"Battery too low for radio use." uhm...

[xtort]

I am not an engineer per se, but I would find that a GPS signal is going to be more useful in an emergency situation versus your ability to make calls. Having that 5-15% reserve could actually save your life. Now a GPS signal will work anywhere, a radio signal will not.

Other reasons:

Data is also considered to be very important for corporate users that use these devices. Say you have an important document on the device and all of a sudden the phone dies because you let the battery run out. For some people, that could end them up in a hot-seat because now that the important document was corrupted. I've had two people do this so far to their 9630's, and all I can do is make them read the user manual and explain that these are not cheap LG or Motorola flip phones. These are actual DATA devices.

BlackBerry Pro's have actually stated that the letting the battery deplete completely is NOT a good thing. For one: USB charging might not work as some USB ports do not put out 500 mA of power to kickstart the charging process. Do most people keep their wall chargers in their pockets? No... Then I get the lovely question of "Why isn't my phone turning on?" My response: "Your battery is dead and you are trying to charge with a USB port. Get back to me once you have used the wall charger".

In my opinion, if you are ignoring the yellow LED telling you that your phone has to be charged you may be better off with a regular cell phone. It is a safeguard put in place to make sure that you don't kill the phone nor the battery prematurely and end up with data loss.

[daveDd]

Thanks for the on-topic response.

Originally Posted by xtort

I am not an engineer per se, but I would find that a GPS signal is going to be more useful in an emergency situation versus your ability to make calls. Having that 5-15% reserve could actually save your life. Now a GPS signal will work anywhere, a radio signal will not.

Some models must allow for GPS navigation without a radio signal. Neither signal will work anywhere.

Automatically disabling the radio at 15% battery is good. I would like to be able to turn that option on and off but I would normally use the automatic shut-off mode.

I think the user should have a choice to reactivate the radio, on-demand. The radio can still automatically turn off at 15%! RIMM could even use a more-aggressive disclaimer than the one I posted previously:

Warning: Radio was turned off due to a low battery condition. Turn radio back on? This should only be done by advanced users and could result in losing all BlackBerry functionality for an indefinite amount of time.


Why not give the user this ability?

Are you saying that the average BlackBerry user simply isn't intelligent enough to make this decision on their own?

Perhaps the BlackBerry offers so many features it is likely that most people are unable to consider all the various features they may lose if they drain their battery and, for this reason, they should not be allowed to activate the phone on their phone when the battery is low.

In my opinion, if you are ignoring the yellow LED telling you that your phone has to be charged you may be better off with a regular cell phone. It is a safeguard put in place to make sure that you don't kill the phone nor the battery prematurely and end up with data loss.

If it wasn't for the 911 trick, I would definitely be better off with a regular cell phone. I am in buildings with low-coverage on a regular basis. I usually turn the radio on and off manually but I depend on the 15% shut-off to do it when I miss it. I also depend on the emergency-override to turn it back on when I want to send/receive email or make a quick phone call. I usually remember to turn the radio back off afterwards but if I forget the auto shut-off kicks in a few more times before the battery depletes. I wouldn't mind if the auto shut-off kicked in at 80%.

This method works fine for me. Rarely does the battery actually deplete.

[dk0013]

My Bold 9700 doesn't shut the radio off at 15%, it shuts off when it hits 5%. It won't let me turn the radio back on until it reaches 20% again. I don't understand the point in this at all. It should at least let me turn the radio on when its plugged in. It takes at least 20 minutes to charge from 5% to 20%. At least I can call 911, I didn't realize that till I read this thread.

[i have a dingleberry]

I don't like this phone one bit.

This reason {batt low no radio} is near the top of the reasons why I dislike this phone.

Let me make a stinking call. I don't care about the battery life.

[Bb Blues]

120 volts of supercharged alternating current, throbbing at a rockin' 60 Hz, this stuff can move mountains. It can keep homes cold and food colder on the hottest summer days, keep homes warm and cook food as well as any fire, or even generate powerful enough radio waves to take entire dinners from frozen to piping hot in a matter of minutes -- or just pop some corn.

It can wash your clothes, dry your hair, wax your car, and fry your bacon.

But the one thing it can't do is make the go**amned Blackberry radio turn on. That's right, if you directly wired AC line power to the battery it would have an orgasm of spewing electrolytes and flying metal there would be so much power, but even so your Blackberry was designed by idiots who apparently don't quite understand the miracle of electricity, so the one thing 120VAC is guaranteed not to do is make a phone call on a Blackberry nursing a low battery.

If your phone is plugged it should work. If it doesn't, the engineer who made sure it won't is a retard. 120VAC at upwards of 20 amps won't cut it? How much more wattage do you incompetent morons need? Doc Brown's mobile device needed 1.21 gigawatts, but then it could time-travel. What's Blackberry's excuse?

