BlackBerry Forums Support Community

rjd75 · 09-02-2011, 06:27 PM

So I have had my 9900 for a few days, I was all excited about it but it really has some issues compared to my 9700 running OS6. Interested to hear from others on Telus.

Battery Life

Where do I start? I can't even get a full 8 hr business day out of the battery and that is with barely any usage. Mostly emails coming in a few bbms and a few phone calls and the battery was in the red by 3pm?? Towards the end of my time with my 9700 I was getting about a 1.5days and I thought that was bad!

Signal Quality

After hours is when I need my phone the most. On weekends I am usually in the Barrie/Orillia area on Lake Simcoe. Previously on my 9700 the signal was not the greatest but I was always able to get calls and data. This 9900 is constantly on 1 bar and dropping out. Calls droppings etc. Totally unacceptable.

Task Switcher issue

As others have mentioned for some reason this new OS constantly throws you in to the task switcher and you can't get out of it as you normally would by hitting the end key.

The Weathernetwork Weather Eye App

I rely on this thing all the time for my weather, for wind patterns etc.. The 9900 version constantly turns off the auto locate feature. Also, since the signal is so weak the app constantly stalls trying to update because it can't get data and then throws an exception error. Really annoying and something i never have experiencied before and I have owned pretty much Every blackberry since 2003.

This 9900 needs an OS update bad, I am a big fan of BB's the 9900 is fantastic for typing with my big hands, but these issues make it unusable and unreliable for me. I need something that works and has a battery that lasts.

devnull · 09-02-2011, 06:33 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rjd75

This 9900 needs an OS update bad,

There is already two OS updates listed at the top of the 9900 forum.

rjd75 · 09-03-2011, 06:16 AM

I checked the Telus site prior to posting and 261 was still the only version. I don't want to bother with some half baked asian vodafone OS. I will wait for the official Telus release of a new OS.

Motorcycle Mama · 09-03-2011, 06:18 AM

Saying "some half baked asian vodafone OS" indicates that you do not understand how the BlackBerry OS releases and versions work.

All the OS versions are made by RIM and released to the carriers.

devnull · 09-03-2011, 06:20 AM

Half baked? LOL

donovanj · 09-03-2011, 07:24 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Motorcycle Mama

Saying "some half baked asian vodafone OS" indicates that you do not understand how the BlackBerry OS releases and versions work.

All the OS versions are made by RIM and released to the carriers.

Or maybe he understands too well. It has been a LONG time since BB released a non half baked os build!

devnull · 09-03-2011, 09:54 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by donovanj

Or maybe he understands too well. It has been a LONG time since BB released a non half baked os build!

Really? A long time?

NJBlackBerry · 09-03-2011, 11:33 AM

I hate when BB (who is that anyway) release Asian crappy half baked OS.
The musings of someone with a 9000...

Wow.

Cooper · 09-03-2011, 11:56 AM

I'm confused but that's shitty you're experiencing so many issues.

I've had none of what you have experienced. I get great signal (Maybe Telus is just a POS, I left them for Rogers) the battery lasts a day (I get emails phone calls, bbms and texts plus I usually listen to almost an hour of music a day)

Get the latest OS available, who cares if Telus doesn't have it yet? Do you understand how these things work?

rjd75 · 09-03-2011, 05:58 PM

Thanks for the kind words from all of the wizards on here, I realize that they are developed by RIM and for the most part they are just carrier branded, but I would prefer to wait for the Telus release. I wouldn't be surprised if there are some differences as they all need to be carrier certified and if its so straight forward, why don't all of the carriers release the new version? I guess some of them maybe troll these forums and enjoy watching there customers complain and have to load asian vodafone OSs versions to make their bb work on their network. After they have suffered enough, they give in and realease their version.. I will just wait and hope things get better, or maybe call in to Telus support to atleast let them know..

stevew · 09-03-2011, 10:15 PM

Wow...

You do realize that this is a forum, where people come for help? The latest leaked beta resolves many, many issues - for many users, me included. You can wait it out until you get the exact same "half-baked" leaked OS (.353) that I have and am using quite successfully - and maybe it will show up on Telus within 6 months. The reason things take so long to certify, is only because carriers really don't give a damn, as long as they're have something posted on the site - and they only test when they have time, which they generally don't. Testing isn't really a very scientific process at any of the carriers - no more than consumers testing them. Good luck with that one.

