9000 with heat issue and other guidance needed

[JebusSaves]

Okay, let me re-phrase my question here. I have a Blackberry Bold 9000. I have had it replaced twice in less than two years, so I am on my third one. (It was replaced at the discretion of AT&T's District Service Center.) It heats up after being on the phone for around twenty minutes or more. The camera takes awful pictures, no matter what setting the camera is on or how still you hold the phone while taking the pictures. When I had my Nokia E71x, the OS was so easy to figure out just by playing with it a bit. Not so with the BB 9000. Even the simplest of tasks require research. There is bloatware that cannot be gotten rid of. I cannot save apps to the SD card, instead it goes to the limited phone memory, making RIM's gesture of free apps for their data outage an empty one. On this third BB9000 the battery now drains at a rapid rate even though I have bought a new battery. It also sometimes heats up for no apparent reason. I have never installed a "hybrid OS." I didn't even know such things existed because I have always stuck with Blackberry official updates. I take very good care of my phone - it stays in my gel case, has no scratches on the screen, never gotten wet, etc. I have had the same apps on this one that I have had for a long time, with no streaming video or audio apps. I do shut them down properly when I am through (Google Maps, for instance.) If anyone cares to give some advice on how to fix these problems, I am all ears. Every time i search forums, I always find advice on how to fix every other issue but mine, or the advice for fixing my particular issue does not apply to my situation.

[BigBadWulf]

Not sure why in 2 years you haven't gotten it set the way you want, but the lecture series would be great for you.

BlackBerry 101 How-To Lecture Series | CrackBerry.com

After 20 minutes straight with the phone to my ear, I'd expect some heat. Have you tried a bluetooth earpiece? Certainly one with excessive would be a hardware problem, possibly battery, but multiple to me suggests it's not. If it's heating/draining without being used, remove all the apps and see if it still does it. Quite likely one of them is the problem, especially if you have a custom theme. Your signal quality also would have a huge effect on battery consumption. You can also try a different OS version. The hybrids are great, especially with OS5 since the memory is rather limited, but I'd stick with an official till you sort this problem out.

The "bloatware" I presume are the pushed icons from the carrier. They aren't actual apps installed, but rather links to install them. They are only a couple Kb in size, and can be hidden. Deleting them won't get you anywhere. To remove any additional items you don't use, see here:

How to Increase BlackBerry's File free memory

The camera is a 2mp, so while it was good for a cellphone in it's day, the latest BlackBerries come with 5mp and much more advanced software. Make sure the lens is clean (you could even still have the protective plastic from shipping on it). Even my old 8100 with a 1mp took decent pictures.

Why has at&t replaced your phones?

[JebusSaves]

It was replaced for heating up and not being able to do a security reset. I had a digital camera a while back that had fewer megapixels than this BB9000 and it took awesome pictures. If there is still a protective cover on it, then the AT&T tech missed it and I have missed it on all three phones. I am frustrated with this phone and based on my experience with this one I will never own another. I don't care how old the phone is or what OS I am using, this phone has never worked as advertised. It is obvious that instead of help, I am only going to get excuses as to why this phone does not work as advertised and upgrading to another product from this company after my experience with this one is a dead issue. I am not in the habit of supporting companies that have no respect for their customers. Sorry to waste time. Obviously these phone issues will not be fixed and Blackberry will never receive another dime of my money or a recommendation of any kind. Thank you for your attempt at help, though.

[lak611]

When you mention the heat, how warm is it getting? It is normal for all mobile phones to get warm if you talk on them for a long time. Even my old ones that weren't smartphones did that. Now, it should not be excessively hot. If so, that is an issue.

For the battery drain problem, I noticed that the 9000 battery does not last as long on 3G as the 9700 does, even though both devices use the same battery. So obviously, since the 9000 was the first 3G BlackBerry that AT&T offered, the technology was not yet perfected. When I used the 9000 I usually switched mobile network options from "3G & 2G" to "2G". I would switch back to "3G & 2G" if I needed to use the browser or simultaneous voice/data via the mobile network. But I never had an issue with the battery not lasting all day on 2G (EDGE) only.

