So the minus sign closes it rather than deletes it?
That's handy to know for when my browser crashes

Thanks

yes, they are all open, and eating battery.

You click the minus to close them - indeed it looks exactly like deleting an app

For those of you with an iPad that aren't familiar with the iPhone, et al. I was given another tip today that I couldn't figure out previously. If you hold down the off button, you will get a message to totally power down and reboot the iPad. I had no idea this was an option, although I looked for something to do just that before.

Its a matter of configuration. If you switch off location services, wifi, 3g, your ipad can go for some 2 days of full day usage with no problem.

I've got a trans atlantic flight coming up...in coach...ugh. I'm counting on my iPad 2 to get me through most of the flight, so i need another power source. I'm looking at those recommended here thus far, but wanted to bump this thread and see if anyone else is using an external battery that they would recommend.

I currently use one from here

http://www.tekkeon.com/products-mobile-pwr.html

others have mentioned this

http://www.mophie.com/

and then there is amazon

http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_no...ronics&x=0&y=0

Oh wow, I never knew this and just tried it. Apparently I had about 15 apps still open and never knew about it. Hopefully my battery life will be much longer now.

Be sure to go into airplane mode and turn off location services - that will help too!

I have the New Trent IMP1000 charger which works really well:
http://www.amazon.com/New-Trent-iCru.../dp/B003ZBZ64Q

It is essentially a big battery pack with a USB port. It comes with several adapters including a mini usb (e.g. for cameras), an iPad/iPod connector, etc. A full pack can charge an iPhone multiple times or an iPad2 at least once fully (I have never had the chance to try more). Of note, I don't think it supplies quite as much amperage as an iPad 2 expects and thus sometimes the iPad will report "not charging" but rest assured it is slowly trickling in.

I had an APC battery pack which stopped holding a charge within one year. I've had the New Trent pack for a while now and it hasn't lost any notable charge. Also, when I lost the AC adapter, customer service was willing to send one to me free of charge as a gesture of good will.

Shutting down apps usually will not make a significant difference unless you are running an app that is really doing something in the background like checking the internet or playing audio.

The biggest thing that will improve battery life for most people will be to reduce the brightness of the screen.

Also, on an airplane consider pointing the air conditioner at the iPad. It'll run cooler and might help a little bit. This really helps with laptops by reducing fan usage.

It probably shouldn't matter since your iPad will be in airplane mode, but turning off WiFi, 3G, data, etc can also help a lot, as others have mentioned.

those are recently used apps, not running apps, with the most recently used leftmost in the list.

the only apps that run in the background are gps navigation, streaming audio, voip apps and apps that request additional time to complete a task (such as uploading photos to flickr).

everything else is 'frozen' until it's resumed. quitting them will make no difference whatsoever to battery life unless it's one of the above categories. some of them have already been quit by the system if they haven't been run in a while and the memory was needed by another app, even though the icon is still there.

I have had a few different battery packs over the past couple of years. Quality varies a lot by brand. I bought an Energi to Go pack from xpal and it has held up well. Their web site is http://www.energizerpowerpacks.com/us/?
PT

I've never been let down by this product http://richardsolo.com/9000mahmobilecharger.aspx

Thanks for the info. Will have to switch to airplane mode in a couple of hours anyways for my flight to CDG.

Aah gotcha. Some of the apps that I closed were ones such as Google Maps, wi-fi finder, etc. Just did the same thing this morning to my iPhone as there were apps that I used (Lingopal, Athens Walks, etc.) when I was in Europe last month.

I second the Trent 1100 battery pack. I picked it up for a month long trip to Europe and it worked perfectly. I would charge it overnight as needed and for the iphone it was easier to recharge it in my backpack while I was out sightseeing. I have recommended it to several people who have also had great results.

Fully charged it can charge an iPad once or an iPhone up to 6 times. It takes about 9-10 hours to charge the iPad which I found to be about the same speed it discharged in use (ie the battery charge stayed the same if charging while in use or slowly charged if not in use). It seemed to charge the iPhone 4 faster than being plugged into a wall socket.

It has a USB connection so you can plug anything that charges via USB into it. It's packaged with a self-coiling cord and several dongles for most types of USB connections (micro, mini, etc). You need your own Apple USB cable, though.

Also, a quick note on the open apps. I don't believe they are using battery power, just memory space. iOS saves what you were last doing in them so you can reopen to the same spot. You need to check Settings/Options to see what apps are allowed to provide notifications and other battery eaters.

Is it safe to assume the Trent 500 http://www.newtrent.com/iPhone4S-4-3...y-p/imp500.htm has the same functionality as the 1000, just shorter (38 hr v. 50 hr for iPhone) battery life?