[dmarie10]

I am a new Blackberry curve owner/user (8320 from T-mobile).

Over the past several days a few odd things have happened. I am not sure if these anomalies just sometimes happen and I should write them off - or if my BB is behaving badly and I should be concerned.

I have downloaded (from a zip file) a today theme that I am using, in case this has anything to do with the things I have noticed.

1. My BB was sitting on my desk when a phone call came in (that I needed). It never rang. It did beep when a voice mail was left. This is the only time that I have noticed it hasn't rang when not in use and a new phone call came in.

2. When responding to a text message the other night, it froze. I had to remove the battery to get it turned off and back on again. It was fine before, has been fine since though every now and again a little laggy when moving around the menus.

3. When I originally set up a new profile and was trying to scroll through the pop up box of sounds, I couldn't scroll and the sounds were not playing. After about 10 seconds, the sound would play, then I could scroll to the next sound. Then I had to wait another almost 5 to 10 seconds for the sound to play before I could scroll again.

Since then I have been back in my profile and scrolling through sounds without a problem. But it was definitely a problem the first time I went in; it became so frustrating I finally gave up setting up that profile at that time.

4. I am using a today theme (calendar and message show on home screen). For the first several days, when a next text message came in, it would show on the home screen UNTIL I looked at the message. Then it would disappear from the home screen (which I liked). Yesterday my BB started keeping miscellaneous text messages on the home screen (even though they had been viewed). It isn't like it keeps the last 2 text messages I received on the home screen - it keeps random 2 messages on the front screen. ????? Deleting the messages seems to be the only way to get them off the home screen.

I don't mind if it keeps the most recent 2 messages on the home screen, but do not understand why it picks an old message and keeps it there. Better yet I prefer that when I look at the messages, they disappear from the home screen. What gives?

5. I keep my BB holstered so it sleeps and conserves battery power. Right now I use it for medium calling and some texting. I had it fully charged at the beginning of the day yesterday. By days end there was only about 30% battery power left. This is no web browsing! Is this normal for a BB? I was thinking battery power would be just a bit better than that.


Any thoughts? Do these types of things just sometimes happen and not mean anything? Or is my BB malfunctioning? I have only had it for 5 days (new).

Thanks,
dmarie

[jmlowes]

Are you actually closing applications using menu->close? Or are you just using the hang up key to close them? I am only guessing but you probably have applications in the background that are draining your battery power.

You can see what is running by pressing menu->switch applications while on the icon screen. Some apps are always running like, home screen, BB messenger, and others. However, take a look in there and see if any battery draining apps are running, especially GPS, bluetooth, and anything like that.

Having apps running, and using resources can contribute to all of the problems you are experiencing.

My wife was complaining about her battery until I explained to her how to close apps properly. Now it isn't a problem.

[wnm]

Another battery factor is the strength of signal (how many bars you have). A weaker signal means your radio needs more power, thus faster battery drain.

[bionic4.0]

also i would set it to a default theme and do a battery pull and see what happens

do you have wifi enabled all the time searching uses a lot of power

[dmarie10]

Thanks for the tips on closing apps. I have to remember this is like a mini computer and an app is open until I say closed.

That said, I didn't have any high powered apps running. Standard running apps seem to be: messages, phone, browser, bb messenger, my faves, home screen. These do not close. The only open extra app I had running was Yahoo Messenger. (btw - I do not have a data plan yet - but I guess that doesn't matter with regards to the browser app since that is what the phone is made for).

However, I do only receive 2 to 3 bars of signal strength at work, so that might account for some battery loss of power.

Any 1 or 2 particular text messages stay on the front screen (though they have been read)? It isn't like the message displayed changes to the last received/read message - the one displayed is an earlier message (4th message of the day I received).

It isn't a huge deal - but seems like something isn't working right.

