iPad battery problem and the solution

Just recently my iPad battery started running down rapidly and I knew some was amiss.

I tried all the usual things like turning off WiFi, putting it in Airplane mode but none of this made any difference. So I searched around for some hints on conserving battery life and came across these hints on About.com

10 Tips to Conserve iPad Battery Life:

They list these tips:

1. Turn Off WiFi
2. Turn Off 3G
3. Turn Off Bluetooth
4. Turn Off Data Push
5. Fetch Email Less Often
6. Turn off Location Services
7. Use Auto-Brightness
8. Reduce Screen Brightness
9. Turn Off Equalizer
10. Auto-Lock Sooner

It was that last tip that solved my problem: Auto-Lock Sooner

“You can determine how quickly the iPad's screen should lock when it hasn't been in use. The shorter the time before it locks, the less battery you'll use. To change this setting, go to Settings -> General -> Auto-Lock and choose your interval”.

It turns out I had inadvertently changed the Setting to Auto-lock> Never. So now I know Never do that...problem solved and all is sweet now.

Apple also list some other tips for conserving battery life: and add this advice:

Use Your iPad Regularly
For proper reporting of the battery’s state of charge, be sure to go through at least one charge cycle per month (charging the battery to 100% and then completely running it down).