Two Battery Cases For the iPhone

I am a big battery guy. The more battery life the better. But my iPhone 2G going on two years, the battery while still pretty good, isn't what it used to be. Well, I have no way of telling for sure and I've done a pretty good job taking are of it.

On the other hand, my mom used and abused her iPhone and now her battery life, by my estimate, is half what it was and started complaining about it.

So, I went ahead and ordered a couple of battery cases. It was not an easy decision since I've heard both good and bad things on just about every model out there. To make the story short, I decided on two models.

• Mili Battery Pack from Phone Suit.
• Fastmac iV from Fastmac.

My thinking at the time was that with two iPhones, it is more prudent to order two different battery cases in case one of them does not live up to my expectations. So, what do I think?

Only the Mili Battery Pack arrived. Today. I'm on my first charge and here are preliminary thoughts:

• Good design. Nice curves and fits the iPhone 3G nice and snug, as many reviews on the Web indicated. But oh, wait, you said. You've got an iPhone 2G. That's right. And bummer. While they advertised it works with the original iPhone, it didn't fit tightly as the iPhone 3G.
• I've been play around with it since about 3PM this afternoon, push notifications only, e-mailing, surfing the Web, and listening to music. I've depleted about 50% of the Mili battery pack.
• Need to really push the iPhone hard into the case so the pins are touching. Otherwise, the iPhone will tell you that the accessory wasn't made to be used with it.
• Yes, it is bulky. More than anything I've ever had. It's about the size of the old Gameboy. But holding something with the added weight certainly brings a different mobile experience. I kept it in my pants pocket and the iPhone with the battery pack never made me forget it was there.

As for the Fastmac iV, I'm still waiting for it to get here and with Veterans Day tomorrow, I don't expect it until Thursday or Friday. The iV is bigger but it has a larger battery but I don't want to get into it until I've had a couple of days with it.

If you're interested, google other reviews and see if the Mili or iV is for you. Again, I am always pushing for longer battery life. I don't think just because we go mobile, we have made compromises like rationing power usage.

A better review of the Mili Battery Pack is forthcoming. But I'm impressed with the change in attitude about battery life and how I've started using the iPhone more and more in just a few hours with the battery pack.