I will agree, battery life is not the greatest with this phone, however I've been carrying a spare battery since the BB Storm 1 days. You can get a spare battery, plus wall charger (The kind you just put the battery into) on eBay for about $20. The battery is light and pretty thin, I throw it in my back pocket with my wallet, and charge it at the end of the night with my phone. 2 regular batteries and I can be on the DPro pretty much all day and not have to worry about battery life, plus my case/holster still work.
It's preference though. I personally would rather go through the little bit of trouble of swapping out a battery once a day then deal with the extra bulk, and wait on special cases to come out.
To the OP:
The simple answer is read through the forums. You'll gain tidbits of knowledge here and there, and get good suggestions on apps from reading other people's posts. I have mixed feelings on some of the "Tips" people are giving for maximizing battery life, as far as killing applications. Tops you'll get an extra hour out of your device, not really worth it. I would adjust the brightness of you phone down a little, and either set the screen timeout faster, or get in the habit of hitting the power button when you're done looking at the device.
If you're willing to root your device, I would recommend removing the "Bloat" (Programs pre-installed by Verizon) simply because they're taking up space, and you'll never use them. Also after rooting download Wireless Tether from the Market. Turn your phone into a HotSpot without the VZW fees.
The Pro is a great phone, but only You can customize it to the way You want. Just play around with it, and get to know it. And welcome!
