Charging cell phones in the parks?

[pixiewings71]

Sounds like someone is spendin waaaaaay too much time on their phone.
You're at Disneyland,disconnect from the outside world.

I bought this to charge my phone in my purse. It works great.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00486MH80/ref=oh_details_o05_s00_i00

I have something similar to this, different brand but same thing. I use my phone to take pictures (it takes better pics then my camera!), check wait times, post pics on FB so friends can be jealous of my happy place, text the kids when they go off without DBF and myself, make dining reservations on the spot, calculate tip, calculate a discount on something, play games with the kids in line, shoot video......my phone will last all day without use on 1 battery charge but with the device above I don't have to worry about it dying on me, it will charge my phone almost complete (about 95%) so I never have to worry about it.
I paid $40 for mine with tax.

 

[CalvaryMike]

I bought extra batteries for our phones and pop in a freshly charged one when the other is dead.

This is ONE reason why I'll never personally own an iPhone (although Droids are headed in that direction). I replaced my original battery with an extra capacity battery and I carry the stock battery for my Droid (very convenient, but hardly ever necessary) as backup. My work iPhone barely makes it through the day and that's with just using email only.

 

[Vexorg]

There are a number of external battery options out there. On the most recent trip I took, I had a MicroUSB battery I got from monoprice.com for something like $15, which took care of keeping the phone charged. Kind of bulky to carry in a pocket though, especially if you have a phone with the port on the side.

 

[T0rrent]

As an IT person, and someone with a Samsung Galaxy S3 that can chew through it's battery like it's nobody's business, here are a few things you can do with a droid or iphone to save on battery while still being able to use it.

1. Turn off the wireless. Since there is no wifi in the park, having the wireless chip enabled is a battery drain.

2. Turn off your mobile data. On my samsung (and i'm sure other droids and iphones as well) there is an option to turn off your mobile data. This will save you a ton of battery life, and will still allow you to receive text messages, phone calls, and can use the camera. If you absolutely must have mobile data on though, turn off push notifications and email pushing. The constant scanning for new emails and updates for your apps and what not is a constant drain on the battery.

3. Turn off the GPS. Same goes if you have a camera with GPS capability. It's a huge battery drain.

4. Turn off your bluetooth. Again that's a separate chip that needs power. So turn it off.

If you do all these and turn on mobile data only when you need it, your phone should comfortably get through the day with battery life to spare.

 

[DLRfan31]

As an IT person, and someone with a Samsung Galaxy S3 that can chew through it's battery like it's nobody's business, here are a few things you can do with a droid or iphone to save on battery while still being able to use it.

1. Turn off the wireless. Since there is no wifi in the park, having the wireless chip enabled is a battery drain.

2. Turn off your mobile data. On my samsung (and i'm sure other droids and iphones as well) there is an option to turn off your mobile data. This will save you a ton of battery life, and will still allow you to receive text messages, phone calls, and can use the camera. If you absolutely must have mobile data on though, turn off push notifications and email pushing. The constant scanning for new emails and updates for your apps and what not is a constant drain on the battery.

3. Turn off the GPS. Same goes if you have a camera with GPS capability. It's a huge battery drain.

4. Turn off your bluetooth. Again that's a separate chip that needs power. So turn it off.

If you do all these and turn on mobile data only when you need it, your phone should comfortably get through the day with battery life to spare.

Great tips....thanks! (I don't use my phone much in the parks, but great to know in general : )

 

[sweethannah]

As an IT person, and someone with a Samsung Galaxy S3 that can chew through it's battery like it's nobody's business, here are a few things you can do with a droid or iphone to save on battery while still being able to use it.

1. Turn off the wireless. Since there is no wifi in the park, having the wireless chip enabled is a battery drain.

2. Turn off your mobile data. On my samsung (and i'm sure other droids and iphones as well) there is an option to turn off your mobile data. This will save you a ton of battery life, and will still allow you to receive text messages, phone calls, and can use the camera. If you absolutely must have mobile data on though, turn off push notifications and email pushing. The constant scanning for new emails and updates for your apps and what not is a constant drain on the battery.

3. Turn off the GPS. Same goes if you have a camera with GPS capability. It's a huge battery drain.

4. Turn off your bluetooth. Again that's a separate chip that needs power. So turn it off.

If you do all these and turn on mobile data only when you need it, your phone should comfortably get through the day with battery life to spare.

Thank you, that was extremely helpful! I'm going to be in DL next week and we have to pay through the nose for a roaming data plan. I was concerned about battery drain and unknown sneaky little nibbles out of my very limited data.

I was going to just use airplane mode for that data concerns but your tips for battery life were great. I have a galaxy nexus myself.