And yes, I used the reboot trick to make the radio come on. It's still retarded -- plugged in is plugged in, even in 2010.

[ray123454321]

Originally Posted by akpak

I joined just to post on this topic. This is a very frustrating restriction considering that the primary function of the phone involves the radio! And also since this restriction is still in place even after the phone is plugged in.

Anyway, I think I may have found a solution that atleast worked for me this one time. Manualy reboot your phone using Alt+R-Shift+Del. Turning off and on does not work, you have to manually reboot.

I think this should work for everyone since the phone technically does work when under 15% charge while battery is draining. It only seems to disallow radio use when it's charging back up and level is under 15%. I think the reboot fools it into forgetting that it had reached that previous low point.

Good luck.

EDIT: I have a Curve(8320), but I think it should work for the 8830 as well.

I joined today just to post on this topic.

I know this is an old thread and the last post was in 2009 but my girlfriend has the curve 8520 and she gets annoyed with the "no radio use".

I've figured out that if your radio use has just died, quickly dial 999 or 911 (what ever applies) and keep pressing the red end call button, because you don't really want to call emergency services now do you?, and it will restore connections.

Then just bang it on charge, job done

Hope this helps.

[spind426]

I had to make an account on this website just because it made me absolutely furious that there are people in the world so dumb. To say that it is the users fault for letting their "device they rely on" run low on battery is just astounding. I am sorry but whoever said that they should not let their battery run below 35% should sit down and re-think their whole entire existence on this planet over. It should be illegal for you to reproduce and make children. The logic you have, no matter how hard i try to understand, is inconcievable. This issue with the cell phone not allowing you to use the radio should be illegal, no matter how little battery is left you should be able to make a phone call. This is extremely poor scripting and whoever decided to block calling because of low batteries should be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. A cell phone is a device people use to contact others in the case of an emergency, and to block this feature is a horrible horrible tragedy. What if your car got smashed off a bridge into water and you tried to call someone for help but the cell phone said "dont feel like turning on the radio SORRY" that is just wrong. What is even more wrong is people trying to defend blackberry by saying "you should never let your phone go below 35%" IM SORRY BUT WHAT PLANET DO YOU COME FROM? This is life, **** happens. What is the point of purchasing a blackberry if it blocks you from making calls? I am sorry but if you are one of those people who disagree with me you should consider mental treatment as possible because this is wrong on so many different levels. A manufacture of cell phones should understand that the purpose of the device is to contact others. To block somebody from making calls is proposterous. These cell phones should be recalled in mass numbers. When i plugged my cell phone into a charger and realized i still could not make a call i realized i should get out there and warn others as soon as possible before someone loses their life over such a dumb thing. Think about what you are saying before you try and defend your blackberry phone. This is a tragedy.

[RIM-downthedrain]

I got a blacberry curve 8830 (I think). For work emails. It's a piece of junk, although well built and solid... that's about the only thing going for it!

Turning off the radio due to low battery? I didn't even understand the message, was thinking DOES THIS THING HAVE AN FM RADIO. No, no, it just means the GSM transmitter switches off due to low battery.

How utterly idiotic. Terrible and stupid design flaw.

Anyway we're moving to iPhones and Good for Enterprise.

No wonder RIM are going down the drain.

[312]

Originally Posted by RIM-downthedrain

I got a blacberry curve 8830 (I think). For work emails. It's a piece of junk, although well built and solid... that's about the only thing going for it!

Turning off the radio due to low battery? I didn't even understand the message, was thinking DOES THIS THING HAVE AN FM RADIO. No, no, it just means the GSM transmitter switches off due to low battery.

How utterly idiotic. Terrible and stupid design flaw.

Anyway we're moving to iPhones and Good for Enterprise.

No wonder RIM are going down the drain.

LOL! You're comparing a 7 year old phone to a modern day phone. WHO IS THE ONE WITH IDIOTIC THINKING??

[ankaka]

There is a solution:
You have to be very quick and careful at this. Basically call 999 or any emergency number and end the call instantly before connection. Your Blackberry should have connected to the mobile network and bypassed the error.

However, the battery drains pretty quick and will die soon after you do this, so be quick during the call. Also, since this tip involves calling an emergency number, be careful while doing it and do not do it unless you are certain of the problems calling an emergency number will cause you. Follow and use this tip at your own risk.

[ThunderShock2005]

Originally Posted by 312

LOL! You're comparing a 7 year old phone to a modern day phone. WHO IS THE ONE WITH IDIOTIC THINKING??

Hey, ever heard of dialling 112? If you dial 112, it will turn the radios back on to call for emergency services. Hang up immediately. I guarantee that your BlackBerry device will work until you've hit "Turning off device"

Not at all a device flaw imho. It let's me access my calendar and tasks, read my emails and type up a reply, and finish up any documents... Etc. If I need to use the network again, I just dial 112 and hang up as soon as the radios are back on.