[Helomaniac]

I love my 8300 but am on my second because the trackball failed in two directions on my 4 month old Curve. Cingy replaced it under warranty and now the new one is playing similar games after only 2 months. I read about cleaning the ball in the FAQ's but don't want to take the phone apart while under warranty. I will return this one too but I am wondering if this is going to be a perpetual problem, does everyone have trouble with these? I hate to give up on BB due they have a fix? Thanks.

[zerog46]

Do you carry your BB in your pocket, that can cause a lot of lint and debree in your BB.

[ScottMB4]

You dont need to neccesarily take apart the Blackberry to clean the trackball. Try buying yourself a can of compressed air and blowing out the trackball a bit. See if that does the trick.

[Helomaniac]

I do carry it in my pocket, lost one out of the holder before and found this safe. May have to go to a holster now, thanks for the tip. I will also try to blow it out with compressed air, thanks for that. I will let you know if it works, I really appreciate this forum.

[John Clark]

RIM says the way to fix a trackball that doesn't roll in a certain direction is simply to push down on it and roll in the direction that's not working. I usually turn off the device, lock the keyboard or put it in standby first. It works every time.

[Sandman1967]

my 8300 is not even 4 months old and I have no select on my trackball. it still rolls up and down and left and right.

[YaiMMaKoOLkiiD]

i absolutely hate the trackball idea-- from my experiences with my sidekick 3. i owned an SK3 a couple months shy of a year, before upgrading to the curve. on my sidekick, sometimes my trackball wouldnt work at all! i completely had to go without on, for days on end, before it randomly decided to work again. my trackball on my curve works fine [for now], but i know the defectiveness (is that even a word? LoL) is merely around the corner. -sigh-

[John Clark]

The Blackberry is NOT a SideKick.

[zkyevolved]

I have this problem. I just press REALLY hard on it as JClark says and roll it around and it always works for me. It's probably due to somethign getting inside of it, but since it only happens like once a month, I don't bother even opening it up when I can just "quick fix it" by pressing hard, and that takes all of 6 seconds.

[luc-mobile]

Well, one drawback I see is that although I haven't had my trackball get stuck with dirt, it seems that the ball is losing traction steadily. I mean, scrolling has been requiring more and more vigorous rolls to work.

Also, I often have trouble accessing an odd hyperlink here and there in the BB browser. The "cursor" or focus will go everywhere except to the link I want to click.

Editing spreadsheet cells is not easy either. Quite some marksmanship is needed.

[YaiMMaKoOLkiiD]

Wirelessly posted (BlackBerry8320/4.2.2 Profile/MIDP-2.0 Configuration/CLDC-1.1 VendorID/100)

Originally Posted by John Clark

The Blackberry is NOT a SideKick.

.. And actually, I never said it was, so I'm failing to understand how that comment has anything to do with what I originally posted. I was simply citing the similarities between the two devices, being as though they both have trackballs, and both exhibit the same drawbacks. Thanks.

[John Clark]

I had the Pearl since the day it came out. I used it hard for a year. Never had a problem (except the occasional lint from my pocket in it--and the pushing and rolling always fixed it on the few occasions that it happened.) I've had the 8320 since it came out and never a problem. For me the trackball has been no trouble at all. Also, I use keyboard shortcuts whenever possible. When I want my mail I hit "M" for Messages, then I hit "U" to go to the first unread message, hit "enter" to open, use the space bar to read down, hit delete then "M" to delete from mailbox and handheld and hit "U" again to go to the next unread. I can pick up my BB, and read all my emails without ever touching my trackball.

You can't compare one device to another and say that since one failed that the other will fail. Even my pearl had a different trackball (rolled very smooth) than my 8320 (is rough feeling.) They made them rough so that there would be fewer lint problems. I've never had a sidekick apart but in the BB there is very little that can go bad with the trackball. The only thing that can happen (and has) is that the contact on the circuit board can flatten out and not click anymore.

[Helomaniac]

I tried cleaning and pushing hard but I still couldn't get the trackball to work to the left. I called AT&T and the csr said they see lots of trouble with them. I am sending it back since it is only two months old. I like the shortcut ideas J but when I hit M I don't get messages I get all the M's in my phonebook. I will try to figure out some of those good shortcuts.

[John Clark]

For keyboard shortcuts you need to disable "dial from home screen." Go to Phone (press green phone button) >Options >General Options. Set "dial from home screen" to No.

As far as the trackball not scrolling you need to turn the device off, push and roll in the direction it's not working. Works every time for me.

[Helomaniac]

Thanks for the shortcut trick, works great. Maybe I can start using the trackball less.

[John Clark]

There are lots of shortcut tricks. Grab a copy of this:

Stinsonddog's Blackberry Tips

[greggebhardt]

Most trackball issues are from debris. Carry your BB in your pocket is an sure way to have problems. I Know, I Know, now the one who do carry in the pocket will say I have never had problems. Great for you but not for everyone!

[pinhead]

Originally Posted by Helomaniac

I love my 8300 but am on my second because the trackball failed in two directions on my 4 month old Curve. Cingy replaced it under warranty and now the new one is playing similar games after only 2 months. I read about cleaning the ball in the FAQ's but don't want to take the phone apart while under warranty. I will return this one too but I am wondering if this is going to be a perpetual problem, does everyone have trouble with these? I hate to give up on BB due they have a fix? Thanks.

I don't really like the trackball idea much at all. It is annoying to use for scrolling, not always very accurate, and it can get very dirty in a short period of time. Mine is still pretty white, since I haven't been using my 8310 as I prefer my Kaiser for now (w/ BB Connect, of course ), but everyone I know with a BlackBerry has a trackball that is now nearly black even though it was once white.

[ubizmo]

I also had problems with the Sidekick 3 trackball, but only after about 18 months of heavy use. I never kept it in my pocket, always in a case. The trackball of my Curve may or may not be designed better; I just don't know. I do like the feel of it, but that means nothing. A potential problem is that there can be tiny amounts of oils on the thumb, from handling food, for example, and even though you may be careful to keep your hands clean, some of this residue can get onto the trackball, and from there onto the bearings underneath it. That makes lint/dust particles more likely to stick to those bearings.

My BB "hygiene" routine is the same as what I used for my Sidekick. I have those alcohol-moistened lens wipes that you use to clean eyeglasses. I open one up and first use it to clean the trackball, then the screen and keyboard and the rest of the device. Then I clean my glasses! I do that pretty much every day. I also use a can of compressed air to blow the dust out from around the trackball, between the keys, and out of the other apertures on the device.

Unlike the Sidekick, I do carry the Curve in my pocket, but in the OEM holster, so the trackball isn't exposed. Actually, I move it around a lot, from shirt pocket to trouser pocket, etc. I don't know if this will cause trouble in the long run.