[cereal killer]

I will share with you all some info that I just got. This whole trackball/hardware/software thing has obviously received a lot of attention in here.

Keep in mind this is just one source. I'm not pretending to be friends with this person because I'm not. I know them through a business contact and we met briefly at a function and talked about the obvious; BB's.

It was a fairly quick conversation but he/she gave me some good info (well what I believe to be good info)

I asked about the trackball issue on the Tour "What do you mean?" I described the problems people have been having "Well you do understand there will always be a certain percentage of hardware failures with any device when first released?" I answered with the obvious "a year from now there will still be hardware failures with brand new Tours or any other smartphone for that matter. You can't get around that"

"Are you having any problems with yours?" I said no I was not but I did notice some bugs. They laughed "so what do you need?" I asked them if there was some type of large scale trackball failure going on or was it software.

Here's where it gets interesting, he said "both" I asked if he/she was serious "here's the the thing, the actual trackball hardware failures are very small, you know like the thing just being broke? With the Tour there is a problem with the hardware and software interacting. It's a hardware problem that can be fixed by software. What kind of bugs did you notice?"

I mentioned the text field and they really didn't say anything except "yeah, they should be sending out an update and it may fix some of those problems" I asked them what they meant by MAY fix "I don't know, they are aware of it but will they fix the bugs I don't know. Did you mess with the sensitivity?" I said I have mine set and 80/90 "It works fine?" perfect "So what the heck are you worried about?"

We laughed and I told him/her about crackberry

"Yeah it's a little bit of both, hardware interacting with software, software interacting with hardware, but the software should fix it unless the trackball is broken." I asked when will they release it "I have no clue ask...who's your carrier Sprint?" Verizon "call them up they should have something by now"

He clearly isn't on Verizon : )

So that was the extent of it. Maybe Crucial or Sith can add to this. Debunk my whole conversation as bad info or possibly add to it.

of course all the usual suspects can chime in as well : )

[Card Storm]

That was the typical open eded response from any RIM employee. Lol it seems that in reality they know that they are overgoing some major hardware interacting with software issues, but ofcourse to openly admit that to the public would be dumb on their part as would be any company if in fact they know that they are working on fixes but cannot really disclose the information dealing with what they are working on.

In my eyes the update he is talking about could be 5.0. This guy probably does or doesnt know too much about Verizons part in the RIM world, so knowing this guys status would be helpful.

But yeah to sum up again thats the typical RIM response to those type of questions. Real secretive.

[mrwindow]

Hmm.
Thought I said something like that!

"Ok for all you belivers in it's just software and have the sensitivity jacked up try this.
Set your sensitivity to 20 and see what happens, it should still move abliet laggy and it won't! If 90 works so should all the other settings.

Tech and I tried that at the store with my phone before it was replaced, we removed all third party software and rebooted clean and it still did it.

I think there are two distinct problems people see as the same with the same piece of the quipment.

It could be both one thing some better or worse than on others.
.02"

[cybrwulf]

You really don't like being wrong do you Cereal?

[cereal killer]

You really don't like being wrong do you Cereal?

I just openly put out information. If I happen to be right I'm right if I'm wrong I will ALWAYS freely and openly admit it : )

I'm not judging this I'm only passing it on to you fine people. I won't join the conversation.

Have at it. I remain neutral...

[SBerryTour]

I have no reason to doubt you and I don't. But I am convinced that either:

1) the person you were talking to has no clue about the trackball
whatsoever.

-or-

2) they were not being straight with you.

It is a hardware issue. RIM should just outright admit what they have already conceded in not so many words: there are an unusually high number of bad trackballs on the Tour. The evidence is overwhelming.

[bucwylde23]

I'm on my second tour, and I can definitively say that the first one had a hardware trackball issue. It physically felt different than this one when I went left/right.

Not saying all the issues are hardware but there is a hardware issue with some of them.

[BlameMyEquilibrium]

I don't think all this talk about a hardware change is correct. I think it's just the transition from having a used device to a brand new one. I could be wrong, though, as I have no first hand experience with a brand new device.

[earlgsxbusa]

heres the thing gang, it can be hardware software combo. For instance if a mouse plugs in doesnt work, we check the common - LED or BALL..clean it and poof its supposed to work right??? sometimes, i have repaired quite a bit of PCs and come to find that its the driver the makes the hardware appear to be the culprit.

Be it that replacing and replacing the TOUR or device in some cases it can be the hardware.

Also as another poster put it, how you use the track ball is another.

Now I have a Sprint Tour and my Boss has a VZW Tour. His trackball was more of an issue than mine. So i adjusted the sensitivity to 70/90 for him and it works fine now. In that case, it seems more to be the software VS the hardware.

Non the less i told him to replace it and we will see when it comes back.

Im not siding that its strictly HARDWARE or its SOFTWARE, but reading post after post "its the ball" no "its the software", i depends on the device. Some have found a fix with just the sensitivity, others have had the ball replaced others have swapped devices more than 3 times!!

One things for sure, the problem exists, its just at varing degrees for each TOUR owner.

[bbbfalcs]

That RIM employee did a great job of answering your questions without answering your questions, well trained ha


Great account of your conversation though!

[bachatu56]

The answer you received was your standard PR rep not acknowledging nor denying the problems. This is pretty embarrasing for a company to admit. So this is typical.

Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com

[Ainvar]

Hey CK, I know you said you are not going to join and you are going to remain like a Swiss but I do have a scenario for you.

As they say it is a hardware/software & software\hardware issue.

What if it is more of a hardware issue and the software patch/fix they release only band-aides the issue? Then when the hardware fails all together it is past the 1 year warranty. I am not counting on everyone having insurance on their device.

I know you had your Curve for quite some time. I also know of many people that keep their phones for 1-2+ years. Now since this hardware issue was covered up with software and the hardware fails past the warranty period. All these fine people who should have had a top quality device is now SOL. They now have to shell out of their pockets for a replacement that they should not have to pay for.

Now I know something else could go wrong in that time frame and it would be out of their own pockets. This I am aware of. But this issue would not be their fault and this is what I am getting at.

My only concern is that RIMs QA has gone down hill with some of these releases here lately. I don't see them coming clean with this if it is the majority of us is thinking is the issue with the Tour. I will not even bring in the Storm in the QA issue/problem for this one. So if they cant come clean with this issue who is to say they will actually step up to the plate and say yeah this was our issue we will repair/replacement your defective unit no questions asked and nothing to come out of your pocket. Not even S&H.

All of this is just something I thought about and it is nothing that will happen, it just could happen.

[GG1]

What if it is more of a hardware issue and the software patch/fix they release only band-aides the issue? Then when the hardware fails all together it is past the 1 year warranty. I am not counting on everyone having insurance on their device.

If its hardware, i dont believe software can "band-aid" the issue plus i would figure it would fail well within 1 yr warranty. My trackball is perfect at 80/90 but its not at lets say 70/70. If it were hardware, i would think it would be defective under any setting. Some have claimed the trackball to "feel " different, then i would assume hardware. Mine "feels" perfect under any setting but doesnt perform well at 70/70. I will leave it at 80/90 and not complain about it and see how long it lasts, or when an upgrade is available, i will test the settings. I do believe for some its definately hardware but others it COULD be software.... time will tell.
* i also think that some can scroll perfectly on home screen over icons but then seems to stick over text while browsing for example... hardware? hmmmm

[cereal killer]

ainvar I am in total agreement with you about RIMS QA. It suckss ; )

Balsillie, in so many words, admitted it himself.

If it's hardware though no software fix will work. Thats the obvious. So the verdict is still out on that one.

Things like this do have ramifications and we will see the likes of those in the year to come in 2010 when the iPhone hits Verizon.

[danoh]

Seeing how one of the Tours that I have access to is running 5.0.0.140 and it still has trackball issues, I think that kinda sums it up.

[Mr. Marco]

Am I reading things correctly? Maybe I am bugging out but did you just say the iPhone is hitting VZW in 2010?

[kingzee]

As long as there are third party companies involved (Verizon, Spring, Alltel), RIM will have to fix the problem. Why? Because if they don't they (VZW etc) will lose money and will be more upset with them than we are. So, if you have a trackball issue with your phone, the best thing to do is return it. Multiple returned phones that were poorly constructed will speak volumes more than anything else because these companies will won't to recoup their money somehow. Who will they get it from? RIM or us? I doubt if VZW has ever replaced this many phones at a launch (except the Storm), and it has happened TWICE now - AND from the same manufacturer (RIM).

As a consumer we're on a winning side. This is actually a losing battle for RIM, VZW, etc. All of the evidence is on these forums, across the internet and even at the customer service level.

THEY KNOW. With overwhelming evidence, a serial killer doesn't have to admit to the murders. Pun intended.

[Swoopster]

You were apparently converseing with Captain Obvious; and you are Messenger Obvious for relaying what Captain Obvious shared with you during the conversation.

It was a fairly quick conversation but he/she gave me some good info (well what I believe to be good info)

Btw; I found it a bit of a folly that you said "he/she" when referncing to the person you had this conversation with. Come on man...how can you expect to have rapport and speak of being open/honest when you can't even state the sex of the person (not that it matters to the conversation at hand; i'm just saying).

[eazymac]

Maybe the BB rep kept asking "huh?" because you tell horrible stories, cereal. Maybe they got bored listening to you. Just a thought.

Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com

[mrwindow]

If it was just software why are folks putting in trackballs from various other devices and the Tour works perfectly? Put the Tour track ball in another device and it repeats the issue! Hmmm.

I'm just sayying..02

[cereal killer]

Btw; I found it a bit of a folly that you said "he/she" when referncing to the person you had this conversation with. Come on man...how can you expect to have rapport and speak of being open/honest when you can't even state the sex of the person (not that it matters to the conversation at hand; i'm just saying).

Fair enough. He/She is a she : )

Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com

[cereal killer]

Maybe the BB rep kept asking "huh?" because you tell horrible stories, cereal. Maybe they got bored listening to you. Just a thought.

Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com

Yeah probobly......

Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com

[danoh]

Fair enough. He/She is a she : )

Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com

Was "she" hot?

[cereal killer]

Was "she" hot?

wouldn't say hot..... attractive

Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com

[rantingryan]

If it was just software why are folks putting in trackballs from various other devices and the Tour works perfectly? Put the Tour track ball in another device and it repeats the issue! Hmmm.

I'm just sayying..02

You're just pointing out that a percentage have faulty hardware