Moderator: Travel Technology, Travel Photography and JetBlue
Join Date: Apr 2001
Location: NYC
Posts: 29,419
I have my Tour and rather enjoy it. There were a couple buttons that were starting to go on my old 8830 and I like that the new one doesn't have that problem yet.
I am rather annoyed that the headphone jack is larger to accommodate the stereo headphones. So my old wired hands-free no longer works and getting a replacement when I inevitably lose the one they gave me will be a pain. Also, either the jack on the phone or the headphones they gave me is busted. It only works if I hold it slightly out. I'll be taking it back first thing tomorrow to get that dealt with.
The new BB Tour is awesome in most aspects...better keyboard, faster processor (at least twice as fast) incredible screen, WAY more memory, more intuitive interface, better camera
The one downside that absolutely drives me crazy is their placement of the USB charging port. They put it on the right side directly where your hand goes. it makes it virtually impossible to use it with it plugged in. This is a major annoyance, but given the other pluses, I will keep it.
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Quote:
Originally Posted by luv2buynfly
The new BB Tour is awesome in most aspects...better keyboard, faster processor (at least twice as fast) incredible screen, WAY more memory, more intuitive interface, better camera
Agreed. I even tested some videos I converted for use on my iPhone 3G on the Tour, and they look absolutely wonderful.
And yes, the micro USB port location was a bit of a boner move. But I'm living with it nicely for all else it does so well.
The new BB Tour is awesome in most aspects...better keyboard, faster processor (at least twice as fast) incredible screen, WAY more memory, more intuitive interface, better camera
The one downside that absolutely drives me crazy is their placement of the USB charging port. They put it on the right side directly where your hand goes. it makes it virtually impossible to use it with it plugged in. This is a major annoyance, but given the other pluses, I will keep it.
Hah! Designed for a lefty. Now I gotta get me one
__________________ PorkRind - The Crunchy Other White Meat ByProduct
I'm using a Storm, but the Verizon Global Support point is still valid.
I chose to call in to downgrade my global plan upon my return from a trip rather than schedule it ahead of time. I flew SYD-ICN-LAX-PHX. All flights took place on July 11. I used data in SYD that morning. I used data in ICN that evening. When I got to LAX, I called and downgraded while in the airport waiting for my connection to PHX.
I got my bill and was charged the $0.02/1KB for the usage in ICN. I called and had a fun time fighting this. Basically, because I downgraded on the 11th, all usage on the 11th was charged to the standard domestic data plan. The SYD usage on the occurred on the 10th PHX time but the ICN usage occurred at 02:00am on 11th in PHX.
Took a lot of insistence - the standard support line only offered to cover half the $35 data usage,. I got global support to cover it all. They said I should have waited a day to downgrade and that is what I will do going forward. I shot back that they bill usage in fairly granular 1KB and 1 minute increments, why must my rate plan usage be in 24 hour home area increments? They didn't have any answer for that one except to repeat themselves.
The salesman really hadn't sold many Ozones but he did state that all future Verizon BBs would have wifi.
This is patently false and unproven. Verizon purposely defeats the wifi in the blackberry's. The Curve has the potential (obviously AT&T has it), but its been defeated in the Verizon version. If "future Verizon BBs would have wifi" then they would have put it in existing BBs.
Note to add that I would never believe any Verizon salesman on their future plans. Every Verizon salesman thinks they have secret insider information. If you want insider info (or close to it), check out boygeniusreport.com online.
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Quote:
Originally Posted by bkafrick
This is patently false and unproven. Verizon purposely defeats the wifi in the blackberry's. The Curve has the potential (obviously AT&T has it), but its been defeated in the Verizon version. If "future Verizon BBs would have wifi" then they would have put it in existing BBs.
Note to add that I would never believe any Verizon salesman on their future plans. Every Verizon salesman thinks they have secret insider information. If you want insider info (or close to it), check out boygeniusreport.com online.
How would you like your crow cooked?
Quote:
Back in May we scooped the fact that all BlackBerry devices released by Verizon after the Tour would include Wi-Fi — the Storm 2, the Aries, etc.
And to add - the story WiFi on Verizon phones, namely Blackberry devices, was picked up by Wired.com, Engadget Mobile, CNet and countless tech / mobile blogs. They've also confirmed that Sprint will be doing this as well and it will also apparently apply to all flavors of smartphones on the carriers.
Well not really.
The problem is not so much that it is on the left side, but that it is so low that you can't grab the BB. Because using the BB is is generally a 2 handed thumbing thing, it would be a problem if it was that low on either side.
Not sure how it ever made it past the product manager not to mention the beta testers . I noticed the issue within 5 seconds of picking it up when I first plugged it in.
But yes you should get one! The other upgrades really outweigh this annoyance. Notwithstanding the USB charge port location, this is by far my most favorite BB...and I have been on BB's continuously since the very early days.
__________________ Banging your head against a wall uses 150 calories an hour
OK, I have had the Tour about three weeks (Verizon) and it is my first BB after having lived with simple Motorola flip phones. I know that many of you will think that I am off the mark, but here goes:
My first sad discovery was that the Tour (and I guess all BBs) give you a single audio alert for a text message, voicemail, missed call etc. It will not continue to repeat the audio alert every few minutes until you acknowledge the "event". What is so smart about a smartphone that requires you to look at it every so often to catch your text messages or VMs, otherwise you will miss the message?
The phone number pad on the keyboard is way too small and clumsy to use for those possibly frequent situations where you have to actually dial a number that is not in the contact list. (I am a physician and frequently dial numbers not in my directory.)
And the need to press the "alt" key to insert numbers into a text message is also a clumsy process.
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I'm really irritated at myself for not researching the Bulletin Boards enough, to realize that the VZ Tour has consistent Bluetooth audio problems. Consensus is its a RIM issue, that is going to take an OS upgrade.
Parties on the other end of a Bluetooth connection hear your voice weakly, and as if you were distant. No amount of tweaking can bring it to an acceptable level (I spend hours on Crackberry and other sites looking for fixes). No matter what kind of BT devices you use. Results are the same in my testing (a Jabra headset, a Mercedes, and a Mini).
Everything else about the phone after four days is fine, but if RIM/VZ has not pushed out an OS upgrade in the next three weeks, it's going back.
