Pattikate-
Like your friend I came from a regular phone into the smartphone world- with a D2G. I may never use the global part of it, but did want an external keyboard. The day I went into Verizon for it, they said the D2 was no longer available. They never mentioned a D1, nor did I see one there.
I was very disappointed with it until last week. (I purchased it a week before Christmas.) The stock battery wouldn't last but a very few hours with very little use. I tried everything I could find without rooting. I downloaded apps, tweaked settings, deleted widgets and apps, still no luck. My phone would loose 10% every 2 hours at work with absolutely no usage.
I finally rooted it and installed Fission ROM 2.4.3. Still no luck with the battery. I tried a free cpu manager but didn't know how to adjust the settings correctly. Then I read NiceGuysFinishLast's write-up on these forums. At his suggestion, I installed SetCPU and used his settings.
Now the phone lasts like I expected it to at first. With the same usage as pre-rooting, I now leave work with 50% or more left compared to 20% or less before.
The funny thing is, I hear so many different people with so many different stories about their batteries. It seems that no 2 people get the same amount of time out of their batteries, no matter how much usage they have.
So tell your friend- maybe you will get good battery life, maybe not! I'm sure there are settings that can make much difference. This is new to me, so I don't know what to do with some of them.
Good luck for your friend! Hope this helps a little.