I also disabled GPS, WiFi, and Bluetooth when not using any of those. This helped the battery last longer.

The camera is a fixed-focus camera, unlike some devices that have an autofocus camera. However I got decent pictures using the 9000.

Ironically, I had an E71x prior to the 9000. AT&T replaced it with the 9000 due to battery life issues. My E71x died after only 6 hrs.

[JebusSaves]

The battery on the BB9000 used to last quite a bit longer with the same apps and the same settings. Nothing changed except the battery life is a whole lot shorter, even with the replacement battery. I was just hoping to keep this phone serviceable until I get a chance to upgrade to a better phone such as the iPhone. Battery issues aside, I have never liked this phone, period. The only reason I switched from the Nokia to this one is that for some reason the Nokia would not send picture attachments with email and the keys were so small I kept having to correct my own typing. Looking back at those issues compared with the multitude of issues with the BB, I really wish I'd kept the Nokia. It had a much more intuitive OS and the pictures I took were phenomenal. I do use a Bluetooth earpiece, especially when I am on long conversations for reasons of comfort and the screen heating up. If it was just a little warm, I could handle that but it got uncomfortably warm up against my face. I am glad other people have luck with their Berries, but as for my experience and a number of people I personally know, we have had no such luck with them. I think the only thing they are probably better at than most phones is if you absolutely need to use the VPN or Enterprise services for work or whatever. Other than that, Blackberry needs to stay out of the market for the average consumer and stick with business applications.

[lak611]

You mentioned that you got a replacement battery. Is it an official battery from RIM or a cheap, knock-off battery from eBay? If the battery is not official, that could explain the issues with the excessive battery drain and overheating.

The Nokia E71x does have a better camera than the BlackBerry 9000.

[BigBadWulf]

You seem to want to spend more time complaining, than working on your problems. I guess you need reminded, this is a place for help.

lak and I have given you many things to try. I don't think saying it's 3 years old is an excuse, it's a reality. Even the first digital cameras were much more capable than the 9000's tiny optics would be. The cover would be a plastic film, that would have been on it when you received it. Many people miss that it's there.

With some work, that Bold is still a darn good phone. Try working with us, and you may find we're right.

[Joe4pal]

Originally Posted by JebusSaves

It heats up after being on the phone for around twenty minutes or more.

Turn off 3G and I guarantee you the phone will no longer heat up. Also ensure that your screen dims when you're on a phone call, it is useless to have it on in the first place.

The camera takes awful pictures, no matter what setting the camera is on or how still you hold the phone while taking the pictures.

The camera is awful because it is 3 years old compare it directly to the original iPhone 3g and you will see that for the time it was not bad. However if you're comparing it directly to a modern camera than sure it will always look horrible.

When I had my Nokia E71x, the OS was so easy to figure out just by playing with it a bit. Not so with the BB 9000. Even the simplest of tasks require research.

This is not an issue we can address. You claim to have used this phone for 2 years and can still not accomplish the simplest of tasks?

There is bloatware that cannot be gotten rid of.

I'm assuming you mean the links to download applications? IE Yellowpages or AT&T music. You can hide these and seeing as how they do not take up application space if should not be a problem. Press menu then check hide to hide an application.

I cannot save apps to the SD card, instead it goes to the limited phone memory, making RIM's gesture of free apps for their data outage an empty one.

This was for security purposes and the limitations of the BlackBerry OS the iPhone also can not save applications to an SD card but instead saves them to device memory. It just has a lot more device memory so I'm not sure what your issue here is.

On this third BB9000 the battery now drains at a rapid rate even though I have bought a new battery. It also sometimes heats up for no apparent reason.

Which BlackBerry OS is current installed on you device? Click options than about and it will list the OS version.

I have never installed a "hybrid OS." I didn't even know such things existed because I have always stuck with Blackberry official updates.

Alright? The majority of users do not use a hybrid OS

I take very good care of my phone - it stays in my gel case, has no scratches on the screen, never gotten wet, etc. I have had the same apps on this one that I have had for a long time, with no streaming video or audio apps.

