Hi, quick question is,

I think I have to get a new battery, what's been your experience on the best value battery to get?

Or am I stuck w/ just going to the t-mobile store & buying whatever they have for blackberrys?

Or do I just need to drain my battery totally before recharging it?

I did a search but didn't find any threads talking about this – maybe I used the wrong keywords, or there just aren't any options. I looked at the FAQs but my question is not that there's some problem w/ my blackberry, but more about the type of new battery to get (I assume I need a new battery by this time).

The details:

I have had my 8700g Blackberry for about 16 months. I actually don't use it much. (just don't have much of a life I guess ) I bought it new when I needed a cell phone for the first time & got it off Amazon

I've only had it on the factory installed Lithium Ion Rechargeable Battery C-S2 (Japan)

I've only recharged w/ the plug directly thru the outlet, I haven't synced it w/ my home computer yet – one of these day, I'll get around to that. I've always followed the instructions & have only recharged it when it got down to 45% charge, except for maybe a handful of times.

I've noticed recently that, even tho I don't use it much, the battery doesn't hold a charge like it used to – seems to lose 5% a day even if I don't do anything but turn it off & on a few times to see if I have a message (& by a few, I mean, like 2-3 times, then leave it off or maybe locked).

I DO NOT get the symbol of a battery w/ a line thru it or anything, I just have to recharge it far more frequently than I have had to in the past.

I don't think anything is draining the battery. I don't think I have a lot of applications running in the background. When I hold alt and press the 'back' button only 4 icons pop up, the "message", the "call log", the "internet browser" & the house. I don't leave it in the holster or my pocket w/o turning it off or putting it on "lock".

And I don't have a lot on it to drain the power -- I only have about 30 phone #s saved in it (see? I don't have a life); I've only added a few browser locations (like yahoo, google) & reqally nothing else saved, as I don't really use it as a PDA.

Any suggestions or experiences you want to share on the right battery replacement to get will be appreciated.