 or 10 or 15 degree increments, checking your battery level is only as precise as the tool used to measure it. If you never get a measurement ending in 1thru4 or 6thru9, that alone should be telling you something.

Secondly, it could be an issue with the small board within the battery that makes it 'intelligent'. This issue has been seen for years among virtually all battery makers at one time or another.

[BBAddict8100]

Originally Posted by SanFrancisco

My understanding from years of using cell phones is that the indicators are at best imprecise estimates.

In other words, one cannot and should not rely on them to accurately indicate the actual power remaining.

As a testament to the inaccuracy of the Pearl's battery indicators, try this. In voice dialing say "check battery." Take note of that. Then do the <alt> <race> and check the <battery level>. The look at the home screen's battery graphic. All will be different.

I did the above and voice dialing said "75%" alt race said 85% and the battery graphic indicated about two bars [the graphic is not meant to be anything more than a quick reference].

I did think it interesting that the voice statement was 10% off from the percentage indicator in the <options> <status> or <alt race> percentage. Where is the voice indicator getting its info from?

Thanks I only noticed this with the new battery, it was indicating fine with the regular battery...anyways thanks again. Still love my extended battery and would not go back to the regular battery..

[hrhenry]

Originally Posted by seidioseidio

Let us know how many days it lasts between charges

On day three without a charge and at 75%. Not much web use today, but yesterday was kind of heavy. I go through a good 150 emails a day, so the indicator is pretty much always blinking.

R.
==

[richard371]

That bulge kills the sexiness of the Pearl. I would rather carry around a second battery then have that extended batt.

[LPeeples]

Gang,

Relative to a case for the ext battery... it says the unskinned holster will work with the 8100 and ext battery. I assume the Skinned holster would not work, since that one assumes you have the thicker rubber skin on it?

[Tixxx]

Originally Posted by LPeeples

Gang,

Relative to a case for the ext battery... it says the unskinned holster will work with the 8100 and ext battery. I assume the Skinned holster would not work, since that one assumes you have the thicker rubber skin on it?

Yeah, skinned holster is really lose on it.