Hacker News Reader

Comment by w1ntermute | Hacker News Reader

> However, I'm quite curious about the battery life impact. So far the N4 isn't a champion in this category. Adding LTE..

Just get a bigger battery. I got a 3900 mAh extended battery for my Verizon LTE Galaxy Nexus from Mugen Power[0]. Now my phone can run for 2.5 days without any problems. After a week, I didn't even notice the added thickness.

0: http://www.mugen-power-batteries.com/mugen-power-3900mah-ext...

View on HN

The Nexus 4 has a sealed battery. Upgrading will be a bit tougher.

Wow, why is everyone jumping to copy Apple? I just bought a Lenovo Thinkpad X1 Carbon, and the battery, RAM, and SSD are all non-removable. I had to pay a huge premium to increase the RAM to the maximum of 8 GB, whereas in the past I would've bought it with the minimum amount and then upgraded it myself with aftermarket RAM purchased from Newegg or Amazon at a discount. I left the storage at 128 GB, so I'm going to have to carry around an external HDD. It's a really ugly trend in the industry.

I think you just answered the question yourself.

The extra profit from pre-emptive upgrades is probably cancelled out by the increased cost of warranty repairs. Repairs get more complicated, more costly, and more consumers end up having their devices swapped out where previously individual parts could have been replaced.

I think it's more so a side-effect of the relentless push for smaller, thinner devices.

That aligns with the priorities of most consumers. The average consumer is not going to upgrade their hardware — at least, not themselves — but they do want a sleek, slim design.

I don't think the 1-yr warranty claim rate is a needle-moving issue. Quality isn't it that bad. And extended warranties more than pay for themselves. The upgrade price for RAM basically includes the cost of repair and some extra room.

>The extra profit from pre-emptive upgrades is probably cancelled out by the increased cost of warranty repairs.

This is exactly the calculation apple has done; they now deem RAM to be reliable enough to not have a significant impact on warranty claim expenses. This is why they did not solder the (much less mature tech) SSD.

>I think it's more so a side-effect of the relentless push for smaller, thinner devices.

I think this is naive, personally. The extra 3d space of a RAM module on a laptop is minute. The size is a nice bonus. Also i'd bet a very significant chunk of macbook Pro owners upgraded their RAM.

I would imagine it is legitimately cheaper to design and manufacturer the devices this way.

Personally wrt phones, I consider needing a third-party battery for normal use a failure on the manufacturer's part and buy something else.

(FWIW I use a Razr M, which also has a sealed battery. Remarkable little phone.)

It's sealed, but screws on the bottom make it easy to replace.

But not easily replace with a higher capacity battery, given how various elements of the antenna are built into the back surface.

Not the battery, the battery is glued on to the case with a good amount of adhesive which requires a lot of prying.

Source: http://www.ifixit.com/Teardown/Nexus+4+Teardown/11781/2

Reply on news.ycombinator.com