2nd, Weather Eye is a piece of shit on any OS, on any day. It's not RIM, but the developer who wrote Weather eye that has the issue. They haven't got a clue when it comes to writing apps. I have spoken to them before - they're complete morons on a good day. If you knew anything about that app, that you so heavily rely on, you'd also know that it's a battery hog, and having it update every 30 minutes will only eat more battery. You'd also know that it has frequent issues. My 9900 with every OS ever released, beta, leaked or otherwise, has never thrown exception errors. Weather Eye just has issues on every single OS/BB. if also has lousy reviews on App World.

3rd, the 9900 battery life stinks - period. Get a 2nd or 3rd battery and a battery charger bundle, which works from A/C or in a vehicle. I have both of the above.

4th, there's no issue with the task switcher. I use it all the time - and if I want to end it, I can hit either the escape or end button and it ends, period

Maybe you should load the latest leaked OS...instead of whining about .261 being so bad.

rjd75 · 09-04-2011, 06:07 AM

You are missing my point.. The majority of bb users are business people who need a phone that works reliably, not kids BBMing each other and listening to music, and reloading their phones every week with the latest leaked OS. That may be really cool to some of you on here, but I can assure that the majority of Bay St. financiers and the like don't search the net for a leaked OS. If RIM wants to tout that they have a niche in the enterprise market, than they need to release products that work properly out of the box.

In regards to Weather eye, it has worked flawlessly without effecting battery life on my 9700 and I yes I know how it works and yes I had it set to update every 15mins, same on my wife's first gen torch to this day.

Carrying a second battery? Are you serious? I am using a smart phone in 2011 not a Motorola brick phone in 1989. I would sooner toss this phone and go back to a 9700 than have to carry a second battery. The good news is that I am on my fifth or so charge now and things seem to have drastically improved so hopefully it will only get better with more charging cycles and OS updates. Still doesn't solve my signal issue though, many time I looked at it yesterday and had the SOS.

Task switcher might not be an issue on your leaked OS but it sure is on .261

stevew · 09-04-2011, 07:01 AM

I didn't miss the point.

I am a businessman myself, owning and controlling a multi-million dollar CDN based CE distribution organization. If you are a businessman - and are on here searching for solutions to your problem...you more than have the time to resolve the issue as millions of others online have and do as well.

You are on here as I write this at 8am on a Sunday. You have time.

In 1985, I was as well in business and I had a Motorola 9500XL, with 3 additional batteries. It was reality then, as it is now. Most Smartphones today will not make it through a day under heavy usage on a single charge. Some BB's have better battery than others. The 9900 isn't one of them.

Again, your issue with Weather Eye is particular to that developer, so if you choose to live with that product, you will live with those issues.

Your signal issue isn't going to get any better; the 9900 has poorer signal quality then the 97xx. Toss your phone and go back to your 9700, because this is as good as it gets.

NJBlackBerry · 09-04-2011, 07:27 AM

Not only do I carry a second battery (and I am not a BBMing kid), but we supply them to all of our senior executives (especially those that have Android phones - they REALLY need them).

Motorcycle Mama · 09-04-2011, 08:01 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rjd75

You are missing my point.. The majority of bb users are business people who need a phone that works reliably, not kids BBMing each other and listening to music, and reloading their phones every week with the latest leaked OS. That may be really cool to some of you on here, but I can assure that the majority of Bay St. financiers and the like don't search the net for a leaked OS. If RIM wants to tout that they have a niche in the enterprise market, than they need to release products that work properly out of the box.
......

Task switcher might not be an issue on your leaked OS but it sure is on .261

You seem to be confusing "leaked" OS versions and officially released OS versions from carriers others than your own.

stevew · 09-04-2011, 10:06 AM

He's confusing a lot of things...and making assumptions based on his feelings, rather than the facts.

When he states that "If RIM wants to tout that they have a niche in the enterprise market, than they need to release products that work properly out of the box.", he doesn't take into account that they actually DO own the enterprise market, and that they've been releasing product into that market for years, always facing the same issues on every new release. He's just whining and looking for reasons to complain rather than address the issues. Not much of a "businessman" mindset IMO.

My only issue with a 2nd battery now, is my Otterbox case on my 9900. The stupid thing is so hard to get on and off, it takes several minutes to swap batteries now, instead of seconds...LOL

My 9780 Otterbox commuter case would take literally 2 seconds to remove and 4 to put back on.

Oh well - at least my 9900 boots in under a minute -

Beef · 09-05-2011, 08:08 AM

Wow, I think you all are being a bit hard on @rjd75. Since when is it unacceptable for a consumer to be critical when a product has got some flagrant bugs out of the box... The 9900 does have a task switcher bug which requires a battery pull, and it's annoying as hell.

