Dead Again? How I Solved My Treo 750 Battery Drain Issue

My Treo 750 uses a pre-paid Cingular SIM and makes a great backup phone when my Treo 755p has less-than-perfect coverage. The phone pretty much goes with me most places when I am out and about and has been very reliable. But the last few weeks, I've gone to use it and have found it completely dead. I plug it into the charger, get the battery back up to full and go back to using it again, only to find it dead later on in the day.

In searching the web on various Treo-based forums, I found several hints to resolving my issue. One was related to ActiveSync and how it operates on Windows Mobile devices. The first suggestion was to check if the application was running. You can check programs that are running by tapping on the Start menu, then tapping Settings and then tapping the System tab. Then double-tapping the Memory icon, you are presented with three tabs. Tap the Running Programs tab. It shows a window of the programs that are running. If ActiveSync shows up here, just tap the name and then tap the Stop button.

In further searching the web, I found this link to an article on ActiveSync draining battery issues. The directions to change the schedule for ActiveSync polling are pretty easy to follow and I was able to verify that my Treo 750 could still automatically sync as it had before I made the changes.

But one of the biggest culprits ended up being Bluetooth. Tapping on the Bluetooth icon, it took me to the Bluetooth settings. Tap the Mode tab and you are given two check box options. The first is Turn on Bluetooth. If you do not use a Bluetooth headset or do not use Bluetooth to connect to a laptop or another device, then turning off Bluetooth can really save battery life. The other check box is Make this device visible to other devices. Unchecking this is highly recommended to prevent random users from trying to attach to your phone or your phone seeking out other Bluetooth devices. With newer vehicles on the road that have Bluetooth built-in to them, just driving through a parking lot can generate a lot of Bluetooth chatter, taking down the battery life in the process.

Since I've made each of these changes, I've noticed that each time I've gone to use my phone, it's on and available. The reliability is back without sacrificing too much functionality.