Sprint HTC Hero :: Conserving Battery Power?

I am ISO methods to conserve battery power on my Sprint HTC Hero.

I posted this thread in the Applications Forum:

WiFi - On & Off - Toggle App? Which is the best one?

ISO of a WiFi Toggle Switch so that I can turn WiFi On and Off as to avoid wasting precious battery power when I don't need to be searching for a WiFi connection.

Having this always on uses more battery consumption.

Correct?

Also, when Apps check for updates every 30 minutes vs. 4 hours, this consumes more battery power.

Correct?

So, here are some thoughts I have to reduce batter power:

Facebook Widget

I have the Facebook App and downloaded as well as the Facebook Widget.

See this video for info on the Facebook App:

www. youtube. com/watch?v=KcCpmwzL4T4
(remove spaces, I don't want to embed video here)

Questions

The facebook widget is pretty cool. It instantly updates my friends status and there's a quick-add update status text box.

However, I had the settings to check for updates every 30 minutes. Reduced this to 4 hours, but that was pointless since 4 hours is such a long interval I wound up going directly to the main Feed Home page to see the status updates list.

Is adding the Facebook Widget consuming more battery power because it's always on the Scene page, always running, always checking for updates?

Would removing the Facebook Widget save battery power?

I could simply make a shortcut for the Facebook App and open it when I want to waste time on Facebook to see how vain, narcissistic, and attention-starved my friends and colleagues are.

So, my key question here is would removing the Facebook App and only opening the program when I need it save battery power?

Twitter App

There's two options to place on the Scene. One is just a simple text update box, the other actually has a feed.

I'm using the former. Hence, it's not updating feeds and it's only being used when I enter text and hit send update to Twitter.

Also, I think I have my settings set not to check for updates.

I assume that because I'm using the non-Live-Feed option Widget on my Scene, this is not constantly checking for updates, and hence, not consuming a lot of battery power?

Correct?

Instant Messaging Programs

I have the Google Talk App, an Instant Messenger App (which has AIM, Yahoo, and MSN), and I recently downloaded the Meebo App (which has all of this plus others, including Facebook chat).

Meebo IM v21 Application for Android | Communication

I assume that by not running my IM App, or my Meebo IM App, and turning this off, this will save battery power. Correct?

Or, is it only consuming more power when I receive an incoming message. I imagine that the Meebo App, being connected to so many IM services, including Facebook, might be consuming more.

So, not leaving this on 24/7 would probably use less battery power.

Correct?

GMail App and Mail App for IMAP/POP

I have my GMail App setup. I'm getting notified each time I have an email in my Gmail Inbox. I've created a label - Inbox2 - to skip the inbox - for messages I want to read, but don't want to be instantly notified of.

I've decided not to use the Mail App - Connecting my Fastmail IMAP account on my phone because I believe this would involve running a second Mail App constantly checking for inbound mail updates.

See my post on Email and Mobile here:

http://androidforums.com/android-tips-tricks/15153-email-advanced-android-use-gmail-google-apps-fastmail-mail-clients-etc.html

By using only the GMail App and not using the Mail App for IMAP/POP, this is probably consuming less battery power.

Correct?

Question

What other steps, tips and tricks, can be taken to consume less battery power on the Sprint HTC Hero?