Personally, I also expected a lot more for my $600, especially when its touted as coming with a major OS upgrade (fail!).

stevew · 09-05-2011, 10:09 AM

I disagree. For the most part, this device isn't any more buggy than it's predecessors on their previous release, much like any OS for computers/servers etc...

There really are no glaring hardware faults in the device, nothing in software that can't or won't be addressed within the next few months.

Paying $600 for a device - or $150 for an upgrade, as many have done...doesn't mean you're going to get a perfect device out of the box. It just doesn't happen that way, not on BlackBerry's, iPHONES, Andriod/Windows devices etc...

These devices get 10's if not 100's of software upgrades throughout their life...just like the OS on any computer.

There are those that deal with it and work towards resolving the issues - and there are those that just come to the forum to whine and xxxxx about how they spent their $600 and have issues, instead of addressing the them.

There is NO issue with the task switcher on more recent f/w updates. Update your phone and the problem goes away. So either you can complain about it being annoying, or fix it by upgrading your f/w, which today, can be done be anyone using the DM with no real skill set required.

If that doesn't suit you, you can always go buy an iPHONE and deal with Apple's buggy IOS on ilounge.com. Nothing will change --

Jagga · 09-05-2011, 10:58 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rjd75

So I have had my 9900 for a few days, I was all excited about it but it really has some issues compared to my 9700 running OS6. Interested to hear from others on Telus.

Battery Life

Where do I start? I can't even get a full 8 hr business day out of the battery and that is with barely any usage. Mostly emails coming in a few bbms and a few phone calls and the battery was in the red by 3pm?? Towards the end of my time with my 9700 I was getting about a 1.5days and I thought that was bad!

Although the first 2days I'd agree, after fully discharging and charging by wall-socket (since out the box no pre-charge initial use) my 9900's battery life has lasted a 12hr day - with WLAN on all the data being used over WLAN; 15 emails every 10mins like clockwork at the on-site support desk, browsing etc. I see no difference between it or my 16GB iPhone 4.

Quote:

Originally Posted by rjd75

Signal Quality

After hours is when I need my phone the most. On weekends I am usually in the Barrie/Orillia area on Lake Simcoe. Previously on my 9700 the signal was not the greatest but I was always able to get calls and data. This 9900 is constantly on 1 bar and dropping out. Calls droppings etc. Totally unacceptable.

Coverage | Plans | TELUS Mobility

Although Telus claims 3G coverage over Lake Simcoe, entirely ... we ALL know that water dissipates radio waves of any kind quite quickly. Sorry but I would NOT expect ANY cellphone to have coverage in Lake Simcoe or any large body of water similar in that size or greater; maybe a pond. Did you try a manual search for other carriers as a blind test to see if its Telus vs the device?

Quote:

Originally Posted by rjd75

Task Switcher issue

As others have mentioned for some reason this new OS constantly throws you in to the task switcher and you can't get out of it as you normally would by hitting the end key.

Odd, why would you use the "end" key to escape from the task switcher, why not try the escape key or the menu key both should work, if not either. There is usually an alternative so this is just nit-picking based on habits. I know because I tend to do that too.

Quote:

Originally Posted by rjd75

The Weathernetwork Weather Eye App

never used this so I cannot comment.

Quote:

Originally Posted by rjd75

This 9900 needs an OS update bad, I am a big fan of BB's the 9900 is fantastic for typing with my big hands, but these issues make it unusable and unreliable for me. I need something that works and has a battery that lasts.

I feel for you. I do recommend a firmware update - not from the carrier to see how it fairs. I also suggest manual network searching the next weekender fishing on Simcoe, beautiful lake I've heard. Lastly, continue to drain and charge - 2x at least - and see how battery life lasts.

the-economist · 09-06-2011, 06:32 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rjd75

The majority of bb users are business people who need a phone that works reliably, not kids BBMing each other and listening to music

Actually if you had bothered to attend any of the Earnings Conference Calls scheduled rather frequently by RIM you would have heard Jim Balsillie in the flesh making it crystal clear that the consumer userbase has long outnumbered the enterprise space. The rate of growth is also sky high compared to the corporate world that has even declined in some cases. Haven't you noticed a rather aggressive move towards media rich apps? Haven't you noticed that stupid avatar design app made by RIM?!
How to create your own BlackBerry Avatar! «Inside BlackBerry - The Official BlackBerry Blog

Who do you think this waste of man hours targets? A 62 year old CFO or a 19 year old teenie?

Get with the times..

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Dissappointed with 9900 on Telus - many issues