Love this website - am learning alot!!

dmarie

[dmarie10]

also i would set it to a default theme and do a battery pull and see what happens

do you have wifi enabled all the time searching uses a lot of power

Yes, I do have wifi enabled, though guess I don't need to as I don't have hotspot calling - so it isn't of any real benefit (unless it just makes for better calls).

I will turn off the wifi, will set to a default theme and will do a battery pull and see what happens.

Thank you!
dmarie

[mreschkebb0626]

Leaving your wifi on all day on a BB, or any device for that matter, is a quick way to kill a battery. Searching for wifi and using wifi is always an intensive operation that drains juice rather quickly.

Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com

[jmlowes]

Yep. Wifi has to be your culprit. Whether using the web or not, I bet yor BB is looking for hotspots all day. If you do not use this feature you are better off to disable it. Even if you do use it, you should have it off when you are not planning on using it.

[Reed McLay]

5. I keep my BB holstered so it sleeps and conserves battery power. Right now I use it for medium calling and some texting. I had it fully charged at the beginning of the day yesterday. By days end there was only about 30% battery power left. This is no web browsing! Is this normal for a BB? I was thinking battery power would be just a bit better than that.
...

I run Wifi continuously, it is not a big power drain. It is not uncommon for mine to run a couple days on a charge. I usually charge it daily with half charge indicated.

If the OP gets a UMA connection, they can still benefit from the stronger signal connection to Wifi, but without the Hotspot plan, there will be no savings of talk or data billing.

[dmarie10]

Ok, seems the anomalies with messages appearing on the home screen have to do with the theme I downloaded. I would guess that the theme possibly caused the other quirky things as well.

I have turned off auto WiFi, so will see if I get a battery boost or not, or if I notice a difference in calls with it off.

Thanks for the pointers! My newbieness shows through - but I am learning!

dmarie

[zhelf]

yea i would try a different them or at least delete it and reinstall it often times some themes are not the best quality and can really cause some quirks. that would have been first place to check what os are you running?

[jewertt]

This is definitly not normal BB behavior. Downloading a new theme is likely the cause. I've had issues with new themes as well...if it is a 3rd party app (and especially a free one) it is likely that is the cause.

Have you tried deleting the new theme and doing a battery pull, then checking to see if you still have these issues. My guess is that will improve your performance.

Not sure about your battery life though. I use e-mail, web browsing, etc. extensively during the day and phone calls, and my battery is rarely below 50% at the end of the day (from a full charge).

I do turn of my data at night...that seems to help conserve some energy (I don't need to receive my e-mail in the middle of the night anyway

[jewertt]

Another thought for conserving your battery life is the GPS locator. If you are not using a GPS app, it's a good idea to have that function disabled.

[dmarie10]

Okay, spoke too soon about the issue with the messages still appearing on the home screen after being viewed. Was fine most of the day - but now the last message I received is still showing even though I viewed it and closed it. I am using the BB Dimension Today theme. I suppose this isn't the end of the world, I just don't like inconsistencies - and this is inconsistent. Usually something is wrong when there are inconsistencies in behavior.

I don't have a data plan (yet). Is GPS automatically on? I haven't come across that yet on my BB. Where do I look?

I think I will remove the theme I downloaded and installed, do a battery pull and see what happens.

Dmarie

[dmarie10]

I do turn of my data at night...that seems to help conserve some energy (I don't need to receive my e-mail in the middle of the night anyway

When I looked to see what came up when I chose to switch applications...the browser seems to always be on. So when you say turn your data off at night - is that just you make sure that the emails are closed down?

[SofaKingKev]

Another thought for conserving your battery life is the GPS locator. If you are not using a GPS app, it's a good idea to have that function disabled.

same same with your bluetooth

[Cixdk]

If you have a wifi curve the 8320, then you don't have GPS! Honestl� I leave my wifi on 24/7 only place it connects is when I'm at home. Anyhow, I've had similar issues as you after upgrading my os.

I believe it was from not wiping my phone befor upgrading. Just a thought since no other answers have worked.

Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com