I had noticed on Cingular web site that the specs for standby time on the Motorola v557 were much better than the v551. The life I was getting in standby was very poor, even with new battery. Rarely more than 24 and 36 hours at best. V557 claims of up to 16 days Now I realize that was optimum and that with Bluetooth enabled it would be considerably less, but 1/2, 1/4 ? So I changed out over the weekend. A few little features like an indicator in display when linked to Bluetooth device u can c in the window when clamshell is closed (as well as open too). Made my initial charge Saturday afternoon and so far it is still at full charge after 96 hours. Yee haw. I could almost go without cradle now. Still in test mode, but all else is the same as v551, that is to say very good performance and compatibility with 6er. Paired right up with no problems and transferred phone book as it should. The two phones are identical in physical appearance and form, fit, and function is identical. Other new feature is a little scrolling window with internet news when clam shell is open. This part is free but can subscribe to additional fee based systems. I won't, and may even kill the feature if I find it interferes with normal use.

 

Is this with BT on? I have a 551 and battery life with BT on is pathetic (1-11/2 days max). Does it fit in the 551 cradle?

 

Yes BT on, but recognize that I am only in the car for about 75-90 minutes a day. But I am comparing same driving / phone use between the phones (same conditions). And yes, same form, fit, and function does mean it fits cradle. Now in my 5th day and just dropped to 2-bars on battery life. I am going to take it all the way down to dead and see what I get and report back here. But just this is far better than what I was getting (same as you). It is hard for me to compare talk time as rarely do I use the phone out of its cradle. But so far I have had maybe 15 minutes of talk time in this period none of which has the phone been in the cradle (or other charger) while I am doing this life test. I've got another 24 days to evaluate before being "locked" in to this phone, but I cannot see myself not keeping this one. - will have a v551 for sale soon??

 

Yes BT on, but recognize that I am only in the car for about 75-90 minutes a day. But I am comparing same driving / phone use between the phones (same conditions). And yes, same form, fit, and function does mean it fits cradle. Now in my 5th day and just dropped to 2-bars on battery life. I am going to take it all the way down to dead and see what I get and report back here. But just this is far better than what I was getting (same as you). It is hard for me to compare talk time as rarely do I use the phone out of its cradle. But so far I have had maybe 15 minutes of talk time in this period none of which has the phone been in the cradle (or other charger) while I am doing this life test. I've got another 24 days to evaluate before being "locked" in to this phone, but I cannot see myself not keeping this one. - will have a v551 for sale soon??
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This is kind of related to what I recently observed. I have an old V600 (it will be 2yrs old in April). I went on my first trip in the car, about 4.5 to 5 hours. From the stories here, I had been expecting the phone to die before the end of the trip. It not only lasted through the entire trip, it went the rest of the day with no problem.

I have the following settings under "Car Settings" in the V600:


Auto Answer: Off
Auto Handsfree: On
Power-off Delay: Continuous (I think this one matters)
Charger Time: Off (this one can be set for a set # of hours so it doesn't keep sucking the car dry)


I think the Power-off Delay is something that could have a large impact on battery life.

 

This is kind of related to what I recently observed. I have an old V600 (it will be 2yrs old in April). I went on my first trip in the car, about 4.5 to 5 hours. From the stories here, I had been expecting the phone to die before the end of the trip. It not only lasted through the entire trip, it went the rest of the day with no problem.

I have the following settings under "Car Settings" in the V600:


Auto Answer: Off
Auto Handsfree: On
Power-off Delay: Continuous (I think this one matters)
Charger Time: Off (this one can be set for a set # of hours so it doesn't keep sucking the car dry)


I think the Power-off Delay is something that could have a large impact on battery life.
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It does not make a difference in my car as when the car goes to sleep, there is no more power supplied to cradle. It does not wake up for the phone at all. There are three things that can be set on the v551 that impact battery life but as I said, some do not impact its use within my 6er. I assume the power off to the phone is the same in the E60 cradle.

Power-Off Delay
(car kit)
Set the phone to stay on for a specified time after the ignition is switched off:
M > Settings > Car Settings > Poweroff Delay

Charger Time
(car kit)
Charge the phone for a specified time after the ignition is switched off:
M > Settings > Car Settings > Charger Time

Conserving Battery Power
Some networks and phones include a battery save setting
to extend battery life. When this feature is activated, your phone automatically turns off the keypad backlight when it detects that enough ambient light is available.
M > Settings > Initial Setup

The same settings are available in the v557.

 

Well I finally ran out of patience today and plugged the phone into the charger after nearly 7 full days of standby where my v551 never lasted more than two days. This is definately a keeper