I need you to list the applications that you have had for a very long time. I'm talking every single application so we can see if the application was poorly developed or has known issues.

I do shut them down properly when I am through (Google Maps, for instance.) If anyone cares to give some advice on how to fix these problems, I am all ears.

Every time i search forums, I always find advice on how to fix every other issue but mine, or the advice for fixing my particular issue does not apply to my situation.

Now please respond with only the information I have requested from you.

[JebusSaves]

Today I charged up the original battery and I turned all the GPS software back on. I have yet to re-install the Facebook app or the GroupMe app. (Facebook I can do without, as I stated earlier, waste of time and I don't like the fact that I can't turn off all the notifications. GroupMe is one that I just didn't see any point in.) GroupMe was the last app installed, although the battery issues seemed to have developed some time after installation. I have been going quite some time with the other apps with no phone issues, so MAYBE it was GroupMe. I can't say for sure. The few times I did open it, I closed it down properly after use as I do with all apps. The battery did seem to last substantially longer than it has been. This was even after significant use throughout the day. The phone did not seem to get too hot even after a long conversation, although if I know I'm going to be on the phone for a while, I do use Bluetooth. When it was getting really hot before, the phone would literally slow down to a crawl when navigating through its features. Hopefully the worst of my issues with this device are resolved. The others I suppose I can live with.

[BigBadWulf]

Glad you've worked out the heat problem. Often an app, even closed, will be running. Especially social apps.

Describing the simple tasks you find difficult would make it easier to continue helping you. I would suggest learning the BlackBerry shortcuts. They make accessing/using all the native apps very fast.

http://crackberry.com/blackberry-101...oard-shortcuts

[JebusSaves]

[QUOTE=BigBadWulf;6838189][b][color=#000066]Glad you've worked out the heat problem. Often an app, even closed, will be running. Especially social apps.

Describing the simple tasks you find difficult would make it easier to continue helping you. I would suggest learning the BlackBerry shortcuts. They make accessing/using all the native apps very fast.



I have learned to do those tasks, despite the other poster suggesting that I have had this phone for two years without learning them. My comment was that on the BB OS these tasks are more difficult to accomplish than other phones. Other phones I can usually sit down and figure it out in a matter of minutes because their OS is more intuitive. With the BB, research and learning "shortcuts" are required. I bought this phone to be convenient, not spend my free time learning how to use it.

[JebusSaves]

...and yes, I do know many of those shortcuts. Some I did find useful (in the link) because I was unaware of them, so that's good. Usually those weren't the kinds of things I was talking about, though. For me it is just the general navigation through the menus that seem more difficult and frustrating than other phones. Maybe they more logical sense to others than myself. Anyway, knowing what the phone can do as well as its limitations is a step in the right direction of alleviating some of those frustrations.

[BigBadWulf]

[QUOTE=JebusSaves;6838550]

Originally Posted by BigBadWulf

[b][color=#000066]Glad you've worked out the heat problem. Often an app, even closed, will be running. Especially social apps.

Describing the simple tasks you find difficult would make it easier to continue helping you. I would suggest learning the BlackBerry shortcuts. They make accessing/using all the native apps very fast.



I have learned to do those tasks, despite the other poster suggesting that I have had this phone for two years without learning them. My comment was that on the BB OS these tasks are more difficult to accomplish than other phones. Other phones I can usually sit down and figure it out in a matter of minutes because their OS is more intuitive. With the BB, research and learning "shortcuts" are required. I bought this phone to be convenient, not spend my free time learning how to use it.

I'm still not sure what tasks you find more difficult. Most folks consider a BlackBerry very easy to use, though way more customizable than an iphone. We certainly all have our preferences. Yours appears not to be a BlackBerry.

[JebusSaves]

I am going to blame the battery drainage issue on the GroupMe app. It seems to be the only piece of the puzzle missing now that I have turned everything else back on and I am not having the drainage issues. I have not even used the new battery since I bought it since the old one seems to be draining at a reasonable rate consistent with usage. I'd say 10 days with everything else back in place except for that, then that was probably the cause. Thanks for the help Wulf.