LG Ally / Apex / Axis

The ally is still a great deal. Kendalish is just expecting the droid to drop in price to compete with it. They're not in the same class.

The incredible does have lower battery life, but you should still be able to get a day. here are some general tips for android (especially if you are coming from an iphone)

-Make sure you have Wifi, Bluetooth, and GPS turned off whenever you're not using them. If you intend on doing heavy browsing, use wifi, otherwise, keep it turned OFF. This can all be managed with the "power control" widget.

-Set the screen timeout delay to something usable. Generally, anything more than 1minute is going to be wasting energy as your hands should do SOMETHING to the screen within a minute if you are actively using the device.

-Disable auto brightness and set the default brightness to something you are comfortable viewing indoors. For most people this is 40% or less. NEVER use max brightness unless you are "showing off" or if you're outside and fighting the glare. The screen is the largest battery drainer, this will have the largest effect on battery life.

-If you're not using a widget, at all, Take it off your screen. Widgets consume more battery life than default apps. For example, the slacker widget is awesome, but for most users, they rarely, if ever use it. Widgets are a great option, but remember it's not for everyone. This also goes for apps that run in the background (locale, Latitude, etc) if he isn't actively using using those apps, uninstall them. They are awesome features, but they have a cost.

-He should check his battery usage indicator for apps using an insane amount of battery compared to usage. There are some battery hogs out there (the coverage map app is one of them) if an app is burning through data, uninstall it. Mark your reason as "defective" and hopefully the developer will get a clue.

-Remember that watching youtube in "High quality" is a function the current iPhone can't do. If you're watching in HQ you are consuming a lot more bandwidth than the iphone. If he is a heavy youtube watching, this could be the culprit.

-He just got the incredible, so he's most likely trying to put it through it's paces. you use the phone more, it drains faster. This is especially true if he is taking advantage of multitasking (something the iphone can't do yet) running slacker/pandora in the background while surfing the web will chew through battery life. it will do the SAME THING on OS4.0 with the iPhone.

I have the moto droid and at the end of the day I am at 40-50% battery with moderate to heavy usage (everything but calls). I know the incredible is more battery hungry, and the battery is kind of small for the device, but most people I know get a full day out of it by managing their battery. Remember, out of the box, android is configured for Speed, not for battery conservation.